Scientists find buried branch of the Nile that may have carried pyramids’ stones

Scientists find buried branch of the Nile that may have carried pyramids’ stones

Scientists have discovered a long-buried branch of the Nile River that once flowed alongside more than 30 pyramids in Egypt, potentially solving the mystery of how ancient Egyptians transported the massive stone blocks to build the monuments.The 64-kilometre-long river branch, which ran by the iconic Giza pyramid complex among other wonders, was hidden under desert and farmland for millennia, according to a study revealing the find on Thursday.The existence of the river would explain why the 31 pyramids were built in a chain along a now inhospitable desert strip in the Nile valley between 4,700 and 3,700 years ago.The strip near the ancient Egyptian capital of Memphis includes the Great Pyramid of Giza – the only surviving structure of the seven wonders of the ancient world – as well as the Khafre, Cheops and Mykerinos pyramids.Archaeologists had long thought that ancient Egyptians must have used a nearby waterway to move the giant materials used to build the pyramids.“But nobody was certain of the location, the shape, the size or proximity of this mega waterway to the actual pyramids site,” lead study author Eman Ghoneim of the University of North Carolina Wilmington in the United States said.The international team of researchers