Even after hundreds of years of archaeological and scientific exploration, the Great Pyramids of Giza are still surprising us. Just recently, a thermal anomaly was observed inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Khufu pyramid, as announced by the Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty at a press conference on Monday.
[Image credits: Mohamed Abd El Ghany]These were the first results of thermal analysis using infrared thermography, muon radiography and 3D reconstruction that have been taking place since the ‘Scan Pyramids‘ experiments began, on October 25, by Egyptian scientists in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University, the French Heritage Innovation and Preservation (HIP) Institute, the Université Laval in Quebec and the Nagoya University in Japan.
“The teams have concluded the existence of several thermal anomalies that were observed in all monuments during the heating up or the cooling down phases,” the statement said, as cited by AFP. “To explain such anomalies a lot of hypothesis and possibilities could be drawn up: presence of voids behind the surface, internal air currents.”
Some limestone blocks have a temperature difference of up to 6 degrees compared to its neighboring blocks. This can be clearly seen in the images taken by the thermal camera – where you can see the emergence of warm colors while the rest of the monument shows cooler colors.
The reasons for the thermal anomaly remains unknown, but this could possibly indicate the existence of a secret chamber.
“I don’t know yet what could lay behind such blocks or what these anomalies could be, but it will surely lead to major discoveries,” Eldamaty told a leading science organisation. “I have several hypotheses in mind, though I cannot reveal them before conducting further research and study. It could be void spaces, fissures or passages. So far, I do not know.”
This project, which will continue through 2016, is an attempt to learn more about the structures’ internal architecture — and to uncover hidden chambers and other secrets.
So we will hope to uncover the most obscure things of the Great pyramids.
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