At a windswept plateau in Saqqara, a short drive southwest of modern-day Cairo, an ambitious new theory is upending traditional ideas about how Egypt’s first pyramid was built. The Step Pyramid of Djoser, constructed around 2680 BC, may not have relied solely on manpower and primitive tools as long believed. Instead, researchers suggest the monument rose block by block through the aid of a sophisticated hydraulic lift system, fed by water redirected from nearby wadis.
The theory, laid out in a comprehensive study published in PLOS ONE, is the result of a multi-year investigation by a French-led team of researchers from the CEA Paleotechnic Institute, headed by Xavier Landreau. The paper argues that rather than hauling stones up massive ramps, ancient builders may have floated them upward from within the pyramid’s core, using a now-vanished system of water-powered engineering.
A Radical Alternative to the Ramp Hypothesis
For more than a century, archaeologists have leaned on the idea that pyramids were built through monumental human effort—stone blocks hauled on sledges, dragged up mudbrick ramps, and positioned with basic tools. But Landreau and his co-authors found inconsistencies in this explanation, particularly for the Step Pyramid, Egypt’s earliest monumental stone structure and the first of its kind to adopt a true pyramid form.
Instead, the team examined Saqqara’s topography, hydrology, and unexplained architectural features to propose a different approach. Their findings suggest that the pyramid may have been constructed using a technique they call “volcano construction,” in which water pressure lifted heavy stone blocks through the monument’s central shafts. These blocks, once raised, could be positioned in place layer by layer from the inside out.
Rediscovering Gisr El-Mudir’s Purpose
Much of the theory hinges on the presence of two major hydraulic elements: a large rectangular enclosure west of the Step Pyramid known as Gisr el-Mudir, and a surrounding trench dubbed the “Dry Moat.” The former, thought to predate the pyramid itself, had previously defied clear interpretation. Some suggested it was a ceremonial enclosure, others an unfinished monument.
Landreau’s team, however, proposes that the enclosure functioned as a check dam, capturing sediment and floodwaters from the Abusir wadi. Using satellite imagery and elevation data, the researchers demonstrated that the structure meets key design criteria for regulating water flow, with its thick limestone walls and sediment-trapping fills arranged like a layered embankment. Its capacity, estimated at up to 440,000 cubic meters, would have been sufficient to support a steady supply of water throughout the building process.
Just downstream, the trench wrapping around Djoser’s pyramid—once believed to be purely symbolic—was revealed through excavation to contain deep rock-cut compartments. According to the study, this trench may have been a fully operational water treatment system, designed to filter and store floodwater from Gisr el-Mudir before it entered the pyramid’s interior.
Buried Technology Beneath the Limestone
At the heart of the pyramid itself lies a pair of twin shafts, each over 28 meters deep, with underground tunnels and a network of galleries extending from their bases. One is located beneath the center of the pyramid; the other lies approximately 200 meters to the south. Both shafts are equipped with granite boxes sealed with removable plugs and fitted into specially designed chambers.
During 20th-century excavations, French archaeologist Jean-Philippe Lauer documented that these boxes were “surrounded by coarse limestone and alabaster fragments,” layered with clay mortar to reduce permeability. Above them, wooden beams were found, apparently used to lift the massive plugs. Landreau’s team interprets this as a controlled hydraulic chamber, designed to regulate water flow and raise heavy stones via buoyancy.
“The granite box’s architecture and its removable plug present the technical signature of a water outlet mechanism,” the study states. The water, filtered and channeled from the trench, would have been introduced into the shaft, lifting stone blocks placed on floating platforms.
Precision Beyond Belief
Further support for the theory comes from the extraordinary engineering precision found within the Step Pyramid complex. The shaft structures were aligned with a tolerance difficult to achieve without advanced planning tools. Many of the joints between limestone blocks show evidence of meticulous craftsmanship, and the internal tunnels stretch more than 6.8 kilometers in total length.
The subterranean architecture also suggests intentional design for water movement. A 200-meter tunnel connects the two shafts. Other pipes, roughly 80 meters long, link the pyramid’s eastern shafts with the outer trench. The team argues that these features, along with the scale and layout of the shafts, are better explained as components of a hydraulic system than by traditional funerary interpretations.
Though the theory remains unconfirmed, its implications are significant. The presence of hydraulic design in a pyramid built more than 4,600 years ago would represent an unprecedented example of ancient engineering—one that predates known water-lifting technology by millennia.
A Missing Pharaoh and Unanswered Questions
Curiously, the Step Pyramid contains no confirmed remains of King Djoser, the pharaoh for whom it was built. The burial chamber lies empty, and the surrounding galleries lack the funerary inscriptions or decorative elements typical of royal tombs. Radiocarbon dating of bones found near the granite box suggests they belong to individuals from later periods.
This absence, the researchers argue, might point to a more utilitarian function for the pyramid’s internal spaces. While not dismissing the possibility of ritual use, the study emphasizes that technical utility—particularly water management and mechanical elevation—may have played a far more important role in its original construction than previously believed.
The paper’s authors include Guillaume Piton, Guillaume Morin, Pascal Bartout, Laurent Touchart, Christophe Giraud, and several others across disciplines ranging from hydrology to civil engineering. Their transdisciplinary approach combines archaeological data with fluid dynamics, topographical mapping, and historical analysis.
Their research ends by calling for additional excavations and surveys at Saqqara, particularly around the unexplored connections between the Dry Moat and the pyramid’s internal shafts. If these links are confirmed, it may reshape the historical understanding of pyramid construction across Ancient Egypt.
Seriously?! No real archaeologist is going to go down the alien technology route!
Only the idiots will believe this
Many ancient wonders of the world were built not by humans but by extra terrestrials. The technology required was sourced from out of this world. In Hindu scriptures, mentioned that shri krishna took help of vishwakarma, the heavenly architect to build Dwarka. Also mentioned that in Kaliyug contact with the gods (Extra terrestrials) was lost.
Raja, you’re saying that aliens traveled trillions of km to come to Earth to give humans stone technology? They came to tell us, “Place the heaviest stone at the bottom and the next heaviest stone above that, and so on, and you get a pyramid! Amazing! Just like our interstellar spaceships.”
That’s incredibly unlikely and diminishes us as humans. We’re smart enough to figure out how to build pyramids.
Dude, you’re forgetting something there was 2 other attempts to build a smooth sided pyramid funny how the alien idiots forget that detail
1 was abandoned and the other collapsed effing do some research
The technology described was appropriate for its time. Today we use machinery.
These archeologist have changed their mind so many times about the pyramids it’s ridiculously funny. ” There were giants in the earth in those days and also AFTER THAT “. Genesis 6. These people were referred to as giants ! These were most likely the fallen Angels who left their first estate. They were on the Earth after the flood and before. I’m very sure they would have been capable of many such things as building pyramids.
Apart from the complete nonsense of this so-called theory, you are insulting the descendants of the pyramid builders by claiming that their ancestors could not possibly have built them by themselves.
Absent proof, to the contrary, the Pyramids were built by Egyptians and not by aliens. Full stop.
These people obviously have not seen the latest data that is coming out of Egypt. How about the eight pillars underneath the pyramid and the two giant block foundation. Back to the drawing board. Nice diversion though actually it was quite lame
I’m a permaculture gardener, and I use elevation extensively to manage water. A large agricultural society would need pyramids with these features to irrigate the area, so I have been saying for years that I think the pyramids were originally part of a large irrigation system, of which only the stone base survives. It could have been covered by terraced gardens at one point.
Hi Kate, whilst I go down every route I don’t belive anything until it is proven, and like you I am tired of people saying if the Egyptians did not build the Pyramids then aliens built them. It makes just as much sense to consider the possibility that previous civilisations could have built them. I’m over running with other people’s ideas, and don’t mind being wrong, because that is how I learn. You know with all the climate changes in that area over thousands of years, the pyrimids could have been built to simply collect fresh water. And I doubt that the Pyrimids were built with ramps either
, like most archologists profess. That would be underestamating the Egyptians abilities, because there was a much simpler way to build them, and they would have known that. Nice talking to Kate.
These scientists have been guessing for decades.