A close-up view of the red marks on the floor in the pyramid
A robot explorer has revealed ancient markings inside a secret chamber at Egypt’s Great Pyramid of Giza.
The markings, which have lain unseen for 4,500 years, were filmed using a bendy camera small enough to fit through a hole in a stone door at the end of a narrow tunnel.
It is hoped they could shed light on why the tiny chamber and the tunnel — one of several mysterious passages leading from the larger King’s and Queen’s chambers — were originally built.
The markings take the form of hieroglyphic symbols in red paint as well as lines in the stone that may have been made by masons when the chamber was being built.
According to Peter Der Manuelian, Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology at Harvard University, similar lines have been found elsewhere in Giza. “Sometimes they identify the work gang (who built the room), sometimes they give a date and sometimes they give guidelines to mark cuttings or directional symbols about the beginning or end of a block,” he said.
“The big question is the purpose of these tunnels,” he added. “There are architectural explanations, symbolic explanations, religious explanations — even ones relating to the alignment of the stars — but the final word on them is yet to be written. The challenge is that no human can fit inside these channels so the only way to do this exploration is with robots.”
Read the rest of the story here.
Article by: Nuala Calvi, for CNN
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Translation: Insert Stone A into Slot B… Soon they’ll find an allen wrench & we’ll know the pyramids were really purchased flat boxed from the eventual Swedes!
I’m wondering if these small tunnels referred to in the article are the ones that were actually believed to be ventilation shafts. I also wanted to add that I think it’s odd that the rooms are still referred to as the King’s Chamber or tomb when no bodies or mummies have been found in the great pyramid. In fact, in relation to a biblical verse found in Isaiah 19:19 it states, “In that day there will be an altar to the LORD in the heart of Egypt, and a monument to the LORD at its border.” Now the question must be asked, how can it lie in the heart of Egypt while at the same time be on the border. Today geographically speaking this doesn’t make sense but Egypt used to be split in half, there was north and there was south. Ironically the Great Pyramid rests exactly on this line. Having that knowledge along with the knowledge that none of the pyramids built after the Great has ever come close in relation to size or the magnificent construction makes you wonder. I just felt like sharing, love the site!
Thank you, Beth!