Page 118 - اثار مصر الفرعونية2
P. 118

The entrance to the so-

called Queen's Chamber,

misnamed by Arab

explorers and certainly not

intended for a queen, is

through a horizontal

passageway that also

begins at the lower end of        the

Great Gallery between the

ramps and leads in a

southerly direction for

45.72 meters (150 feet).

Here, not long ago a French team carried out geophysical

investigations. About five meters from the end of the passage,

there is a step, and the passage then slopes downward about sixty

centimeters to the floor level of the Queen's Chamber. This is at

least a minor mystery. Some scholars think that the pink granite

flooring began there and reached into the Queen's Chamber,

before it was taken away by thieves. Others believe that the

construction plan was altered to make an even more sumptuous

burial chamber.

    The Queen's Chamber, which is entirely made of limestone
blocks and almost completely finished, is located at the 25th
course of masonry and is situated very precisely on the pyramid's

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