Scientists have discovered a nine-meter-long hidden passageway inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Pyramid of Cheops, as part of an international research project, authorities said on Thursday (March 2). .
The passage is nine meters long and more than two meters wide, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement.
A nine-meter-long hidden corridor inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, in Giza, Egypt, March 2, 2023. THE EGYPTIAN MINISTRY OF ANTIQUI / REUTERS
State-of-the-art technology
Present at the Giza site, Tourism Minister Ahmed Issa told reporters that the "
gabled corridor
", with a triangular ceiling, "
was discovered on the north face of the Great Pyramid of King Cheops
".
Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa in front of the Cheops pyramid in Giza on March 2, 2023. KHALED DESOUKI / AFP
This discovery was made through the ScanPyramids project, an international scientific mission that studies the interior of the pyramids, as part of a collaboration between French, German, Canadian and Japanese universities and a group of Egyptian experts.
Since the end of 2015, the mission has been scrutinizing the belly of the pyramid using cutting-edge non-invasive imaging technology, muography, which allows you to see through the monuments in order to discover possible voids or unrecognized internal structures and learn about them. little more about construction methods still shrouded in mystery.
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In my opinion, it protects the real burial chamber of King Cheops.
Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist
High-profile Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, who heads the scientific committee overseeing the project, told reporters at the site on Thursday that it was "
highly possible
" the tunnel was "
protecting something."
In my opinion, it protects the real burial chamber of King Cheops.
»
Zahi Hawass, Egyptian archaeologist and former Minister of Antiquities, in front of the Great Sphinx of Giza, in Giza, Egypt, November 20, 2019. Khaled DESOUKI / AFP
The hallway may have been created to redistribute the weight of the pyramid around the entrance or another as yet undiscovered chamber.
The pyramid of Cheops is the last of the seven wonders of the ancient world still standing and the largest of the three pyramids of Giza, in the suburbs of Cairo.
4,500 years old, the 139 meter high and 230 meter wide monument sits on the Giza plateau, alongside the Sphinx and the pyramids of Chephren and Mykerinos.
In 2017, scientists from the ScanPyramids project revealed the presence of a huge cavity the size of an airliner at the heart of this pyramid.
Tourists in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza, in Giza, Egypt, on March 2, 2023. KHALED DESOUKI / AFP