The existence of the river would explain why the 31 pyramids were built in a chain along a now inhospitable desert strip in the Nile valley between 4,700 and 3,700 years ago.
Archaeologists had long thought that ancient Egyptians must have used a nearby waterway to move the giant materials used to build the pyramids.
The international team of researchers used radar satellite imagery to map the river branch, which they called Ahramat pyramids in Arabic.
The once mighty river was increasingly covered in sand, potentially starting during a major drought about 4,200 years ago, the scientists suggested.
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