Digging at Hatnub, an ancient quarry in the Eastern Desert, Egyptian archaeologists have found the remains of a ramp, two staircases, and a bunch of postholes alongside the ramp–all dated 4,500 years old. As the theory goes, workers would have tied giant ropes to the posts and then to a sled on which sat a giant alabaster stone. Pulling on the ropes would have made the sled move up the ramp and into position for placing in the pyramid structure.

The archaeologists, from the French Institute for Oriental Archaeology and from England's University of Liverpool, also found inscriptions that mentioned Khufu, who had the Great Pyramid built. The archaeologists have been at the site for several years studying such inscriptions.

Quarries at Hatnub were used for many years, even up through Egypt's Roman period. The Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu, was built in the 3rd Century B.C. as a tomb for Khufu, an Old Kingdom pharaoh known to the Ancient Greeks as Cheops. It is the only surviving structure from the famous list of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The pyramids served as tombs for Egypt's pharaohs and were seen as symbols of the leaders' power and ability to either inspire or command. Competing theories as to the nature of the work performed in order to build these giant tombs have claimed that the workers were slaves or that they were paid.