These ancient tombs run along an ancient arm of the Nile that has now disappeared, according to a study

This disappeared river undoubtedly made it possible to transport the materials and workers to build the 31 pyramids. This is the observation made by a geomorphologist from the University of North Carolina.

But what are dozens of Egyptian pyramids doing in the middle of the desert, several kilometers from the Nile? This is one of the great mysteries of ancient Egypt and science today makes it possible to answer the question. The answer comes to us from a study published on Thursday, May 16, in the journal Earth & Environment Communicationsled by geomorphologist Eman Ghoneim of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington.

The initial observation is simple: the largest field of pyramids in Egypt is in the middle of nowhere. The 31 pyramids, between 4,700 and 3,600 years old, are in the middle of the desert, a few kilometers west of the Nile. Monuments line up from the Licht necropolis in the south to the three famous pyramids of Giza in Cairo. According to this study, these ancient tombs are not there by chance and run along an ancient arm of the Nile, which has now disappeared. The river, thanks to a much less arid climate, had several branches a few millennia ago, including the one highlighted in the study, called the Ahramat branch, “pyramid” in Arabic. It is this disappeared river which undoubtedly made it possible to transport materials and workers to build these 31 pyramids.

To reach this conclusion, scientists first used radar measurements from satellites, which made it possible to scan the ground under the sand and under the crops, which revealed the presence of ancient channels. Other radar measurements, this time taken from the surface, show the presence of sediments deposited by water. Finally, sandy muds were found in core drilling, that is to say drilling up to 20 meters deep. Scientists were thus able to retrace the ancient canal, 64 kilometers long, bordered by the pyramids. Which also explains why many of them have causeways that led to temples on the water’s edge at the time, like ancient river ports.

All of this could lead to further discoveries, according to the study authors. This extinct arm of the Nile indicates a more restricted area for further excavations. The dried-up watercourse could also guide town planning policies to avoid building on other remains. The fact remains that the pyramids have not revealed all their secrets. The discovery confirms that the huge blocks of stone to build the monuments were undoubtedly transported by river, but still nothing tells us precisely how they were stacked to build these tombs of the pharaohs.