Egyptian archaeological experts have recently learnt of “thermal anomalies" in the bricks of the Great Pyramid, (which is also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops), leading them to believe they have stumbled on to one of “Khufu’s secrets", Express UK reported.
The famous pyramid is the oldest and largest of the three ancient monuments in the Giza Plateau and experts believe this was constructed for the Pharaoh Khufu, although his body has never been found inside it. The structure is thought to be weighing almost six million tonnes, going by the 2.3 million blocks of limestone and granite that has been used to build the pyramid, the latter, some of which weigh as much as 80 tonnes.
The newest finding, is, however, related to three of the stones at the bottom of the pyramid, which has caused quite a renewed interest in the Egyptian structure. An international team of architects and scientists using thermal cameras have now discovered “anomalies”.
Officials said possible causes included the existence of empty areas inside the pyramid, internal air currents, or the use of different building materials.
The new development was reported when the experts searched for further hidden chambers as many have been discovered through the years.
The Great Pyramid was the tallest man-made structure in the world for more than 3,800 years until Lincoln Cathedral was finished in 1311 AD.
As the sun heats the limestone structures from the outside, as well as at sunset when they cool down, a team of experts from Egypt, France, Canada and Japan determined this to be the exact time to use infrared thermography to inspect the structure’s walls.
The Egyptian antiquities ministry, in a statement, notified of “existence of several thermal anomalies that were observed on all monuments during the heating-up or the cooling-down phases."
“To explain such anomalies, a lot of hypotheses and possibilities could be drawn up – the presence of voids behind the surface, internal air currents." A “particularly impressive" anomaly was found at ground level on the eastern side of the Great Pyramid.
“Khufu will offer us one of its secrets," exclaimed one of the experts involved in the study.
However, none of the experts has so far been able to provide an explanation for the anomalies, that could point towards the existence of a secret chamber.
The find was made by the ScanPyramid team, the same group of experts that uncovered a “sizeable void” near the Queen’s Chamber in 2017.
Less than two years later, in August 2019, it was revealed a huge second chamber had also been found, this time to the right of the King’s Chamber.
Egyptian archaeologist and former Minister of State for Antiquities, Dr Zahi Hawass, was quoted by the Express as saying, “ScanPyramid gave us some information [in 2017], they said there was a void, behind the main entrance of the pyramid. We knew about this void before, it was made to make the descending corridor. But now they are telling us about another void above the gallery, about 30 metres long. We asked them to give us more specific data about this void so we can know more about what this space was used for.”
Dr Hawass reportedly believes that Khufu’s body, which so far has not been found could be found in the void that was previously discovered.
Experts say if one understands the process of how the Great Pyramid was constructed, then it is a known knowledge that it is going to have a lot of void spaces. The void is also at least a hundred feet long. Its purpose remains unclear though and researchers have till now avoided terming it a
chamber’ until further discovery related to its purpose.
Hawass, who is currently working with the Valley of the Kings, told the Express that he is expecting to come across the tombs of several Queens and sons and daughters of Kings, including that of Nefertiti and many more in the East Valley and also all the Queens of the 18th Dynasty.
Egypt’s current Minister for Antiquities Dr Khaled El-Enany has recently confirmed that the government is working with archaeologists to discover more and more such tombs that may have so far remained unknown. The government is hopeful of finding some answers as to whether Khufu’s body could indeed be hidden inside the void found in the Pyramid.
For the uninitiated, the sarcophagus of Khufu was found empty, so experts have constantly been trying to find the body within the Pyramid’s walls.