Egyptian pyramids were built using an incredibly clever machine, new research suggests

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Have been a cause of amazement and puzzlement for centuries.

impressive use of water.

Fair dinkum, a new study's suggested that at least one of the big structures was built using gear that was a fair bit more advanced than people thought.

On 5 August, it's suggested that the famous 4,500-year-old Step Pyramid of Djoser was built with the aid of a special hydraulic lift system.

In the past, experts thought the Step Pyramid most likely was built using a network of ramps and pulleys.

However, the latest analysis, led by Xavier Landreau of the French CEA Paleotechnic Institute, suggests the Ancient Egyptians funnelled nearby canals to power their grain lifts.

The study shows that water was channelled into two shafts within the pyramid, which were used to help lift and lower a float carrying heavy stone building blocks.

“Archaeologists note that the ancient Egyptians were renowned for their innovative and skilled use of hydraulic systems, such as canals for irrigation and boats to haul massive stone blocks into place.”

“The research in this work paves the way for a new area of investigation: utilising hydraulic pressure to construct the monumental buildings manufactured by the Pharaohs.”

The Step Pyramid is thought to've been built about 2680 BCE as a funeral site for Pharaoh Djoser from the Third Dynasty. Still, the exact way it was put up's a mystery.

Landreau and his colleagues are sayin' that a nearby structure, known as Gisr el-Mudir enclosure, was actually a "check dam" that caught water and sediment.

They reckon a series of dugouts just outside the pyramid might've functioned as a treatment plant for the water. This would've allowed bits of sediment to settle out as the water flowed through each section of the system.

After flowing into the pyramid's shafts themselves, the pressured water would have floated the building blocks towards the upper levels of the structure via an internal service tunnel, known as "volcano" construction.

However, despite being confident that "the internal architecture of the Step Pyramid is consistent with a hydraulic elevation device previously unrecorded," the authors still acknowledge that further examinations are required.

They're now looking to figure out how water may have flowed through the shafts and how much water was likely available in the surrounding area thousands of years back.

Still, they reckon that while other structures, including ramps, would've most likely been used to help construct the pyramid, a hydraulic lift system could've been used to give support to the building process when there was enough water.

They stress that their study, done in conjunction with "several national laboratories", has led to "the discovery of a dam, a water treatment facility, and a hydraulic elevator, which would have enabled the construction of the Step Pyramid of Saqqara."

They conclude: "This work opens up a new area for the scientific community: using hydraulic power to construct the pyramids of Egypt."

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