Construction errors caused the Great Egyptian pyramid to deviate

Scientists discovered that the base line of the Giza Great Pyramid does not form a perfect square, the western side is longer than the east side.

Scientists at Glen Dash Research Foundation, USA, and the Association of Ancient Egyptian Studies (AERA) discovered that they were skewed by a construction error made 4,500 years ago. The construction base line does not form a perfect square, the pyramid's western edge is slightly longer than the eastern edge, Science Alert reported on January 25. t

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built to honor Pharaoh Khufu, the ruler of the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt, from 2551 to 2528 BC. This is the largest pyramid of the three pyramids on the Giza plateau. When completed, the Great Pyramid of Giza has a white limestone outer shell. This limestone is destroyed over time, forming the pyramid shape we know today.

The Great Giza pyramid was deflected to one side.(Photo: Reuters).

"Most of the limestone in the outer shell of the Great Pyramid of Giza has been exploited for centuries as a building material. This makes it no longer look like it was originally , " said Glen Dash, who stands Glen Dash Research Foundation, said.

To find out the original appearance of the Great Pyramid of Giza before the outer shell disappeared, the team measured its original edges. This is quite a difficult task. The first step is to locate the white limestone in the outer shell, by looking for signs and checking the base of the pyramid.

The team found 84 boundary markers at the initial position. These points are plotted on a grid, then they use a technique called linear regression to calculate edge lengths. The results showed that the eastern edge of the pyramid originally had a length of 230,295 - 230,373m. Meanwhile the western edge of the pyramid has a length of 230,378 - 230,436m. Therefore, the western edge is longer than the east side by 14.1cm at most.

"The above figures indicate that possessing construction skills is quite advanced compared to their time. We hope to finally find out how the Egyptians built pyramids with such high precision, at the same time learn more about the technologies and tools they have used , ' Dash said.