History Dragging a giant
A painting in the tomb of a governor named Djehutihotep, from around 1880 BC, shows 172 men pulling a huge statue of him on a wooden sledge. A man stands at the front pouring water onto the sand in front of the runners.
History Why pour water?
In 2014, scientists at the University of Amsterdam tested the idea with model sledges. With the right amount of water, sand becomes stiffer, so a sledge slides over it instead of pushing up a heap in front. They found it could halve the force needed. It doesn't prove exactly how every stone was moved, but it shows the picture makes sense.
History Sledges, not rollers
People often picture stones being rolled along on logs, but Egyptian paintings show heavy loads on sledges. Rollers sink into soft sand, while a sledge slides well on a firm track, and remains of tracks of mud and timber have been found at ancient building sites.
Art In this artwork
The illustration shows two workers pulling a wooden sledge loaded with a big sandstone block. Real teams were much larger, from dozens to hundreds of people for the heaviest loads.
Look closer
- Find the sledge's runners.
- How many workers are pulling?
Think about it
- Why does wet sand help a sledge slide?
- How many people would you need to move a statue as heavy as a truck?
- How are very heavy things moved today?
Key words
- Sledge
- A vehicle that slides on runners instead of wheels.
- Friction
- The force that slows things rubbing together.
- Runner
- A long smooth strip under a sledge.
Use it in class
- How were the pyramids built? (Explainer, grades 3-8)
Sources
The history on this page is a short summary based on these sources:
- Fall, Bonn and colleagues, "Sliding Friction on Wet and Dry Sand", Physical Review Letters (2014)
- Dieter Arnold, Building in Egypt: Pharaonic Stone Masonry (1991)
- Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids (1997)
