NEW evidence reveals the Ancient Egyptians constructed the Great Pyramid at Giza by transporting 170,000 tonnes of limestone in boats.

It has long been known that the rock was extracted 13km away in Tura and that granite used in the monumental structure was quarried 858km away in Aswan, reportsThe Sun.

However, archaeologists have disagreed over how the material was transported to Giza, now part of modern-day Cairo, for construction of Pharaoh Khufu’s tomb in 2600BC.

Now that mystery could be a step closer to being solved after the discovery of an ancient scroll of papyrus, a ceremonial boat and a network of waterways, reported the Mail on Sunday.

The new evidence shows that thousands of labourers transported 170,000 tonnes of limestone along the River Nile in wooden boats built with planks and rope.

The 2.5-tonne blocks were ferried through a system of specially designed canals before arriving at an inland port built just yards away from the base of the Great Pyramid.

The papyrus scroll is the only first-hand record of how the pyramid was built, and was written by an overseer named Merer.

He explained in detail how the limestone was moved from the quarry in Tura to Giza using the Bronze Age waterways.

Archaeologist Mark Lehner has also uncovered evidence of a waterway underneath the plateau the pyramid sits on.

AERAgram 15 online: Giza's canals & harbors, using the sun to align the pyramids & more http://t.co/oHOpSTZaIF pic.twitter.com/Kb7sz25SVu — AERA Egypt (@AERA_EGYPT) September 3, 2015

He said: “We’ve outlined the central canal basin, which we think was the primary delivery area to the foot of the Giza Plateau.”

The new discoveries are being broadcast in a documentary called Egypt’s Great Pyramid: The New Evidence.

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This story originally appeared in The Sunand has been republished here with permission.