Traditionally, scientists have assumed that the builders used external ramps and raised the blocks layer by layer, a time-consuming technique, but one that does not explain how the pyramid was built in just two decades.
Now, a team of scientists is proposing a completely different system: building the pyramid from the inside out using counterweights and pulley-like mechanisms hidden inside the structure.
In a new study published in the journal Nature, Dr. Simon Andreas Schuring of Weill Cornell Medical College in New York explained that this internal system allowed builders to lift and place huge blocks at an astonishing rate, sometimes as much as one block per minute, without the need for brute force.
The system's concept uses counterweights sliding along inclined internal corridors, generating enough force to lift the blocks to the upper levels of the pyramid.
Internal architectural features of the pyramid, such as the great gallery and the ascending passage, indicate that they functioned as internal ramps onto which weights were dropped to generate the required force.
The front chamber, a small granite room before the king's chamber, was traditionally considered a security feature to prevent thefts, but the study reinterpreted it as a pulley-like mechanism, with grooves and stone supports suggesting a practical use for securing ropes and wooden beams to lift the stones.
According to the reconstruction proposed by Schuring, the system would allow workers to lift stones up to 60 tons, and the force could be adjusted as needed, just as gears are changed in modern machines.
The scratches and wear on the walls of the interior corridors suggest the passage of heavy sleds, rather than human movement or ceremonial rituals.
The uneven floor and scratches in the front room indicate the presence of a vertical column that was connected to the system and was sealed off after construction was completed.
Some deviations in the location of the chambers, such as the Queen's Chamber which is not exactly in the center of the pyramid, support the idea that the design took into account the mechanical constraints of the internal system, and not just aesthetic symmetry.
Even features of the external structure, such as the slight concavity of the pyramid's faces and the gradation of stone layers, may reflect how internal slopes and lifting points moved during construction, with the weight of the stones decreasing at higher levels.
The Schurring model offers testable predictions, such as the likelihood that there are no large hidden chambers at the pyramid's core, a finding supported by recent muon-ray surveys.
However, small passageways or remnants of internal ramps may remain in the upper levels of the structure.
If this hypothesis is confirmed, it will reshape archaeologists’ understanding of how the Great Pyramid, and perhaps all the pyramids in ancient Egypt, were built.
The Great Pyramid of Khufu was built as a tomb for Pharaoh Khufu around 2560 BC, about 4585 years ago, and is the largest of the Giza pyramids.
The pharaoh's mummy and treasures were never found, and it remained the tallest building in the world for thousands of years, the only ancient wonder that remained almost intact.
The pyramid is distinguished by the precision of its construction from millions of stone blocks and its complex internal corridors leading to the King's Chamber.
