Post-hole ramp of the Hatnub quarry
Rampa con postes de la cantera de Hatnub
- Date
- c. 2600 BCE · confidence medium
- Place
- Hatnub, Eastern Desert, Minya, Egypt
- Credited to
- Egyptian Fourth Dynasty quarry expeditions
- Field
- Tools
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A steep ramp flanked by stairs and rows of post-holes was used to haul alabaster blocks uphill on sledges and ropes. It is the clearest direct evidence of how great stones were raised in Khufu's time.
Found and published by Yannis Gourdon and Roland Enmarch (2018). It shows a real ramp technique but does not prove how the pyramids were built, which remains debated; the date rests on inscriptions of Khufu.
What it led to
- helps explain block transport at the Giza works
- use of simple post-and-rope pulley arrangements to cut effort
- epigraphic documentation of how quarry expeditions were organised