Scientists Figured Out How Ancient Egyptians Moved Huge Pyramid Stones

Researchers have long known that ancient Egyptians hauled the stones on sledges. But the scientists behind the new study say that to keep the sledges from sinking into the sand, the workers saturated the sand with water before moving the sledges -- to form a more solid surface."The water forms liquid bridges that glue the sand grains together, as in a sandcastle," study co-author Dr. Daniel Bonn, a professor of physics at the University of Amsterdam, told The Huffington Post in an email. "The inspiration for the research was a tomb drawing that showed exactly this."The drawing in question, found at the tomb of Djehutihotep, depicts a person standing on the front of a sledge, pouring water over the sand just in front of it. To test the technique, the scientists compared pulling a mini-sled over dry sand to pulling it over wet sand.What did they find? The effort required to pull the sled over wet sand was significantly lower.(huffingtonpost.com)Bakudaily.az