Egyptian Haulers Mastered Wet-Sand Physics

Around 1900 BC, an ancient Egyptian wall painting in the tomb of Djehutihotep showed workers hauling a huge statue on a sledge while a man at the front poured water onto the sand. In 2014, University of Amsterdam physicists recreated the transport method with a laboratory sledge and found that the correct amount of water halved the force required to pull it. The water formed tiny bridges between the sand grains, making the surface about twice as stiff and preventing sand from piling up in front of the sledge.

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