A mysterious underground structure found near the pyramids of Giza, Egypt
Archaeologists have found an enigmatic "L"-shaped structure underground near the Pyramids of Giza, Egypt.
The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt, are a milestone in the history of human civilization. There are three pyramids in the Complex: the Pyramid of Cheops (also known as the Great Pyramid), the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure.
Located on the outskirts of the capital Cairo, the pyramids were built by three pharaohs in ancient Egypt, around 4,500 years ago. Considered a work of architecture, the pyramids are one of the Seven Wonders of the World and the only Wonder of the Ancient World still standing.
The Cheops pyramid is the oldest and also the tallest of the three. Built by Pharaoh Cheops around 2560 BC, it was the tallest building in the world for more than 3800 years.The pyramids are part of a funerary complex called the Giza Necropolis, a type of cemetery that has many tombs and burial sites, as well as the resting place of the three pharaohs who built them.
And the news comes from there: archaeologists have discovered a mysterious "L"-shaped structure underground in the western cemetery of Giza, which has left them very intrigued.
The mysterious discovery
The mysterious structure has been identified using remote sensing techniques. This involves a technique called "electrical resistivity tomography" (ERT), in which electrical currents are sent to the ground and the resistance is measured to detect remains, and "ground penetrating radar" (GPR), a technique that sends radar to the ground and, upon return, maps the underlying structures.
It was discovered an anomaly about 2 meters below the surface of the ground, in the central area of the cemetery. The structure is shaped like an "L" on the horizontal plane, measures 10 meters long by 10 meters wide and "appears to have been filled with sand, which means it was filled in after its construction."
Furthermore, this structure was connected to a deeper structure of the same size located at a depth of approximately 5-10 meters below the surface. It appears to be a mixture of sand and gravel, or air voids; however, the applied techniques were unable to identify the properties of this anomaly.
The researchers hypothesize that the "L"-shaped structure, the most superficial, may have been intentionally built to block the entrance to this other "chamber" below.
Motoyuki Sato, a professor at Tohoku University, Japan, and lead author of the article, said he is confident that the structure is not a natural phenomenon, as "the shape is very accentuated, clear."
Now archaeologists continue to excavate the site to discover what this mysterious structure really is. But one possibility is that the object is an offering chapel. According to Sato, there are L-shaped offering chapels at Giza, but they are generally above ground. "I'm not yet sure what this anomaly represents, but it definitely deserves further exploration," he added.
This work was carried out between 2021 and 2023, but the results were only published recently.
link: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/arp.1940
