The puzzle of how the pyramids were constructed may be solved by the discovery of an ancient waterway.

The finding of an old branch of the Nile that formerly passed through Giza may have finally provided an explanation for the construction of the pyramids. The massive waterway, which was hundreds of meters wide, has long since dried up but could have served as a means of transportation for the massive quantities of labor and materials required to build the famous sites thousands of years ago.

The pyramids' concentration along the Nile floodplain's western desert edge, according to the researchers, suggests that the region was formerly nourished by a sizable watercourse that could have supported large-scale building endeavors. "If there are pyramids everywhere in this specific area, there must have been in the past water bodies that carried or facilitated the transportation of rocks and large numbers of workers to these sites,"

"We understand that there was a highway and a waterway that the ancient Egyptians used, but no one is certain of its location," she said. "How large was this Nile branch? Specifically, where was this branch located? To what extent did this branch align with the real pyramid sites?

Ghoneim had to enlarge his view as much as possible in order to investigate the Nile Valley from space using data from radar satellites. The images opened a window into an "invisible world of information beneath the surface" due to the ability of radar waves to penetrate the earth. This revealed the existence of a dried-up riverbed that stretches about 100 kilometers (62 miles) through the desert and agricultural land.

Ghoneim stated, "Its length was probably very, very long, but it was also very wide in some places." "We're talking about a width of at least half a kilometer, which is comparable to the width of the Nile course today."

It wasn't a little branch, then. It was a significant branch.

The researchers have named the abandoned waterway, which runs from Faiyum to Giza and passes through 38 distinct pyramid sites, the Ahramat Branch, or Pyramid Branch in Arabic. In order to ascertain whether the ancient riverbed was active during the Old and Middle Kingdoms (3,700–4,700 years ago), when the pyramids were constructed, the team now intends to examine soil cores from that location.

It's hard to make any firm conclusions without this confirmation, but there are a number of red flags that point to the branch's involvement in the construction of the monuments: according to Ghoneim, "most of these pyramids used to have a causeway that ends usually with what we call a valley temple, which is like a harbor or ancient port," and the majority of these valley temples are "located exactly at the bank of the branch that we found."

The discovery of ancient Nile branches may aid in the discovery of other lost sites, which could aid in the excavation of additional mysteries related to ancient Egypt, according to Ghoneim, in addition to offering fresh perspectives on the building of the pyramids. "Because rivers always do that, the main course of the Nile has migrated over time—in some places east, in some places west," she said.

"We have no idea where to find Ancient Egyptian cities and towns, just as branches vanished and silted up and vanished too." She stated that researchers have a greater chance of finding these ancient settlements if they follow the path of ancient waterways, all of which will contribute to "understanding our history, the Egyptian heritage."

A laboratory in France analyzed the soil samples. The analysis looked for vegetation and pollen that are typically found near the Nile, as these would indicate the presence of an ancient waterway.

After much effort, they were able to verify the Khufu Branch's existence, which was responsible for transporting the stone slabs needed for the pyramid's construction. It was thought that the tributary dried up around 600 BC.

During their investigation, the research team also found 61 different species of plants.

According to Hader Sheisha, an environmental geographer, building the pyramids would have been "impossible" without this tributary.

The papyrus that described the difficulties an officer named "Merer" faced carrying limestone up the Nile to a building site in Giza served as the impetus for the investigation and the discovery that followed. In the Red Sea was the papyrus discovered.

Ms Shiesha told The New York Times, "I was so interested because this confirms that the building materials of the pyramid were transported over water."