“Today, with the discovery of a tunnel behind the main entrance of the Great Pyramid, great important mysteries were revealed by technology for the first time. This discovery will reveal many important facts about Cheops and his pyramid.” The Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, together with the Minister of Tourism Ahmed Eissa, announced what could be the “discovery of the century” for archaeologists: a 9 meter long, 2.10 meter wide and 2.3 meters high hidden tunnel inside the Pyramid of Cheops largest, oldest and most iconic of the three pyramids of Giza in Cairo, and which could reveal new mysteries about ancient Egypt For the scientific community, this is the publication of two studies , which specify the exact dimensions, location and shape of the previously mysterious “Sp-Nfc” empty space identified in 2016. But according to star Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass, it could be the road leading to the pharaoh’s tomb and thus “the discovery of the century”.
The tunnel seen through an endoscope
The corridor is the first found on the north side of the structure, the Egyptian Pyramid of Cheops or the Great Pyramid of Giza. Located above the main entrance of the famous structure, it features monoliths forming a sloping ceiling and has been scanned. The cavity on the north side of the Great Pyramid was actually filmed by a Japanese probe, a sort of “endoscope inserted through a gap of a few millimeters”, according to Hany Helal, the ScanPyramids project coordinator and manager who made the discovery, explained , stressing that the images released today during the press conference held under a tent right at the foot of the 139-meter-tall, oldest but best-preserved of the seven wonders of the world, are the first images of the mysterious chamber. These are images that show something that was hidden from view around 4,500 years ago, the date the monument was erected in the Giza necropolis. “Don’t ask me why this corridor is here,” Helal then said, fueling the mystery, but Hawass foresaw that “it will lead to the disclosure of other mysteries.” “We believe that something is hidden underneath,” said the former Egyptian antiquities minister, formulating his own opinion: “The tomb of Cheops should be under this tunnel, and I think the one just announced (…) could be the most important discovery the century”.
The pyramid sought by Cheops
The function of space discovered through the Scan Pyramids project
, an international program that has been running for eight years and uses non-invasive techniques such as “muon radiography” (the one that discovered the “ScanPyramids North Face Corridor” (Sp-Nfc) in 2016, the properties of which have now been specified) to identify uncharted sections to examine the ancient structure is currently unknown. Located about 17 kilometers from central Cairo, the pyramid was built by Cheops, a fourth dynasty pharaoh who ruled from 2509 to 2483 BC. Now, with the discovery of the corridor, a new chapter begins.
The secret of the tunnel
The “inverted V” shape of the ceiling of the just-discovered corridor, known as the “chevron technique”, was first introduced in the Pyramid of Cheops and is used to protect “large spaces with a considerable weight upwards”: a discharge of forces protecting that, which according to Hawass would be the tomb of the fourth dynasty pharaoh. “I always thought that the burial chamber of Pharaoh Cheops had not yet been discovered – he said –. And I think there’s a big chance, and it’s a sure thing that the tunnel protects something. In my opinion it protects the real burial chamber of King Cheops.”