An international research team led by Eman Ghoneim at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, USA, has made a groundbreaking discovery of a long-buried branch of the Nile River that once flowed along over 30 pyramids. The 64 km long river, named Ahramat, was hidden beneath the desert and farmland for millennia, flowing through the Giza pyramid complex and other structures. This discovery, detailed in research published in the journal Communications Earth & Environment, might also explain why 31 pyramids were built along a barren desert strip of the Nile valley near the ancient capital of Memphis.
Scientists have long speculated that the Egyptians used a nearby waterway to transport materials for pyramid construction, but the exact details were unknown. Using radar satellite images, the research team was able to map the buried tributary and confirm its existence through field surveys and sediment cores. The tributary was gradually buried by sand, possibly starting from a major drought around 4,200 years ago.
The Giza Pyramids are located one kilometer from the riverbank, with raised walkways along the river leading to Valley Temples that served as harbors for construction materials and labor. According to Suzanne Onstine of the University of Memphis, the river likely played a crucial role in transporting heavy materials needed to build the pyramids, as it was easier to float materials down the river than to transport them over land. The discovery of the river may also explain why
