Just when it seemed as though archeologists had uncovered all the mysteries left behind by Ancient Egyptians, they stumbled across something new that’ll make you want to book a trip to the Gift of the Nile.
Scientists found a secret space in Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza, making it the first new discovery in the ancient site since the 19th century.
According to a report in the journal, Nature, the room was discovered using cosmic-ray imaging above the Grand Gallery and doesn’t appear to connect to any known passages.
Image: ScanPyramids
Although the purpose and contents within the 30-metre deep space is still unknown (it could simply be empty compartments incorporated by builders to keep the grand structure stable), its discreet and unreachable location suggests that it was intentionally hidden during construction.
“We don’t know whether this big void is horizontal or inclined; we don’t know if this void is made by one structure or several successive structures.”
Mehdi Tayoubi, HIP Institute in Paris
“What we are sure about is that this big void is there; that it is impressive; and that it was not expected as far as I know by any sort of theory.”
The team of scientists from ScanPyramid are now looking at how they can explore the newly discovered section without damaging the World Heritage Site and believe tiny flying robots may be the answer.
Image: ScanPyramids
Jean-Baptiste Mouret, an employee at the Institute for Computer Science & Applied Mathematics (INRIA), said any further investigation would need to be approved by the Egyptian government before it can be carried out.
“Our concept is to drill a very small hole to potentially explore monuments like this,” he said.
“We aim to have a robot that could fit in a 3cm hole. Basically, we’re working on flying robots.”
The Great Pyramid of Giza was built for the Khufu, a 4th Dynasty Pharaoh who reigned between 2509-2483BC.
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