Scientists found a hidden corridor in the Great Pyramid of Giza
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Scientists recently discovered a hidden corridor in the Great Pyramid of Giza, potentially paving the way for them to find more interesting stuff from millennia ago.
The Pyramids in Egypt continue to fascinate people thousands of years after they were built, from archaeologists to conspiracy theorists.
There are all sorts of ideas about them, from alien civilisations to ancient curses, but a lot of the time the truth - or things we actually know about them - can be as interesting as the fiction.
On this occasion - specifically in March 2023 - the scientists discovered a nine-metre hidden passageway within the Pyramid of Khufu, built for the ancient ruler of the same name.
The discovery was announced by the Egyptian tourism and antiquities minister on 2 March, and he was clearly excited about the opportunities that it might bring, not only for further exploration, but also tourism to his country.
As is so often the case with discoveries such as this one, we can’t actually tell you that much about the corridor yet, as we’re not 100 percent sure what it was for.
That only means that there’s more to learn though, which will be exciting news for the scientists and archaeologists who are tasked with finding out.
Obviously, there will be those who will warn about ancient curses in hidden passageways such as this, but that will presumably not deter them in their quest.
The discovery was made by a group called Scan Pyramid.
Have a quick guess what they do.
Since 2015, they’ve been using state-of-the-art technology to see the inside of the pyramid from the outside.
That has involved the use of infrared thermography, scanning to make a clearer picture of what actually lurks within Khufu’s supposed tomb.
According to Mostafa Waziri, the head of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, the ceiling of this newly discovered passageway was built to relieve the weight of the rest of the pyramid, which is the largest in Egypt and currently stands at over 138 metres tall.
It was once 146 metres plus, but times have changed since then.
Elaborating, Waziri said: “A big question mark hangs over whether this corridor was created to relieve the weight on the [main] entrance or lighten the load on a space yet to be discovered.”
"Scanning work will continue to uncover more secrets,” he added.
Keep going folks - if there’s more secrets to learn about the pyramids, you can guarantee there will be people interested to learn about them.
Watch out for evil mummies and curses, though.
Featured Image Credit: Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities / PA
Topics: World News, Weird, Science, Technology, History
