Long-lost branch of the Nile helped build Egyptian pyramids, study confirms

Study sheds light on environmental conditions that enabled construction of the pyramids of Giza

A now-defunct arm of the Nile river helped Egyptians construct pyramids on the Giza plateau, a new study confirms.

While it is generally accepted that ancient Egyptian engineers used a long-lost channel of the Nile river to transport building materials and provisions to the Giza plateau, there is lack of evidence revealing when, where, and how these ancient landscapes evolved.

The new research, published in the journal PNAS on Monday, assessed the environmental conditions that enabled the construction of the pyramids of Giza – Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure – towering over the west bank of the Nile river.

Scientists, including those from CNRS in France, say the long-lost Khufu branch of Africa’s longest river was used by workers to transport materials to the Giza plateau during 2686-2160 BCE.

In the study, scientists analysed pollen grains extracted from cores drilled from the floodplain that once housed the Khufu branch to determine the environmental conditions that enabled the transport of materials.

Researchers identified 61 taxa and grouped them into seven vegetation patterns.

Based on these patterns, they traced the rise and fall of water levels in the Khufu branch over 8,000 years of Egyptian dynastic history.

The study reconstructed a portrait of the climate and waterscapes that facilitated construction in the pyramid harbor complex.

Scientists found that water levels in the branch rose during the African Humid Period (AHP) – approximately between 14,800 and 5,500 years ago.

But researchers say a drop in water levels may have followed the end of the AHP, in response to the gradual desertification of East Africa.

However, they suspect the high water levels of the Khufu branch could have rendered the branch a navigable conduit for freight transport during the fifth millennium.

“Giza’s waterscapes responded to a gradual insolation-driven aridification of East Africa, with the lowest Nile levels recorded at the end of the Dynastic Period,” scientists wrote in the study.

“The Khufu branch remained at a high-water level during the reigns of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, facilitating the transportation of construction materials to the Giza Pyramid Complex,” they added.

The latest findings shed light on the environmental conditions that enabled the construction of this wonder of the ancient world.