00:00Thousands of years ago, way before cranes, engines, or electricity,
00:05the ancient Egyptians pulled off one of the greatest architectural feats ever,
00:09the pyramids.
00:11The massive stone blocks, some weighing as much as a Range Rover,
00:15sitting at a height of over 200 feet,
00:18seemed so unreal that many even believed ETs helped build them.
00:23But new research shows the secret was actually right here on Earth.
00:27The Egyptians probably used a giant ancient water elevator
00:31to move those heavy stones for their very first pyramid,
00:34the Step Pyramid of Jouzer, around 4,700 years ago.
00:40Now, the first question that comes to mind is,
00:42where did they find such huge amounts of water
00:45to run this construction in the middle of the desert?
00:48Some studies say that the Sahara Desert had more regular rainfall
00:52thousands of years ago than it does today.
00:54So, the landscape resembled a savanna.
00:57not a desert.
00:58So, it was possible there was enough natural water
01:01to support the hydraulic lift.
01:03Researchers found deep vertical shafts inside the first stone pyramid.
01:07They used a computer model that had info about the pyramids
01:11remaining inside parts and the underground tunnels at the site.
01:14The team also used high-resolution satellite pictures of the area
01:18to include the amount of rainfall from the past in their research.
01:22It looks like the Egyptians would place a heavy stone block
01:26on top of a floating wooden platform, kind of like a raft,
01:30then slowly fill the shaft with water,
01:33and the rising water would lift the platform and the stone upwards,
01:37sort of like an ancient elevator in action.
01:39This cool process is called hydraulic lifting,
01:43and it's very similar to how some modern machinery works.
01:47But when the Egyptians used it, I mean, if they ever did,
01:51they would have had to do it with the most basic tools
01:53and a really advanced understanding of how water behaves.
01:57They would have to carefully control the amount of water added to each shaft
02:02to raise the stone blocks gradually
02:04and stop at the desired level to move the stones into place.
02:08The scientists now want to find out if it was the first major system of this kind
02:12or if someone had used it before the Egyptians.
02:16Now, not all archaeologists fully agree with this idea.
02:20Some point out there is no direct evidence like writings or diagrams from that time
02:25that would prove the Egyptians actually used a hydraulic lift system.
02:29Whether or not they actually used this exact method,
02:33one thing is clear.
02:34The people who built the Step Pyramid were geniuses in their own right.
02:39They figured out how to move massive stones
02:41all the way to the top of the pyramid with incredible precision
02:45and used techniques that still impress scientists today.
02:49West of the pyramid, archaeologists found some evidence
02:52of a human-made lake or reservoir.
02:55They believe the Egyptians may have created this temporary lake
02:59and used channels or canals to move the water toward the pyramid.
03:03The pyramid itself may have been surrounded by a moat
03:06that helped direct water into these vertical shafts.
03:09There's even an enormous stone structure nearby
03:12which could have acted like a dam.
03:15It stored and filtered water in the amounts they needed.
03:17In fact, scientists have discovered that 31 pyramids are likely to have been built
03:22along a long-lost ancient branch of the River Nile.
03:26It is now hidden under desert and farmland.
03:29For many years, archaeologists have thought that ancient Egyptians
03:32must have used a nearby waterway to transport materials,
03:36equipment, people, and whatever else they needed to build the pyramids on the river.
03:41But up until recently, they weren't certain of the location, shape, size,
03:47or proximity of this waterway to the site of the pyramids.
03:50They used radar satellite imagery, historical maps, geophysical surveys,
03:55and sediment coring to map the river branch.
03:58The scientists believe that a huge drought and sandstorms buried it thousands of years ago.
04:04They managed to go below the surface of the sand
04:06and get images of some hidden features thanks to radar technology.
04:11The team found hidden rivers and ancient structures running at the foothills
04:14of where most of the ancient Egyptian pyramids lie.
04:18The discovery of this extinct river branch could explain
04:21why there are so many pyramids between Gaza and Lich
04:25in what is now an inhospitable area of the Saharan Desert.
04:29And if it wasn't cool enough,
04:32the area seems to have had a kind of water filtration system.
04:35Looks like they built it using a series of stone compartments
04:38that look surprisingly similar to modern water treatment plants.
04:42So, the Egyptians probably weren't just filling up the shafts with any water.
04:47They may have been managing and purifying it.
04:50They wanted to make sure it was clean and flowing in the right amounts,
04:54not to damage the pyramid or flood the area.
04:57Alright, water transportation is a complex issue.
05:01But even the most basic things,
05:02like how many sides the Great Pyramid of Giza has,
05:05can still surprise us.
05:07It's not four, as you might logically conclude.
05:10It's not even five or three, but eight.
05:14In 1926, a British pilot flew over the pyramid
05:17and took photos from above,
05:19and only then officially confirmed it.
05:22From that high up view,
05:23he noticed that each of the pyramid's four faces
05:26is slightly indented down the middle,
05:28from top to bottom.
05:30These shallow inward dips make each face split into two halves,
05:34turning the pyramid into something more like an octagon.
05:38That indentation is so subtle,
05:40you'd never see it standing next to the pyramid.
05:43But from the air, it becomes obvious.
05:46This odd shape may have actually helped keep the pyramid stable
05:50for over 4,500 years.
05:52The special inward sloping design,
05:55plus a super strong base,
05:57could have helped it survive all kinds of natural disasters,
06:00like earthquakes, heavy rains,
06:03and constant pressure from its own massive weight.
06:06The pyramid has likely faced over 500 severe rainstorms in its lifetime.
06:12And thanks to its design,
06:13the pyramid's angled stone layers
06:15may have actually gotten stronger over time,
06:18kind of like how a screw tightens when you turn it.
06:21If the pyramid had been built with totally flat and level stone layers,
06:26it might have started to fall apart instead.
06:29The latest news from the pyramids
06:31is that there could be a massive ancient city
06:33hidden deep beneath them.
06:36Two scientists announced that they used a new method
06:39to read data from a technology called
06:41Synthetic Aperture Radar, SAR.
06:44It's kind of like x-ray vision for the ground,
06:47and satellites normally use it to look beneath Earth's surface.
06:50So, they say that with this cool tech,
06:53they managed to spot giant structures over a mile underground,
06:57directly beneath the Pyramid of Khafra at Giza.
07:01The scientists found eight deep shafts surrounded by spiral paths,
07:05all leading to two enormous cube-shaped chambers,
07:09each one almost 300 feet wide.
07:12There are five more structures above the shafts,
07:15all connected by tunnels.
07:17All this might be part of a prehistoric underground city,
07:20or even an ancient power station.
07:23The idea isn't new.
07:25A long time ago,
07:26the ancient Greek historian Herodotus
07:28already talked about hidden chambers under the pyramids.
07:31During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance,
07:33similar rumors popped up again.
07:35Then, in the 20th century,
07:37an American psychic claimed there was a hall of records buried under Giza.
07:43This new case is different,
07:45because the people who announced it have real scientific backgrounds,
07:48hold doctorates,
07:49and claim to have invented a new type of scanning method.
07:52But still,
07:53many experts are skeptical about this finding.
07:56No one has officially proved or tested this new technology that they rely on.
08:00They base their reconstructions on imaginative guesses and not hard evidence.
08:06And most importantly,
08:08the claims don't fit with what archaeologists already know about the area from actual excavations.
08:14So, until there's solid, peer-reviewed evidence,
08:18the idea of a lost city under the pyramids will remain just an idea.
08:26That's it for today.
08:27So, hey, if you pacified your curiosity,
08:29then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
08:32Or, if you want more,
08:33just click on these videos and stay on the bright side!
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