Scientists discover hidden corridor inside Great Pyramid of Giza

Scientists revealed a newly discovered, sealed-off chamber inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, Egypt’s antiquities authorities announced on Thursday. 

Egypt’s Minister for Tourism Ahmed Eissa and Egyptian archeologist Zahi Hawass announced the discovery outside of the pyramid on Thursday. The 4,500-year-old corridor was discovered using modern scanning technology on the northern side of the Pyramid of Khufu. 

“This discovery, in my opinion, is the most important discovery of the 21st century,” Hawass said.

Found inside a sealed-off chamber inside the pyramid, the corridor measures 30 feet (9 meters) in length and is about 6 feet (2 meters) wide. Archeologists still do not know what the chamber was used for, particularly since it is not accessible from the outside. 

The corridor was found as part of the Scan Pyramids project, a project that began in 2015 that uses scans to analyze the unexplored sections of the pyramids.

Various scanning techniques were used to locate the chamber, including ultrasound measurements, cosmic rays, ground penetrating radars, and 3D simulations, according to Christian Grosse, Professor of Non-destructive Testing at the Technical University of Munich. 

’’There are two large limestones at the end chamber, and now the question is what’s behind these stones and below the chamber,” Grosse said.

In 2017, archeologists discovered a similar sealed-off corridor inside the Pyramid of Khufu. It measured about 30 meters (98 feet). Scientists hope to discover additional secrets hidden within the pyramid with the technology. 

The Pyramid of Khufu is one of the three pyramids belonging to the Great Pyramids at Giza complex, one of the last ancient Seven Wonders of the World still standing. The pyramid was built as a monumental tomb around 2560 BC.