Researchers Uncover Evidence of Long-Lost Nile Tributary
UofM Professor of Egyptology Part of the Interdisciplinary Discovery Trio
Wednesday, May 22, 2024 — While in several parts of the world a dried-up riverbed is more often a cause for concern than celebration, a triad of researchers including a University of Memphis professor of Egyptology has uncovered evidence that an ancient tributary of the Nile River existed thousands of years ago, a significant discovery archaeologists can now use to pinpoint with precision additional areas warranting future research.
Oriented near the Egyptian city of Memphis, this long-lost branch — now called the Ahramat Branch — was confirmed through geomorphic data, satellite imagery and sediment analysis, a three-pronged interdisciplinary methodology that is poised to yield considerable results that will reach far beyond the Nile River Valley to other river-basin research projects around the world.
Dr. Suzanne Onstine is a co-principal investigator of the research that was published May 16 in the journal Nature Communications Earth and Environment. Onstine, along with principal investigator Dr. Eman Ghoneim of the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and co-principal investigator Dr. Timothy Ralph of Macquarie University, spent considerable time with what she calls “the right kinds of technology” to advance this project.
Their research points to uncharted branches of the Nile River system, knowledge of which until this point had been confined to smaller study areas. This now opens the door to more study of the position and ever-evolving nature of the Nile and its branches and may also help explain how the pyramids were constructed.
Onstine, who has been an associate professor of archaeology at the University of Memphis for the past 18 years, played an instrumental role in detecting the Millenia-old riverbed using archaeological knowledge to determine the rough timeline for when the tributary was active.
“Mapping the ancient river’s location provides a blueprint of sorts for archaeologists to uncover more ancient Egyptian settlements,” said Onstine. “We have always assumed the ancient Egyptians had access to water to create the pyramids. This study provides the data that backs those hypotheses.”
Still, she insists, there is much more to uncover as researchers are just now beginning to connect the dots.
The Great Pyramid Connection
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only wonder of the ancient world that has survived to the present day. The ancient Ahramat Branch ran parallel to the modern-day Nile River, according to the most recent research. Evidence of that channel has been discovered roughly 37 miles west of the Nile. The watercourse of the ancient Ahramat Branch borders a large number of pyramids dating from the Old Kingdom to the Second Intermediate Period, spanning between the Third Dynasty and the Thirteenth Dynasty.