Pyramid's Secret Doors Will Finally Be Opened To Reveal What's Behind
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Pastor Dale Morgan
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Mar 22, 2007, 11:26:10 PM3/22/07
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Perilous Times
Pyramid's Secret Doors Will Finally Be Opened To Reveal What's Behind
Mar 22nd, 2007 8:02 AM
Pyramid's
Secret Doors to Be Opened
Rossella Lorenzi, Discovery News
Doors will soon open to reveal one of the mysteries of the Great
Pyramid in Giza, Dr. Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of
Antiquities, told Discovery News in an exclusive interview.
Hawass, one of the world's leading Egyptologists, said he will show
what lies behind secret doors inside the 4,500-year-old pharaonic
mausoleum by the end of this year.
"Finally, people all over the world will know what is behind the second
door in the southern shaft and the third door in the northern shaft,"
Hawass said.
Built in 2550 B.C. for the pharaoh Cheops, also known as Khufu, the
Great Pyramid is the largest of a family of three pyramids on the Giza
plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo.
The last remaining wonder of the ancient world has lost little of its
original height of 481 feet, and contains 3.4 million cubic yards of
material. Its base covers an area of 13.1 acres, which could
accommodate the cathedrals of Florence, Milan, London's St. Paul's and
Rome's St. Peter's and still have plenty of space.
The monument has long been rumored to have hidden passageways leading
to secret chambers, and archaeologists have puzzled over the meaning of
four narrow shafts deep inside the pyramid since they were first
discovered in 1872.
Two shafts, extend from the upper, or "Kings Chamber" exit into open
air. But the lower two, one on the south side and one on the north side
in the so-called "Queen's Chamber" disappear within, deepening the
pyramid mystery.
Widely believed to be ritual passageways for the dead pharaoh's soul to
reach the afterlife, these 8-inch square shafts remained unexplored
until 1993, when German engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink sent a robot
through the southern shaft.
After a steady climb of 213 feet from the heart of the pyramid, the
robot had to stop in front of a mysterious limestone slab adorned with
two copper handles.
Nine years later, Hawass performed an investigation of the southern
shaft on live television. As the world held its breath, a tomb-raiding
robot pushed a camera through a hole drilled in the copper handled door
— only to reveal another door.
The following day, Hawass sent the robot through the northern shaft.
After crawling for 213 feet and several sharp bends, the robot came to
an abrupt halt in front of another limestone slab.
As with the Gantenbrink door, the stone was adorned with two copper
handles.
"I dedicated my whole life to study the secrets of the Great Pyramid
and I must say that these doors create many exciting questions. It is
intriguing that the door in the northern shaft and the first door in
the southern shaft are equidistant from the queen's chamber.
"Moreover, they are very similar, as they both feature the same copper
handles," Hawass said.
Speculation abounds that the shafts might lead to a secret chamber
which might contain everything: a cache of papyri, a statue of Pharaoh
Khufu, or even his real tomb.
"This month I am going to choose the team that is going to work with me
on this project. It will be either from Singapore or Hong Kong," Hawass
said.
Hawass did not specify whether inspections into the shafts have already
been carried or whether further robotic investigations are necessary.
"I can only say that this year I will reveal the secrets of the Great
Pyramid doors," Hawass told Discovery News.