A recent peer-reviewed study challenges one of the most enduring puzzles of archaeology: how Fourth Dynasty Egyptian builders managed to hoist millions of stone blocks with such speed and precision to erect the Great Pyramid? The research posits that the customary imagery of endless external ramps might lack a crucial element—an internal, pulley-like hoisting mechanism driven by sliding counterbalance weights. If accurate, the study, detailed in the journal Nature, suggests that iconic internal structures like the Grand Gallery should perhaps be seen not just as ceremonial passageways but as functional components of the construction machinery.
Tabloids latched onto the catchiest headline—”pyramid built with blocks”—but the underlying claim is more precise: the pyramid may have grown “inside out,” utilizing the internal inclined passages as sliding inclines to generate motive force, then transmitting that power via rope-and-beam apparatuses to raise the blocks upward.
The study’s author, Simon Andreas Seuring, points to the long-accepted construction timeline—often boiled down to about 20 years for the pyramid’s completion—as a logistical strain. With an estimated block count of around 2.3 million, even the most optimistic estimates imply an extraordinarily high rate of placement. Seuring argues that such a pace is difficult to reconcile with solely transporting heavy blocks up long exterior ramps.
Instead, he proposes a system where counterweights slide along an interior inclined route, reimagining the Ascending Passage and the Grand Gallery as a single continuous “sliding ramp” to produce traction. A key mechanical “node,” in his view, was the Antechamber near the King’s Chamber, traditionally described as part of a locking or sealing mechanism. Seuring contends that the Antechamber is better understood as a hoisting station, akin to pulleys, utilized during construction and subsequently sealed.
This interpretation has gained traction in mainstream media, where descriptions note that the surfaces of the Grand Gallery may exhibit wear consistent with repeated intense movement rather than merely foot traffic.
About the Author
