The construction of Egypt’s Great Pyramid has long baffled archaeologists, with no surviving ancient texts explaining how its massive stone blocks were lifted and assembled so quickly.
Now, a new study proposes that the Pyramid of Khufu may have been built using a sophisticated hidden ramp system capable of moving stone blocks every few minutes.
Computer scientist Vicente Luis Rosell Roig introduced what he calls the Integrated Edge-Ramp (IER) model, a spiral ramp built into the pyramid’s outer edges that was filled in as construction progressed.
This design would have allowed workers to move stone blocks steadily upward without constructing massive external ramps that would have required enormous amounts of additional material.
Using advanced computer modeling, logistics simulations and structural analysis, the study found the method could sustain ‘four to six minutes dispatches,’ meaning stone blocks may have been placed at a rapid, consistent pace.
The model estimated that the pyramid itself could have been built in roughly 14 to 21 years.
However, when additional factors such as quarrying, river transport and seasonal pauses were included, the total construction time expanded to 20 to 27 years, a timeline widely accepted among archaeologists.
Rosell Roig also found the ramp geometry aligned with unexplained internal spaces previously detected inside the pyramid, stating it is ‘consistent with internal voids identified by muon imaging (a hypothesis-generating result).’
‘Old Kingdom technology precluded iron tools, wheeled heavy transport, and compound pulleys, but allowed copper chisels, water-lubricated sledges, ropes, levers, earthen works, and Nile barges,’ Rosell Roig said in a study in NPJ Heritage Science, published in March 2026.
‘Accordingly, we bound ramp slope, lane width/clearance, and friction, and evaluate the dispatch headway (time between placing successive blocks) required to satisfy the 20–27-year window, encoding these constraints as model parameters.’
The Great Pyramid remains one of the largest construction projects ever attempted, measuring roughly 755 feet along each side of its base and rising about 481 feet high.
Historians estimate the monument was assembled from around 2.3 million stone blocks, requiring an extraordinary level of organization to complete, during Pharaoh Khufu’s reign.
For centuries, experts have debated how ancient builders managed to raise such massive materials with limited technology while maintaining the pyramid’s precise geometry.
Many earlier ramp theories struggled to explain how construction could continue efficiently without creating obstacles or requiring vast amounts of additional material.
Rosell Roig’s research aimed to address these challenges by combining multiple forms of analysis into a single integrated system.
According to the study, he created ‘a unified, end-to-end pipeline coupling parametric geometry, discrete-event logistics and staged finite-element analysis (FEA).’ In simple terms, he built a computer model that simulated how stones were moved and how the structure stayed stable as it rose layer by layer.
At the center of the system is the IER ramp itself, a gradual path built into the pyramid’s outer structure rather than relying on massive external ramps.
Sections of the outer stone layers were temporarily left open to form the upward path, then filled in as work progressed, removing visible evidence of the ramp once construction was complete.
Rosell Roig described this method as ‘a helical path formed by omitting and backfilling perimeter courses,’ allowing the ramp to rise alongside the structure.
Timing proved to be one of the most important elements of the study. The model calculated that maintaining steady block placement intervals would allow construction to proceed within realistic historical timeframes.
When expanded to include additional logistical steps such as quarrying stone and transporting materials along the Nile, the overall construction window increased but remained consistent with accepted estimates.
Structural stability was another major focus, with staged finite-element analysis used to simulate the pressure created as each new layer of stone was added to the growing monument.
The results showed that ‘stresses and settlements remain within plausible limits for Old Kingdom limestone under self-weight,’ indicating the structure could support its own immense mass throughout construction.
The model was also tested against physical observations already detected inside the pyramid. Imaging technology has revealed unexplained internal spaces, and the study found that the proposed ramp geometry corresponds with those features.
That alignment suggests the voids may not be accidental gaps, but structural elements created as part of the building process.
A key strength of the model is its ability to be tested. Rather than offering an unprovable idea, the research outlines measurable physical markers that archaeologists could investigate.
These include ‘falsifiable predictions (edge-fill signatures, corner wear),’ referring to specific patterns expected where ramps were filled in or where heavy traffic would have caused repeated wear.
According to Rosell Roig, the IER model helps solve several long-standing questions about how the pyramid was constructed efficiently without leaving visible traces.
He wrote that the system ‘helps reconcile throughput, survey access, and zero-footprint closure,’ meaning it allows construction to remain efficient while preserving the pyramid’s final appearance.
By combining logistics, geometry and structural modeling into a single framework, the study presents what it describes as a workable construction pathway grounded in measurable constraints.
If future archaeological investigations confirm the predicted physical evidence, the findings could reshape modern understanding of how one of the world’s most famous monuments was built, not through brute force alone, but through careful planning, engineering precision and a construction method designed to disappear into the finished structure itself.
