Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 3 November 2017

Scientists discover hidden chamber in Egypt’s Great Pyramid

By BRIAN ROHAN The Great Pyramid, the last
Associated Press surviving wonder of the an-
CAIRO (AP) — Scientists say cient world, has captivat-
they have found a hidden ed visitors since it was built
chamber in Egypt’s Great as a royal burial chamber
Pyramid of Giza, in what some 4,500 years ago. Ex-
would be the first such perts are still divided over
discovery in the structure how it and other pyramids
since the 19th century and were constructed, so even
one likely to spark a new relatively minor discoveries
surge of interest in the pha- generate great interest.
raohs. Late last year, for example,
In an article published in thermal scanning identi-
the journal Nature on Thurs- fied a major anomaly in
day, an international team the Great Pyramid — three
said the 30-meter (yard) adjacent stones at its base
void deep within the pyra- which registered higher
mid is situated above the temperatures than others.
structure’s Grand Gallery, Speculation that King Tu-
and has a similar cross-sec- In this Dec. 12, 2012 file photo, policemen are silhouetted against the Great Pyramid in Giza, tankhamun’s tomb con-
tion. Egypt. tains additional ante-
The purpose of the space Associated Press chambers stoked interest in
is unclear, and it’s not yet peer-reviewed before ap- chaeologist Zahi Hawass, not build it without such a recent years, before scans
known whether it was built pearing in Nature, an inter- who has been testing scan- space,” he said. “Large by ground-penetrating ra-
with a function in mind or if national, interdisciplinary ning methods and heads voids exist between the dar and other tools came
it’s merely a gap in the pyr- journal of science, and its the government’s oversight stones and may have been up empty, raising doubts
amid’s architecture. Some results confirmed by other panel for the new tech- left as construction gaps.” about the claim.
experts say such empty teams of scientists. niques, said that the area in The pyramid is also known The muon scan is ac-
spaces have been known Chances of the space con- question has been known as Khufu’s Pyramid for its complished by planting
for years. taining treasure or burial of for years and thus does builder, a 4th Dynasty pha- special plates inside and
“This is a premier,” said Me- chambers are almost nil, not constitute a discovery. raoh who reigned from around the pyramid to col-
hdi Tayoubi, a co-founder said Aidan Dodson, an He has long downplayed 2509 to 2483 B.C. Visitors to lect data on the particles,
of the ScanPyramids proj- Egyptologist at the Univer- the usefulness of scans of the pyramid, on the out- which rain down from the
ect and president of the sity of Bristol, but the dis- ancient sites. skirts of Cairo, can walk, earth’s atmosphere. They
Heritage Innovation Pres- covery helps shed light on “The Great Pyramid is full of hunched over, up a long pass through empty spac-
ervation Institute. “It could building techniques. voids. We have to be care- tunnel to reach the Grand es but can be absorbed
be composed of one or “The pyramid’s burial ful how results are present- Gallery. The space an- or deflected by harder sur-
several structures... maybe chamber and sarcopha- ed to the public,” he said, nounced by the scanning faces, allowing scientists to
it could be another Grand gus have already been dis- adding that one problem team does not appear study their trajectories and
Gallery. It could be a covered, so this new area facing the international to be connected to any discern what is stone and
chamber, it could be a lot was more likely kept empty team is that it did not have known internal passages. what is not. Several plates
of things.” above the Grand Gallery an Egyptologist as a mem- Scientists involved in the were used to triangulate
The scientists made the to reduce the weight of ber. He said the chamber scanning called the find a the void discovered in the
discovery using cosmic- stone pressing down on its was likely empty space “breakthrough” that high- Great Pyramid.
ray imaging, recording ceiling,” he said, adding builders used to construct lighted the usefulness of While the technology can
the behavior of subatom- that similar designs have the rooms below.“In order modern particle physics in detect large open spaces,
ic particles called muons been found in other pyra- to construct the Grand archaeology. it cannot discern what is
that penetrate the rock mids. Gallery, you had to have a “It was hidden, I think, since inside, so it’s unclear if the
similar to X-rays, only much Egypt’s former antiquities hollow, or a big void in or- the construction of the pyr- empty space contains any
deeper. Their paper was minister and famed ar- der to access it — you can- amid,” Tayoubi added. objects. q