Scientists from an international research project have discovered a hidden passageway in Egypt’s Great Pyramid, local authorities announced on Thursday.
The passage is nine meters long and more than two meters wide, the Ministry of Antiquities said in a statement.
Egypt’s tourism and antiquities minister, Ahmed Issa, told journalists that the “corridor” with a gabled roof “was found on the north side of the Great Pyramid of King Khufu”.
The discovery was part of the ScanPyramids project, launched in 2015 as a collaboration between major universities in France, Germany, Canada and Japan and a group of Egyptian experts.
Archaeologist Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former minister of antiquities, is leading the committee overseeing the project, which uses advanced technology to view hidden parts of the pyramid’s interior without having to dig.
The technology is a mix of infrared thermography, muon radiography imaging and 3D reconstruction – all non-invasive and non-destructive techniques, according to the researchers.
The Great Pyramid is the largest in Giza with a height of 146 meters and the only remaining structure of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
Built about 4,500 years ago, it has three known chambers and, like other pyramids in Egypt, is conceived as the tomb of a pharaoh.
Hawass told reporters at the pyramid that “there is a strong possibility … the tunnel is protecting something. In my opinion, it is protecting King Khufu’s real burial chamber.”
In 2017, ScanPyramids announced the discovery of an airplane-sized cavity, the first major structure found in the Great Pyramid since the 19th century.
Source: DN
