Secret of how Egypt’s Great Pyramid was built may finally have been solved

For decades, experts have struggled to explain how Egypt’s Great Pyramid was built — but now a new study claims to have found an answer.

The construction would have required ancient workers to lift and place millions of huge stone (some weighing up to 15 tons) without using modern machinery, sparking countless theories.

However, a new study published in Nature suggests that a multi-channel system of ramps, built directly into the edges of the pyramid itself, could be the solution to this architectural marvel.

The paper proposes that the structure in Giza, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu, could have been built by a spiral ramp system that was covered up and hidden as each new layer was added.

Not only does this new model shed light on the possible logistics behind the build, but also estimates how long the construction may have taken.

To complete the structure within the pharaoh Khufu’s roughly 27-year reign, ancient builders would have had to place a block every few minutes. A new 3D model has been created by Vicente Luis Rosell Roig in a bid to show how a multi-ramp system could have kept up with this blistering pace.

The simulations suggest blocks could have been placed every four to six minutes, giving an estimated build time of 13.8 to 20.6 years, consistent with the historical record.

Factoring in quarrying, transporting materials across the Nile, and breaks for workers, the total timeline rises to around 20 to 27 years, which fits with existing estimates.

Roig began sketching the idea in 2020 after watching a documentary about the pyramid, moving from hand sketches to a full 3D model, simulating the construction process block by block.

The theory also has merit when looking inside the pyramid. The geometry of the proposed ramp paths correspond with anomalies detected by the ScanPyramids project, which used cosmic-ray muons to reveal hidden voids within the structure.

It could also explain significant wear observed at the pyramid’s corners, particularly the southeast, which may mark entry points where the greatest flow of blocks occurred and the structure was most vulnerable.

The theory suggests the center of the system would be the ramp itself, acting as a gradual path built into the pyramid’s outer structure with sections of the outer stone layers being temporarily left open to form the upward path, being filled in as work progressed.

Roig says that replicating ramps on all four faces of the pyramid like this would transform a single pathway into one joined-up solution.

This approach is further supported by archaeological evidence from the Hatnub quarries, which show evidence that ancient Egyptians carved ramps directly into rock to distribute load, and from the Sinki pyramid, which features four ramps, one for each face.

However, one of the most significant hurdles that any Great Pyramid construction theory needs to overcome is to explain how granite beams, weighing roughly between 50 and 80 tones, could find their way to the King’s Chamber.

The study addresses this by proposing that short, reusable ramps could have been constructed on the expansive lower terraces to move these granite beams using wooden bollards for control.

The implications of the research also extend beyond the Great Pyramid, as the framework could be applied and adapted to test construction theories for other ancient structures, discovering how ancient builders solved complex problems with the technology available to them.

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