A video circulating on social media has claimed that wood and concrete were used to build the pyramids in Egypt.
We also traced similar videos on X (formerly Twitter) from 2022 that claimed ancient concrete was poured into wooden moulds to haul blocks to the pyramids. Archives of those videos can be found here and here.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: X/Screenshot)
This post recorded 26.7 million views at the time of writing this story. (Archives of similar claims can be found here, here and here.)
Is this true?: These claims are not true. The Quint spoke to Peter Lacovara, an Egyptologist and Director of The Ancient Egyptian Archaeology and Heritage Fund, who told us that both wood and concrete were not used in the process of building pyramids.
How did we find out?: Lacovara told us that at the time, there was not "enough wood" to build the moulds and scaffolding.
He said, "The blocks in the pyramid are not uniform in size and shape as they would be if they were made in a mould."
He added that limestone was mostly on the site. However, the white casing stone which came from across the river at the quarries at Tura.
The expert further said the blocks were "partially quarried" and the tool marks can be seen on the finished blocks. He clarified that blocks are made out of limestone and not concrete.
News reports about Pyramids:
We also came across a report by the New York Times dated 23 April 2003 which noted, "Any synthetic material showing up in tests - as it has occasionally, even in work not trying to prove a concrete connection - is probably just slop from "modern" repairs done over the centuries."
The story also noted there is no proof indicating that pyramids are constructed using materials other than massive limestone blocks as indicated by archaeologists.
Another report by the History Channel dated 2 November 2018 included a comment by Kara Clooney, professor of Egyptian art and architecture at the University of California in Los Angeles in the United States of America. She said that how the Egyptians lifted the heavy blocks up to the pyramids was still unknown.
Conclusion: The claim made in the video that wood was used in the process of building pyramids is false and experts have dismissed this theory.
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