Editing Egyptian pyramids (section)

==Construction techniques==
[[File:Colosse-djéhoutihétep2.jpg|thumb|300px|Drawing showing transportation of a colossus. The water poured in the path of the sledge, long dismissed by Egyptologists as ritual, but now confirmed as feasible, served to increase the stiffness of the sand, and likely reduced by 50% the force needed to move the statue.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/02/the-surprisingly-simple-way-egyptians-moved-massive-pyramid-stones-without-modern-technology/ |title=The surprisingly simple way Egyptians moved massive pyramid stones without modern technology |author=Terrence McCoy |date=2014-05-02 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |access-date=26 August 2017 |archive-date=5 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140505081145/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/05/02/the-surprisingly-simple-way-egyptians-moved-massive-pyramid-stones-without-modern-technology/ |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
{{Main|Egyptian pyramid construction techniques}}
{{see|Diary of Merer}}Constructing the pyramids involved moving huge quantities of stone. While most blocks came from nearby quarries, special stones were transported on great barges from distant locations, for instance white limestone from [[Tura, Egypt|Tura]] and granite from [[Stone quarries of ancient Egypt#The quarries of Aswan|Aswan]].{{Sfn|Lehner|1997|p=207}} 

In 2013, papyri, named [[Diary of Merer]], were discovered at an ancient Egyptian harbor at the Red Sea coast. They are logbooks written over 4,500 years ago by an official with the title ''inspector'', who documented the transport of white limestone from the Tura quarries, along the Nile River, to the Great Pyramid of Giza, the tomb of the Pharaoh Khufu.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Stille |first1=Alexander |title=The World's Oldest Papyrus and What It Can Tell Us About the Great Pyramids |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ancient-egypt-shipping-mining-farming-economy-pyramids-180956619/ |access-date=26 June 2018 |website=Smithsonian Magazine |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923062548/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/ancient-egypt-shipping-mining-farming-economy-pyramids-180956619/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

It is possible that quarried blocks were then transported to the construction site by wooden sleds, with sand in front of the sled wetted to reduce [[friction]]. Droplets of water created bridges between the grains of sand, helping them stick together.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Solved! How Ancient Egyptians Moved Massive Pyramid Stones |work=Live Science |url=https://www.livescience.com/45285-how-egyptians-moved-pyramid-stones.html |access-date=2018-02-26 |archive-date=1 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220101042714/https://www.livescience.com/45285-how-egyptians-moved-pyramid-stones.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Workers cut the stones close to the construction site, as indicated by the numerous finds of cutting tools. The finished blocks were placed on the pre-prepared foundations.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Building in Ancient Egypt: foundations of stone buildings |url=https://www.ucl.ac.uk/museums-static/digitalegypt/architecture/foundation.html |access-date=11 July 2022 |website=ucl.ac.uk}}</ref> The foundations were levelled using a rough square level, water trenches and experienced surveyors.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EGYPTIAN SURVEYING TOOLS |url=http://www.surveyhistory.org/egyptian_surveying_tools1.htm |access-date=11 July 2022 |website=surveyhistory.org}}</ref>