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A couple of weeks ago we mentioned a new project that will scan Egypt’s pyramids looking for secret chambers. The initial information on the project suggested that the scanning would begin with the pyramids at Dashour (the ‘Red Pyramid’ and the ‘Bent Pyramid’), but in a news conference today Egyptian authorities have revealed that thermal scanning at the Giza Pyramids has already detected possible secret passageways or chambers:
Two weeks of new thermal scanning in Egypt’s Giza pyramids have identified anomalies in the 4,500 year-old burial structures, including a major one in the largest pyramid, the Antiquities Ministry announced Monday.
Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty and technical experts working on the project showed the higher temperature being detected in three specific adjacent stones at the bottom of the pyramid in a live thermal camera presentation to journalists.
The scanning showed “a particularly impressive one (anomaly) located on the Eastern side of the Khufu pyramid at ground level,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The first row of the pyramid’s stones are all uniform, then we come here and find that there’s a difference in the formation,” said el-Damaty, pointing at the three stones showing higher temperatures.
While inspecting the area, el-Damaty said they found “that there is something like a small passage in the ground that you can see, leading up to the pyramids ground, reaching an area with a different temperature. What will be behind it?”
Here’s some video of the press conference that has been posted to YouTube:
But is this discovery as exciting as the Egyptian Antiquities Minister would have us believe? An Egyptian Egyptologist who spoke to local news outlet Ahram Online claimed that “nothing would be found behind the blocks except for fractures, as this is the ‘mother rock’ of the plateau” – no doubt referring to the bedrock mound that the initial blocks of the pyramid were originally built around and upon.
I’m not sure this precludes the existence of an ancient ‘secret chamber’ – any such natural fracture, if large enough, may in fact have been seen as the most sacred chamber possible, enough perhaps even to inspire the building of a pyramid upon. But I’m also a little skeptical of how hard Egyptian officials are pushing this, knowing the problems they are having with their tourism industry (especially after last week’s air tragedy).
Nevertheless, I’m really excited to see this technology being used to search for secret locations around the Giza pyramids, which could result in discoveries that rewrite the history books. Presidential hopeful Ben Carson is probably hoping that they find some grain…
Looking forward to seeing more results from this project as they are released – exciting times!
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