New Evidence Suggests Hydraulics Built the Ancient Pyramids

A new study suggests that the Step Pyramid of Djoser may have been constructed using a sophisticated hydraulic lift system, which used water pressure to raise massive stones from the interior in a "volcano fashion." Researchers identified nearby structures, including the Gisr el-Mudir enclosure, as part of a complex water treatment and management network that provided the necessary flow and purification to power this singular engineering feat.

A PLOS ONE team led by Xavier Landreau proposed in August 2024 that Djoser's Step Pyramid rose with hydraulic help: a check dam at Gisr el-Mudir feeding settling and purification basins, stones floated up through the pyramid's core on captured floodwater. The skeptics arrived fast: Oxford's John Baines stayed agnostic to skeptical because ramps carry archaeological proof, Cambridge's Judith Bunbury found no lift device anywhere in Old Kingdom records, and Munich's Julia Budka objected that no Egyptologist joined the study and the hypothesis is not proven at all Ars TechnicaSmithsonian Magazine. Even Landreau concedes ramps likely started the job; acceptance waits until texts or images prove the lift existed.