While scientists have guessed for years that there is something concealed above the Great Pyramid's entrance, they were finally able to find and reveal it.
Hidden Corridor in Great Pyramid of Giza
Live Science reports that this discovery was made thanks to cosmic photos and rays of an endoscope. The archaeology team behind the discovery published their findings in the Nature Communications journal.
The Great Pyramid of Giza was constructed under pharaoh Kufu's orders. The 456-foot structure is the ancient world's only surviving wonder and was the tallest structure on earth up until the year 1311. The Lincoln Cathedral in England then took its record as a 525-foot tower.
Now, the recent study shows that just on top of its entrance lies a hidden chamber that runs for 30 feet. It is also 6.6 feet in height and width. The corridor is situated behind the structure that has a chevron shape and can be seen from outside the pyramid.
According to CBS News, the discovery of big and mysterious space and void within the Great Pyramid of Giza was first announced in 2017. However, the mystery left Egyptologists wondering what the space was.
To dig deeper into the void, the specialists used an advanced method that picks up cosmic radiation that passes through the pyramid. This allows the authors to look into the corridor's size because the strong pyramid would enable less radiation to reach the detectors than the space. Through this, they discovered the chamber's dimensions and captured clear images of the space.
However, this is not the end of the void's mysteries. In fact, the recent discovery leaves wide room for speculation.
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Probe Into Empty Chamber's Mysteries
To look further into the space, the scientists placed an endoscope inside the corridor to check its interior. However, the scientists currently have not spotted any artifacts within it. Sébastien Procureur, who is the study's first author and a physicist with the CEA (French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission) mentions that the first snaps generated through the endoscope seemingly reveal nothing. However, they have not seen the entire space precisely.
Procureur also disagreed with claims in the media that they were close to Khufu's chamber. The team did not find any evidence of a hidden tomb.
Egyptian news outlet Ahram Online reports that Zahia Hawass, the former antiquities minister in Egypt, mentioned in a news conference that the corridor may have helped reduce the stress from the building material's weight. He mentioned that the corridor is situated behind a structure that has the shape of a chevron and that distributes the weight.
Procureur agreed that the space may have been related to the chevron's construction. He says that if he were to speculate, it would be that it was a test of the chevron's structure.
There are plants to employ muon sensors that are more sensitive in order to possibly pick up artifacts within the corridor and in the bigger void. An international team has received permission from the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and is currently working toward getting funding.
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