Known for their incredible artworks and buildings, but also under scrutiny for their unfinished or abandoned projects.
There’s a huge, closed space that despite being empty, still keeps archaeologists hooked.
The purpose of the room, which dates back to when the ancient pyramid was finished about 4,500 years ago, remains a mystery since it was found back in 2017.
Fair dinkum, a team called ScanPyramids scanned the Great Pyramid using this thing called muon tomography, which basically uses cosmic rays to pierce hundreds of metres of rock and figure out what’s on the inside.
By utilising this tech, the researchers discovered the unusual room that had never been sighted before.
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This marks the first major internal structure discovered in the Great Pyramid since the 19th century.
They have nicknamed the chamber after the fact “the big void”, and it’s now a noticeable hole in our knowledge of this famous Egyptian landmark.
There are a few theories at present as to what the space is for, with some saying it was a hidden funeral room for the pharaoh Khufu, who had the pyramid constructed.
When the pyramids were first investigated and explored back in the 19th century, archaeologists discovered a number of chambers, including one containing a coffin that was thought to hold Khufu himself.
Whenever the coffin was opened, it was found to be empty.
It was therefore largely taken for granted that the remains of the king had been stolen. Yet, some experts had been suggesting for years – long before the “big void” discovery – that there was a secret, fourth chamber somewhere in the pyramid containing Khufu’s mummy.
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The two blokes believed the pyramid wasn’t deliberately planned, but rather evolved as the building process went ahead.
One of the team, architect Gilles Dormion, reckons the pyramid’s builders had to change their plans after finding out that some of the chambers couldn’t handle the weight of the burial coffin.
Dormion pointed out the big cracks in the big granite pillars that line the king’s chamber, which have been blamed on earthquakes that happened after the pyramid was built, he reckons they might have actually appeared during the building process instead.
Despite experts having yet to confirm whether or not the “big void” is a secret King Khufu burial chamber, they may soon be able to.
To visualise the pyramid using more advanced muon scanning technology.
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They said this “will image muons from almost every angle” and will “produce a proper tomographic image of such a large structure for the first time.”
Two years on, the job’s still not been done. So we’re left with a “big blank spot” in what we know about the Great Pyramid, including where Khufu’s remains are and what purpose that hidden room served.
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