There are many mind blowing things about the pyramids, from the fact that Cleopatra lived closer to the Moon Landings than the construction of the Great Pyramid to the idea that they remained the tallest man-made structures on Earth for more than 3,800 years.
However, one of the most basic and staggering facts about these colossal constructions is that they were even built in the first place. Just how did the ancient Egyptians shift stones weighing as much as 2.5-tonnes with technology no more complex than a sledge?
Now, a group of physicists say that they've uncovered that "one weird trick" that helped ancient engineers drag the huge stones across the desert. The magic ingredient? A little water.
Researchers from the University of Amsterdam and the Foundation for Fundamental Research on Matter found that by wetting the ground in front of their sledges, ancient Egyptians would have been able to pull large blocks of stones and statues across the desert without the sand piling up in front of the vehicle.
"Everyone who has been to the beach will know that dry sand doesn't make good sandcastles - the grains slump into a puddle when the bucket is lifted," reads the report, published last week in the journal Physical Review Letters. "Adding water can solve this problem: the grains stick and the castle holds its shape. This is great for sandcastle building, and also, it turns out, for sand transportation.
