Mystery Of How The Egyptians Moved The Massive 2.5 ton Pyramid Stones Solved  
   
 

photo credit::Wikimedia

 
   
Weighing in at a near 2.5 tons, the Egyptians had to pull these massive stones over great distances to the final destination where the pyramid were built. But how did they move such massive stones? 

New research shows adding a small amount of water to sand significantly reduces the sliding friction. The Egyptians were able to reduce the number of works by half - adding a little water to the ground in front of the stones being pulled as shown in the schematic above
from the tomb of Djehutihotep depicting the transport of a colossal statue. Notice the person standing on top and in front of the sled is pouring water over the sand right in front of the sled

Daniel Bonn from the University of Amsterdam Led an international team. The team  tested the sliding friction of dry and wet sand by pulling a weighted sled across the surface. When experimenting using dry sand, a heap of sand formed in front of the sled, slowing its movement significantly. When water added water, the force needed to pull the sled and the amount of friction decreased.

Their experiments revealed that the required pulling force decreased significantly. 

“I was very surprised by the amount the pulling force could be reduced -- by as much as 50 percent -- meaning that the Egyptians needed only half the men to pull over wet sand as compared to dry,” Bonn tells the Washington Post

The answer had been there for a long time. In a wall painting from the tomb of Djehutihotep, as shown in the schematic above.

Experiment pictured below:

 
 

        



 

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