Unknown Space Found Inside Great Pyramid of Giza

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Summary: Recent studies have discovered a previously unknown space inside the Great Pyramid of Giza.

A lot is still unknown about one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Great Pyramid of Giza has been studied for years but little has been discovered in this century. After probing the pyramid with tools of modern particle physics, scientists were able to make a huge discovery.

  

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A space was found above the tall, cathedral-like room referred to as the Grand Gallery. According to the report in the journal Nature, the newly discovered space is about 100 feet long, comparable in size to the Grand Gallery. A space of this size makes it a major structure within the ancient walls built around 2500 B.C. and not just an accidental space.

The Great Pyramid of Giza has been studied for centuries, revealing the Queen’s Chamber, the King’s Chamber, and the Grand Gallery. Harvard University Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian said, “The romantic interpretation and what everyone wants to hear is that this is a hidden room and the king’s body is inside or there’s grave goods we didn’t know about or we’re going to learn more about history … and none of that is responsible speculation at the moment.” He was not part of the research team that made the discovery.

He added, “All we know is that we have a void, we have a cavity, and it’s huge, which means possible intentional and certainly worthy of further exploration.” At this time, they do not know if it is just one chamber or more than one. “In that sense it’s obviously frustrating. On the other hand, as an architectural discovery, something we didn’t know about the interior of the Great Pyramid, it’s absolutely big news.”

Mehdi Tayoubi of the HIP Institute in Paris said that he and his colleagues were studying the pyramid using the best non-destructive analytical techniques available. They focused on the use of an imaging tool using muons, or tiny particles. He said, “What is strange, for me, is to use those very, very small practices for a huge monument like the pyramid.”

Muons are formed when cosmic rays from deep space hit the atoms of the upper atmosphere. The resulting particles rain down, losing energy as they pass through materials like a pyramid. Passing through things like a thick stone wall makes them slow down and decay. Placing muon detectors in key locations allows researchers to count the number of muons coming through, which can create an image of the density of materials or an empty space.

Tayoubi explained that the team placed sheets of muon-detecting film in the Queen’s Chamber, which is a lower-level room in the pyramid. They were hoping to test whether they could use the process to distinguish the two known rooms above – the King’s Chamber and Grand Gallery. They were successful in discerning the two rooms above but it also resulted in an additional large space. He said, “The first reaction was a lot of excitement, but then we knew that it would take us a long, long time, that we needed to be very patient in this scientific process.”

They used two more muon-detection techniques to make sure they had discovered something. Tayoubi added, “The good news is the void is there. Now we are sure that there is a void. We know that this void is big. I don’t know what it could be. I think it’s now time for Egyptologists and specialists in ancient Egypt architecture to collaborate with us, to provide us with some hypotheses.”

The next step is to determine if small robots can enter the space through tiny cracks or holes so they can learn more about the room. The advancement in technology means that they don’t have to go blasting through walls like they did in the past. Manuelian explained, “That’s the good thing about the muon project, there’s absolutely no damage to the pyramid at all. I hope that, in collaboration with the Egyptian antiquities authorities, further exploration will be set in motion. The study of the pyramids has been going on for an awful long time. So any new contribution is always a welcome addition to our knowledge.”

What do you think they might find in the room? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.

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Photo: wikipedia.org