Mysteries have surrounded the pyramids of Giza for as long as modern scientists have been studying them - and the latest discovery in the most famous pyramid in the complex is no different. Egyptologists are at it once again, trying to unpack the meaning of their most recent finding.
In February 2022, a very powerful scan made inside the Great Pyramid revealed two mysterious spaces inside the large structure. The discovery now has researchers speculating that the voids could have once been home to the legendary tomb of the pharaoh. Researchers who conducted the scan announced their upcoming project dedicated to understanding the exact function of the spaces. "We plan to field a telescope system that has upwards of 100 times the sensitivity of the equipment that has recently been used at the Great Pyramid," they wrote in the study, titled "The Exploring the Great Pyramid Mission."
The larger of the two spaces measures 30 meters (98.4 feet) long and 6 meters (19.7 feet) high and is located above the grand gallery. The smaller space, on the other hand, was found near the citadel's north face. And although research is still being done to determine the yet unclear functions of these spaces, researchers have guesses of what they might be. The large one is speculated to lead to the secret burial chamber of the pharaoh Khufu, whose reigning period lasted from 2551BC to 2528BC. But to determine whether these theories are facts or fiction, the scholars will use supercharged cosmic ray muons 100 times more powerful than the ones originally that discovered the voids.
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The study revealed that the high-definition imaging will allow the researchers to "image muons from nearly all angles and will, for the first time, produce a true tomographic image (three-dimensional internal images created by analysing waves of energy) of such a large structure." It also explained that the researchers "will put [the detectors] outside and move them along the base," since the detectors are too large to place inside the pyramid. "In this way, we can collect muons from all angles in order to build up the required data set," they added. Not only that, but the telescopes are so sensitive that they might be able to detect pottery and other artifacts hidden inside the large structure. As the team waits for funding to build their equipment, the world remains in suspense as to what other findings await one of the world's greatest mysteries.
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