In 1994 , geologist represent the stone prey of Ancient Egypt identified a 12 - kilometre ( 7.5 - international nautical mile ) stretch of limestone and sandstone slab leading from one basalt prey to Lake Moeris . Using clayware found at the site , likely leave by workers of the quarry , and an ancient proletarian camp , researchers were capable to date the discovery to around 2600 to 2200 BCE , progress to it the oldest hump paved route in the world .
The road was used totransportvolcanic basalt rock from the quarry to Lake Moeris , an ancient lake that would haveconnected to the Nileseasonally at the clip , allowing the rock to be carry to Giza by gravy boat . Basalt was used to pave inside mortuary temple at the site , as well as to produce imperial sarcophagi .
Moving those rocks necessitated the limestone and sandstone road . Egyptologists suggested at the fourth dimension that the rock music were moved on sleds , perhaps on top of log placed along the route itself , given that the slabs showed no signs of grooves or fatigue and buck from tangency with the sleds .
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The road , as well as being theoldestpaved road in the world by around 500 years , is the only road constructed by Ancient Egyptians that we bed of . It ’s not on the dot the most well - constructed road , with workers in all likelihood using whichever stones were handy to rest down . In some areas , they essay to make the Harlan Fiske Stone agree neatly , while in others they were placed far more haphazardly .
“ The route probably does n’t rank with the pyramids as a building feat , but it is a major engineering science achievement , ” geologist James Harrell of the University of Toledo said of the breakthrough at the time , per theLA Times . “ Not only is the road earlier than we think potential , we did n’t even cerebrate they built roads . ”
There are older roads in the world , though none of these are paved roads . The Sweet Track , a very early Neolithic wooden trackway in Somerset , England , was dated back to3806 BCEby using dendrochronology , or dating using Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree mob .
