Title : Hidden structure found inside the Great Pyramid of Giza
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Hidden structure found inside the Great Pyramid of Giza
- Scientists mapping the Great Pyramid using cosmic-ray based imaging have found a new secret structure
- The internal structure is located above the Grand Gallery - that links two of the Pyramid's chambers
- It traces a similar route for at least 30 metres (100ft) and has a volume of 600 cubic metres (20,000 cubic ft)
- The precise design and purpose of the space is unknown and it has yet to be reached in person by experts
The Great Pyramid of Giza has been shrouded in mystery for millennia, but now a long-held secret of its structure might be known thanks to particle physics.
A narrow void lying deep within the ancient Wonder of the World has been found by scientists using cosmic-ray based imaging.
The internal structure is located above the Grand Gallery - which links two of the Pyramid's chambers - and traces a similar route for at least 30 metres (100ft), according to a study published in the journal Nature.
While the precise design and purpose of the void is unknown, it has been hailed by the team of academics as the biggest discovery inside the Giza landmark since the 19th century.
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The Great Pyramid of Giza has been shrouded in mystery for millennia, but now a long-held secret of its structure might be known thanks to particle physics. An apparent narrow void lying undiscovered deep within the ancient Wonder of the World has been found by scientists using cosmic-ray based imaging. Shown here is how the breakthrough was made
Made under the watch of the Pharaoh Khufu and completed in around 2550 BC, Egypt's Great Pyramid served as the world's tallest man-made construction for thousands of years.
The structure, also known as Khufu's Pyramid, is the sole survivor of the ancient Seven Wonders of the World.
How it was built has long been a bone of academic contention and there is no universal agreement about its creation.
To find out more about the pyramid, researchers from countries including France and Japan began a project to scan the structure in October 2015.
They employed by-products of the cosmic ray known as muons that are only partially absorbed by stone and take noticeably different trajectories through air.
Detectors were set up inside the pyramid, including in the so-called Queen's Chamber.
This allowed the pyramid's insides to be visualised without physically disturbing it, as the results showed empty space differently from rock.
The presence of the space, dubbed the ScanPyramids Big Void, was confirmed using three different muon detection technologies over several months after first being spotted, the paper said. The results were then analysed three times.
The ScanPyramids mission is made up of researchers from Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities, the University of Cario, and the non-profit organisation the Heritage Innovation Preservation (HIP) Institute.
'ScanPyramids Big Void is not a room or a chamber - we don't know if it is horizontal or inclined if it is composed by one or several successive structures, but it's big,' report author Mehdi Tayoubi, president and co-founder of the HIP Institute, told MailOnline.
'The Grand Gallery is an internal spectacular internal structure (47m long, 8m high) a kind of internal cathedral at the centre of the pyramid.
Described as a 'deep void', it is at least about 100 feet long and up to 230 feet above ground, running over the Grand Gallery. It's function is unknown, and scientists are now hoping a flying robot could be sent in to uncover its secrets
The internal structure (white dots in image) is located above the Grand Gallery - that links two of the pyramid's chambers - and traces a similar route for at least 30 metres (100ft), according to a study published in the journal Nature. It could either lie on a horizontal or inclined (pictured) plane, the scientists said
'This Big Void, with same size characteristics as the Grand Gallery, could be successive chambers, a tunnel. Many hypotheses are possible.'
Despite the breakthrough, the newly discovered structure has yet to be reached in person by any researcher.
Report author Mr Tayoubi said: 'This structure is not accessible, we don't see (that) people tried, if you look at the Grand Gallery, to access the void which is above.
'So this void was hidden, I think, since the construction of the pyramid, it was not accessible.
To find out more about the pyramid, researchers from countries including France and Japan began a project to scan the structure in October 2015. Researchers placed detectors in two rooms within the pyramid to collect subatomic particles as they fell from the sky, revealing the structure of the building like an X-ray reveals bone
The team employed by-products of the cosmic ray known as muons that are only partially absorbed by stone and take noticeably different trajectories through air
'We needed this technique - the right technique at the right time - to be able to identify it and discover it.'
He added they were 'very confident' the results were correct.
Because no one has physically seen inside the void, what it was built for remains a mystery.
Researchers claim the space could be on an incline, which means it could have been used to transport huge blocks into the centre of the pyramid and was then left, experts said.
'This finding is very exciting, but I don't think it's likely to be some kind of secret chamber,' Dr Kate Spence, an archaeologist at the University of Cambridge who was not involved in the study, told the Telegraph.
Detectors were set up inside the pyramid, including in the so-called Queen's Chamber. This allowed the pyramid's insides to be visualised without physically disturbing it, as the results showed empty space differently from rock
Muons (artist's impression) are created when the upper atmosphere reacts with cosmic rays, producing a shower of particles, some of which decay into muons. The elementary particles, which weigh around 200 times more than electrons, can very easily pass through any structure, even large and thick rocks like mountains
'I think it is an inclined ramp that was used to transport huge blocks into the centre of the pyramid and then left. The orientation leads up to the huge granite roof struts at the top of the relieving chamber.
Researchers from the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities’ scientific committee suggest it could be a 'construction gap' - part of a trench that allowed workers to access the Grand Gallery and King's Chamber while the rest of the pyramid was built.
More simply, the void may have simply been left there to relieve weight from the Grand Gallery below.
The finding opens up the possibility that the void could be linked to other different and undiscovered structures within the pyramid, the study claimed.
Crucially, the authors said, it could provide a method by which scientists can finally start to piece together how the pyramid was built.
Muon detectors (artist's impression) placed in known rooms within the Great Pyramid picked up the subatomic particles as they passed through layers of stone, meaning the scientists could map the pyramid without breaking through its walls
The presence of the void, dubbed the ScanPyramids Big Void, was confirmed using three different muon detection technologies over several months after first being spotted, the paper said. Pictured is the pyramid's descending main entrance hallway. The new structure is above this entrance-way
They added that the development 'show how modern particle physics can shed new light on the world's archaeological heritage'.
'This was a study about physics, it was not about Egyptology - we are not claiming anything about interpretation for this void - we are just claiming that there is a void and that's all,' Mr Tayoubi said.
Muon detectors have previously been used to map out the inside of the Fukushima's nuclear reactor in Japan and it is hoped they can be used to explore other archaeological sites.
The detectors work by using cosmic particles known as muons that have the power to penetrate deeply into most materials.
Despite the breakthrough, the newly discovered structure has yet to be reached in person by any researcher. Experts used several types of muon detector, which reads subatomic particles as they rain down from the sky, for their study
The finding opens up the possibility that the void could be linked to other different and undiscovered structures within the pyramid, the study claimed. Pictured is a virtual reality layout of what we know of the pyramid's internal structures so far, including the newly found structure, pictured as white dots next to the King's chamber
Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza has been shrouded in mystery for millennia, but now a long-held secret of its structure might be known thanks to particle physics
The subatomic particles require only a few special instruments because they rain down naturally from the atmosphere above.
Some archaeologists have pinned hopes on using the sophisticated technology to locate the burial place of the legendary queen Nefertiti (pictured)
Muons are created when the upper atmosphere reacts with cosmic rays, producing a shower of particles, some of which decay into muons.
The elementary particles, which weigh around 200 times more than electrons, can very easily pass through any structure, even large and thick rocks like mountains.
Researchers can use these tiny particles to measure the density of structures, just like X-rays pass through our bodies to visualise our skeleton.
The team's finding has been a long time coming after months spent trying to find the elusive 'void'.
The researchers began using muon technology, thermal scanning and 3D laser mapping to lay out the pyramid's internal structure in 2015.
Scanners placed in the Great Pyramid's grand descending corridor, as well as a tunnel near the north facing entrance dug out by medieval explorers, found a small structure above the structure's entrance in 2016.
Thermal imaging of the pyramid confirmed a human-height, corridor-shaped void that ran parallel but above to the descending corridor.
Researchers realised this corridor, labelled the ScanPyramid Northfacing Corridor, must lead somewhere, and spent the following months using mapping technology to find where it led.
This has now led the team to find the new structure, which sits above the pyramid's Grand Gallery.
Some archaeologists have pinned hopes on using the sophisticated technology to locate the burial place of the legendary queen Nefertiti.
The wife of King Akhenaten, who initiated a monotheistic cult in ancient Egypt, queen Nefertiti remains an enigma, best known for a bust depicting her that is now on exhibition in Berlin's Neues Museum.
A British Egyptologist, Nicholas Reeves, believed her remains were hidden in a secret chamber in the tomb of Tutankhamun, in the southern Valley of the Kings.
In 2015, archaeologists scanned the tomb with radar hoping to find clues.
Both Reeves's theory and the inconclusive results have been dismissed by other Egyptologists.
One of them, former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass, said that an adept of the sun god Aton would never have been allowed to be buried in the Valley of the Kings.
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