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Story summary
- German and Ethiopian researchers found the ancient Grat Be’al Gibri palace could theoretically support up to 19 stories.
- The palace dates to around 800 B.C.E., making it about 2,800 years old.
- Its ground-floor footprint measured roughly 60 meters by 60 meters (over 196 feet).
- Walls combined stone, clay mortar and horizontal timber beams from African olive and Cordia africana trees.
- Finite-element simulations showed the wall system could bear the load of at least 19 floors.