We can easily say that Egypt’s great pyramids of Giza, built about 4,500 years ago, are one of the world’s greatest achievements. However, among the many questions and mysteries surrounding the pyramids, one of the most questioned is how their vast “building blocks” were pulled into the construction site. Apparently, we can thank a long-lost tributary of the Nile River for this feat.
When we imagine the pyramids of Giza today, we think of them as being surrounded by a vast sand plain behind which the Greater Cairo metropolis spreads. The main body of the Nile is currently about 8 kilometers away, which is quite a distance to transport huge stones on the sand.
However, more than 4,000 years ago, a now-defunct branch of the Nile known as the Khufu branch passed right by the Giza pyramid complex. The khufu branch was long suspected to be a vital vein of ancient Egypt, but its history was not fully known.
As reported by French researchers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, a detailed history of this river section could be obtained from pollen grains removed from the floodplain.
By tracking the growth and death of more than 61 different plants along the flood plain, the researchers demonstrated the rise and fall of water levels in the tributaries of the river over 8,000 years of ancient Egyptian history.
Most importantly, the waters of the Khufu branch were shown to rise significantly during the African Humid Period, which stretched from 14,800 years ago to 5,500 years ago.
Also, the water levels of the Khufu tributary seem to have remained relatively high for a time after the African Humid Period, allowing the river to remain usable until the Great Pyramid of Giza, dedicated to pharaoh Khufu, was built about 4,500 years ago. It even seems possible that for a certain period of time, this lost branch of the Nile may have reached the Great Sphinx of Giza, which stands proudly in front of the complex.
While it is clear that the building blocks of the Khufu branch of the Nile may have helped move the building blocks closer to the Giza pyramid complex, many other details regarding the construction of the pyramids are still being curiously explored.
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