Recent research into how the Great Pyramid of Giza was built may offer new clues about a mysterious void discovered within Egypt’s largest monument.
Also known as Khufu’s Pyramid, the structure is both the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World and the only one to have remained standing for thousands of years. Equally intriguing is the mystery of its construction, which has also remained a matter of debate for millennia, making it one of archaeology’s longest-running controversies.
However, a new study published in npj Heritage Science argues that the famous ancient megastructure may have been built using a special ramp employing a helical path, which would have been constructed into the face of the pyramid itself.
The new theory was developed by independent Spanish researcher Vicente Luis Rosell Roig, based on computational models that employed mathematical simulation. The resulting theory, which Roig characterizes as the Integrated Edge-Ramp (IER) model, considers factors such as the weight of individual limestone blocks used in the Great Pyramid’s construction and limitations imposed by the structural systems that could have facilitated their placement.
In addition to offering mathematical support for a working ramp system that feasibly could have been used for the construction of the Great Pyramid, Roig says his findings appear to align with past detections of a large cavity and other anomalies within the structure, suggesting the existence of this “void” may be related to the monument’s structural stages.
A Novel Theory of Pyramid Construction
One of the fundamental problems Roig identified with past theories involving a singular ramp for the Great Pyramid’s construction was the large amount of material that would have been left behind, for which there is virtually no archaeological evidence.
To account for the absence of evidence for an external ramp, Roig considered the possibility that a ramp had been built into the structure itself and later filled in as the monument neared completion.
Based on the period spanning Khufu’s 27-year reign, Roig also calculated that a monument assembled from an estimated 2.3 million limestone and granite blocks would have required an average of one block being placed roughly every one to three minutes—a daunting task, even by today’s engineering standards.
According to Roig, using a single ramp to construct the Great Pyramid would have taken at least half a century. By comparison, an Integrated Edge-Ramp model of construction could have incorporated multiple ramps—perhaps as many as sixteen—which could have facilitated primary construction of the Great Pyramid in under 14 years.
However, quarrying the stone, transporting it, and accounting for seasonal periods of inactivity would extend that to 20-27 years, which Roig still found to be a good match for the historical information available on the construction of Khufu’s pyramid.
A Two-Way Ramp System
Based on Roig’s Integrated Edge-Ramp model, a ramp slightly narrower than four meters would have allowed for two-way movement along the face of the structure, including sleds, which the pyramid’s builders would have relied on to help move the massive blocks toward their destination, as well as empty sleds being returned for the next load.
However, Roig notes that 90° turns, which would have been required at locations where the ramp rounded corners on the structure, would present “operational bottlenecks.” To overcome this, he suggests that platforms would have been required in these locations “as operational buffers where teams can pass and execute pivots safely, with minimal impact on the construction sequence,” and that these could be removed, like the ramp itself, as construction progressed.
Overall, Roig found that this method of construction would meet structural engineering standards for stress distribution and that it would not have resulted in dangerous stress levels in any part of the monument during the building phase.
New Support for the Great Pyramid “Void”?
Intriguingly, Roig’s study also revealed a surprise: the IER model he proposes may support past muon tomography studies conducted by the ScanPyramids mission, which found apparent structural spaces within the pyramid.
Between 2016 and 2017, the research, led by Cairo University in collaboration with the French Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute, identified a large “void” within the Great Pyramid, along with several other smaller internal features.
Roig says that, based on the IER model’s predicted path, the ancient helical ramp he suggests the Great Pyramid’s builders used aligns well with the locations of the cavities ScanPyramids identified.
“The alignment is compatible with density anomalies from backfilled construction infrastructure,” Roig writes, though noting that “alternative explanations remain viable at present resolution.”
“Non-detection of internal spirals or specific helical voids must be interpreted within method sensitivity and coverage limits,” he adds, emphasizing that “current data neither confirm nor exclude edge-integrated backfill.”
Fundamentally, Roig concludes that while other possible construction methods cannot yet be ruled out, the helical approach he examined would have offered several benefits.
“While a single ramp shows baseline feasibility, meeting Khufu’s reign requires parallelizing a multi-ramp system,” Roig writes, adding that “The multi-ramp system offers qualitative advantages within Old Kingdom constraints.”
Roig’s recent study, “A computational framework for evaluating an edge-integrated, multi-ramp construction model of the Great Pyramid of Giza,” appeared in npj Heritage Science.
Micah Hanks is the Editor-in-Chief and Co-Founder of The Debrief. A longtime reporter on science, defense, and technology with a focus on space and astronomy, he can be reached at micah@thedebrief.org. Follow him on X @MicahHanks, and at micahhanks.com.