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A major find was announced last Thursday, March the 2nd, in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza. This is a clue that could provide the key to solving one of ancient Egypt’s greatest mysteries: locating the lost tomb of the pharaoh Cheops, a long-awaited goal of Egyptologists around the world. But what is it about, specifically? And what technologies have come into play?
The secret passage of the Great Pyramid of Giza
As announced during the press conference by Ahmed Eissa, Minister of Tourism and Archaeology, and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, a hitherto unexplored corridor was observed for the first time. But archaeologists weren’t new to this, as this passage, in fact, was found in 2016. However, the research conducted since then has led, in recent days, to the official confirmation of the existence of the cavity, theorized up to now.
This passage is located at the northern face of the pyramid, the largest in the archaeological complex. The team, thanks to the observations made through an endoscope, was able to take its measurements: 30ft long, 7ft wide and 8ft high. But the sensational nature of the observation lies in the particular construction technique used, more than 4,000 years ago, during the building of the corridor.
The “inverted V” vault
Archaeologists have highlighted that the vault of the passage has an “inverted V” shape. According to Mustafa Waziri, secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, this modus operandi would serve to lighten the weight above, bearing on the main entrance of the pyramid, located below the newly discovered corridor.
Another promising hypothesis, however, would suggest the presence of a large room, yet to be revealed, at the end of the passage. According to the Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, it could finally be the mysterious burial chamber of the Pharaoh Cheops. The tomb, in fact, is not found to date. This leads archaeologists either to believe that it was looted in the past, or that it could be a thousand-year-old treasure yet to be discovered.
The studies carried out on the Great Pyramid of Giza
The observations released on March 2nd are the result of many years of work. In fact, the existence of the corridor has been hypothesized since 2015. Since then, an international team of scientists has been working on ScanPyramids, a high-tech project aimed at exploring the hidden secrets of the pyramid.
The study made use of a muon radiograph, a tool which, as explained by National Geographic, “allows us to measure the absorbed quantity of muons, negatively charged particles which are formed by the collision of cosmic rays with the atoms of the atmosphere, after their crossing of solid structures”. The presence of the corridor was thus discovered. All that remains, therefore, is to wait for the results of the next investigations: 30ft could be the distance that separates the world from the tomb of Cheops.
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