EGYPT’s Great Pyramid of Giza has a number of mysterious passageways, including one that was blocked off near the subterranean chamber and was “not meant to be seen”.
Located on the Giza Plateau, the magnificent structure is believed to have been constructed roughly 4,500 years ago for the Pharaoh Khufu. One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it is the only one still largely intact and is estimated to weigh approximately six million tonnes, and comprises of 2.3 million limestone blocks. There are three known chambers inside – and the lowest was cut into the bedrock upon which the pyramid was built.
And author Ben van Kerkwyk, who runs YouTube channel ‘UnchartedX,’ was granted private access to film inside the ancient monument for two hours to take a look at this subterranean room.
He said: “We entered through the modern entrance which was the hacked passage allegedly made around the 12th century.
“What is interesting about this passageway is it somehow unerringly finds the junction of the descending passageway and also the ascending passageway – which were not meant to be seen.
“The ascending passageway and the junction into the descending passageway was blocked up by three massive granite plugs that you can see in the footage.
“There was also a hidden stone that concealed the passage.
“When they hammered their way in, they found this spot that was almost too accurate for its own good.”
During the tour, Mr van Kerkwyk broke away from the main group to head down the passageway and explore the mysterious opening.
He added: “Everybody was heading up into the Grand Gallery and I made the decision to take the opportunity and shoot down to the subterranean chamber.
“This is looking back up at the descending passageway to what would have been the original entrance.
“If you look closely you will see the cavity and the roof – that’s where the hidden lintel block was and that chamber is blocked up by three massive granite blocks that are in the passage.
“The passageway from there descends down 87 metres down to the subterranean chamber.
“It’s unerringly straight, an incredible bit of engineering.”
The researcher headed into the subterranean chamber, which was filled with equipment used by the team who uncovered the mystery voids of the Great Pyramid in 2017.
He also spotted another interesting opening.
Mr van Kerkwyk added: “Notice at the bottom there are no lights.
“There is still a lot of equipment down at the bottom from the ScanPyramids project which is ongoing.
“It’s essentially cosmic ray detectors looking for voids inside the structure.
“This is the massive subterranean chamber though, as deep as it goes.
“There is this strange door that leads to a very odd little passage that just ends – it doesn’t seem to go anywhere.”
