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Djoser - Egypt's oldest iconic pyramid - may have been built with the help of a unique hydraulic lift system, according to a study published on 5 August 2024 in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Xavier Landreau from the CEA Institute of Palaeoanthropology in France and colleagues.

The new study suggests that water may have flowed into two shafts located inside the pyramid itself - water that could have been used to raise and lower rafts carrying stone blocks.

The Pyramid of Djoser, also known as the Step Pyramid, is believed to have been built around 2680 BC as a tomb for the pharaoh Djoser of Egypt's Third Dynasty. However, the exact method of construction of the pyramid remains a mystery.

In this new interdisciplinary analysis, the researchers suggest that the area surrounding the nearby Gisr el-Mudir — a previously unexplained structure — may have acted as a dam to collect water and sediment.

Alternatively, a series of chambers dug into the ground outside the pyramid could have been used as a water treatment facility, allowing sediment to settle as water flowed through each successive chamber.

The water could then have flowed into the pyramid shafts themselves, where the upward force of the water could have helped carry the massive stone blocks.

Further research is needed to understand how the water could have flowed through the shafts, as well as how much water was available on the landscape at that point in Earth's history. But the authors of the new study suggest that even if other construction methods such as ramps were also used to support pyramid construction, hydraulic lift systems could have been used to aid construction if there was enough water.

“Thanks to the collaboration between the newly established research institute, Paleotechnic, and several national laboratories (INRAE, University of Orléans), we have discovered a dam, a water treatment facility and a hydraulic lift, which may have helped build the Saqqara step pyramid,” the authors added. “This work opens up a new research direction for the scientific community: the use of hydraulic power to build pyramids for the Egyptian pharaohs,” the authors added.