Mysterious Discoveries From Inside The Ancient Pyramids of Giza
The ancient pyramids of Giza are the only of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World that are still with us today. Even though they've been around for thousands of years, there are new mysteries being found out about them every day — archaeologists have been studying them for decades, but are still in the dark about many aspects of the ancient structures.
Among the many mysteries the pyramids hold is how they were built in the first place and what secrets are kept inside. Prepare to be amazed about what we have learned when it comes to this wonder — and be stunned by how much we don't know yet!
Most Scientists Agree That The Great Pyramid Took 20 Years To Build
How the pyramids were built remains a highly debated mystery. Most findings agree, however, that ropes, pulleys, and other similar instruments probably played some role in building them. The Great Pyramid, which is believed to have been built around 2550 BCE, stood as the world's tallest structure for many centuries.
Even though the exact nature of how the pyramids were built is still unknown to us, historians believe that at least 20,000 workers played a role in the Great Pyramid's construction. Amazingly, they also believe it only took 20 years to construct.
It's Made Of Heavy Blocks That Were Not Moved By Wheels
The blocks used for constructing the pyramids were heavy. Seriously. They were very heavy. The lightest of these stones was 2.5 tons, while the heaviest was close to 15 tons. For perspective, the average car only weighs about two tons!
Amazingly, scientists do not believe that one invention was used to transport these large stones: the wheel. Instead, it's widely accepted that the stones were dragged across a great distance (sometimes as far as 500 miles away!) to where they'd eventually be used at the pyramid sites.
How Long Is The Tunnel System?
There is an extensive and long tunnel system underneath and within the pyramids. This tunnel is made out of limestone bedrock. Even though scientists have gone through a great deal of the pyramids since excavations began on them, the tunnel network is still largely unmapped — who knows how long it extends!
Some conspiracy theories allege that the tunnel system extends beyond the pyramids, into the city of Hawara as well. One thing is known: whenever new discoveries are made within this tunnel system, new questions tend to arise as well, with very few answers that scientists can give us until they do more and more research.
The Great Pyramid Has Eight Sides, Not Four
When we think of the Great Pyramid, most of us imagine in our heads a four-sided structure that has a point at the top and a large base at the bottom. If you imagine the same image in your head, you'd be mistaken.
The Great Pyramid is actually an eight-sided structure, though it's very subtle. Nobody knows for sure why, but if you view the pyramid from the sky, you'll see that it does, indeed, have eight sides. There are multiple theories why. Some say that it was a structural choice to keep the stones from shifting, while others believe wind erosion played a role, that the eight-sidedness wasn't a purposeful design. Yet the preciseness of the angles of the eight sides causes many to discount that latter theory.
Did A More Advanced Society Build The Pyramids?
There are more than 2.3 million stone blocks in the Great Pyramid. Each block weighs 2.5 to 15 tons. Doing some simple math, for the structure to have been built in 20 years' time, it would have required a block to be laid down once every 2.5 minutes.
How that could work is a mystery. Using wood planks, ropes, and other tools known to have been available at the time of its construction would result in fast decay of those items. Scientists have not been able to recreate a way for it to have been done using those methods. Some theorize, therefore, that the Egyptians didn't build the pyramid at all — that a culture with more advanced technology, before the Egyptians lived there, was responsible for its construction.
The Great Pyramid Was Shiny When It Was First Completed
The Great Pyramid as it stands today is a spectacular sight to behold in person — but it was even more impressive back when it was first created. That's because it didn't even blend in with the rest of the desert. The entire structure was covered in white, polished limestone, which would make it appear to shine and sparkle, almost reflect the desert itself. Cuts were made in the stones too, to make it appear flat when the sun shone down upon it.
So why isn't the Great Pyramid shiny anymore? A variety of reasons. First, an earthquake around 1300 CE knocked many of the shiny stones out of place or loosened them significantly. After that, the stones were reused in other structures, including in mosques and other civil buildings in the area. The inner shell is all that remains today, yet it still looks impressive.
Holes Were Drilled Into Khufu's Granite Sarcophagus
Granite is a very strong and heavy type of rock. For the pharaoh Khufu — for whom the Great Pyramid was allegedly made for — it was this kind of rock that was used for his sarcophagus. At 3.75 tons in weight, the coffin would have been too heavy to carry into the structure after it was built...which means the pyramid was built around the final resting place of Khufu instead.
There were also drilled holes inside of the sarcophagus, which is puzzling. The tools used at the time must have been well-beyond our understanding, but there's no evidence of what exactly was used in order to make those holes.
Scientists Know There's Another Hidden Chamber Inside, But Don't Know Why
New imaging of the Great Pyramid recently revealed yet another mystery about the structure. Scientists used a process called cosmic-ray imaging, which allows them to see what subatomic particles are doing within the rock. Essentially, the process is like a giant X-ray of the pyramid. What they discovered is that there's another chamber — or perhaps set of chambers — within the structure that they didn't know about beforehand. What is this structure for? What other mysteries are to be found inside? No one knows for sure, and the cosmic-ray imaging is not precise enough to tell us more at this time.
Sometimes, these types of chambers are simply made to help the integrity of the structure. But other times, these chambers have contained other items, including artifacts.
Electromagnetic Energy
The mysteries don't just stop at the fact that there are these hidden chambers in the pyramid. Scientists have long speculated that the ancient Egyptians had a higher energy source than has been made known in historical texts. These chambers may hold the key to that belief, as electromagetic energy seems to be emanating from them!
What is this energy? Does it hold the key to how the pyramids were built? Or is it simply an anamoly of the entire structure, proof of nothing at all? Until scientists do more tests, or enter the chambers themselves, no one will know for sure.
King Tutankhamen
King Tut (short for Tutankhamen) is the most well-known of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs. His story is famous due to the fact that his tomb's discovery hit the headlines of newspapers in the 1920s, which made ancient Egypt all the rage back then. The tomb itself is located in the Valley of the Kings, but was concealed by debris, making it hard to discover.
In 1922, British archaeologist Howard Carter, along with his associate George Herbert, discovered Tut's tomb. Inside, they found amazing items, including perfumes, jewelry, statues, oils, and paintings. The sarcophagus of King Tut was inside three coffins. Tut's remains were in a final coffin, which was made of gold.
Restoring Tut's Tomb
Restoration on King Tut's tomb was sorely needed, and in 2009 efforts to make it look like it had when it was first discovered decades before were formally begun. Wear and tear of the tomb had culminated, due largely to tourists touching things inside of it, which can do a lot of damage to a 3,000-plus-year-old structure.
The Getty Conservation Institute and the Egyptian Ministry of Antiques worked hard to restore the tomb to its original greatness, which took a decade to complete. The picture aobove shows the finished product of the joint restoration endeavor, which looks pretty great if you ask us.
Statue Of Osiris Discovered in 2018
During a restoration project at the pyramid of Pharaoh Djoser, near the city of Saqqara, an amazing discovery was made in August 2018. The restoration project leaders say they discovered a statue of an ancient Egyptian god, Osiris, which hadn't been noticed within the area of the site before.
The discovery was a mystery to archaeologists because they're not quite sure why the statue was put there in the first place, or why it wasn't discovered until the restoration project started. The head of the project suspects it was there all along, placed by a priest of the city long ago.
Twenty 100-Ton Boxes Discovered In The Tunnels
Another bizarre discovery, found within the intricate tunnel system underneath the pyramids, was the discovery of 20 large boxes. Discovered by archaeologist Brien Foerster, each of the boxes was made of Aswan granite, and weighed a remarkable 100 tons each!
Why the boxes were there, no one knows for sure. One theory speculates they were meant to house the remains of someone's prized bulls, but evidence of the animals being there couldn't be found. Another mystery: how did the boxes get to the spot they were in? Wooden transports would have failed under the tremendous weight of just one of these boxes!
Heat In Weird Places
So many mysterious questions abound with regards to the Great Pyramid of Giza and its surrounding pyramids. A number of them have yet to be answered — including why some places generate heat signatures when it defies common sense.
Scientists performed a thermal scan of the Great Pyramind in 2015 to get a better idea of what was going on. They found that some areas of the pyramid, including chambers they hadn't yet been inside, were warmer spots than others. Could this be the thermal signature of an unknown ancient energy source? Some scientists have speculated as much, but that's all it is for now...mere speculation.
Did Ancient Egyptians Have Advanced Technology?
There are theories about a great energy source, and there are conspiracy theorists who latch onto these to take things a bit further. It's hard to tell where speculation begins or ends, and turns into wild guesses, but it's fun to wonder about things nonetheless...especially when the mystery is itself rather murky.
The tools we know about the ancient Egyptians having demonstrate that the construction of the pyramids should have been nigh impossible. So what if they had other tools we don't know about? What if the heat signatures and other strange phenomena emanating from the structures are evidence of ancient technology? It may sound absurd, but the speculations are based on some real evidence, such as radioactive signatures that were discovered from inside some of the secret air shafts. Some of these theories speculate that ancient Egyptians may have even had sources for generating electricity!
True North
Adding to the mythos that the ancient Egyptians might have had their hands on some advanced technology is the fact that they were very good at aligning their pyramids to the cosmos. They're even better than modern civilizations are. The airshafts in the Great Pyramid points north, but not just "oh, that's a northern-ish direct." They point to magnetic North, within five-hundredths of a degree.
To put in perspective how close that is, you can look to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, Britain, to compare. There, the magnet created in 1675 was 13 full degrees away from pointing to true North. In other words, the technology the Egyptians had 3,000 years ago helped them have a far more accurate idea of where north was than what the British had just 300 years ago.
Finding Pi In The Great Pyramid
Are these things coincidence, or were the ancient Egyptians obsessed with mathematical constants? Take the length of the Great Pyramid, and subtract its height, and you'll get 314.16 — about 100 times the number Pi. It doesn't stop there — the "Golden Number," Phi, is 1.168. If you ADD the height and length of the pyramid, you get 100 times that number.
It'd be impressive enough if these mathematical constants were just something the Egyptians obsessed over, and so they wanted to include them in their architecture. Except, these numbers weren't discovered until thousands of years later. Were the ancient Egyptians just that advanced, or is it merely coincidence?
Why Are There Airshafts In The Great Pyramid?
The pyramids at Giza are all magnificent, but there's a difference between the Great Pyramid and the rest of them — and it's not just the fact that it's the biggest one. The Great Pyramid is the only one that has airshafts within it. These airshafts line up, too, with celestial bodies in the night sky.
Why the ancient Egyptians did this has baffled scientists. The airshafts could have been built for religious reasons, perhaps to guide the dead to the heavens. Or perhaps it was practical — to help workers breathe while working in the tunnels beneath. But if that were the case, why, then, were some of the tunnels completely closed off, without any exits to the outside?
20-Ton Doors
Think you can push 20 tons? The idea sounds ludicrous, but inside the ancient pyramids of Giza, it's actually possible! Massive doors on the outside of the pyramid were there in ancient times, and if you got stuck inside, you would have been able to escape with a simple push of the door.
It didn't even take a lot to push them open, just a single hand would suffice if it pushed hard enough. Only after excavations were these doors found, and how they were measured and installed so precisely to function the way they did is still unknown to us.
The Big Void
There exists a chamber within the pyramid that doesn't seem to serve any purpose at all. This chamber, it turns out, was only discovered using sophisticated scientific imaging techniques. It couldn't have been discovered any other way, because the chamber doesn't connect anywhere else — it literally is on its own, which is why it's been called "the big void."
Discovered only recently, scientists have a few ideas on why it might exist. It's situated right above a different chamber, called the Grand Gallery. The idea here is that "the big void" was made to ensure that less weight/pressure would be put upon the Grand Gallery, preventing cave-ins from happening.
The Pyramids And The Stars
We've already detailed how the airshafts are aligned with some celestial bodies in the night's sky, but the three pyramids themselves are also pointing to a well-known constellation, Orion's Belt. Each of the pyramids points to one of the three stars in the belt — Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.
The constellation did have significance to the ancient Egyptians — Orion's belt wasn't a thing for another 2,000 years, but to the Egyptians, who also named the stars, it paid homage to the god Osiris. It's an amazing feat that these structures are perfectly aligned with three stars out of literally billions in the sky, and done so with such precision, no less.
Returning To The Heavens
Aliens? Probably not. But there's a lot of theories over why the pyramids were built. The most logical is that they were made as a mechanism to help the pharaohs ascend to the heavens, specifically to get back to Ra, the god of the sun.
Ancient Egyptians believed their leaders to be gods living on Earth. When they died, they needed a means to get back to their home, among the other gods. The pyramids could have served as a way to help them get their (especially if the airshafts helped guide them to the heavens, as mentioned earlier). Of course, they'd want to take some of their favorite things with them — which is why gold, artwork, even live animals, were buried with the pharaohs.
Other Buildings Used To Surround The Pyramids
If you looked at the pyramids today, you'd probably think that they look kind of lonely. They seem like that now, but back in ancient times, the area had more going on. Sure, the pyramids were still the main attraction, but there were other buildings surrounding them, too.
Other smaller tombs were around the pyramids as well, forming what was called the Necropolis (or, "city of the dead"). These and the pyramids required upkeep, so other buildings nearby helped house workers. There were other buildings honoring the king as well, and in later years, the Sphinx also showed up nearby.
Mysteries Of The Sphinx
The pyramids aren't the only mystery of Giza — the Sphinx offers even more questions to ponder over. Archaeologists don't even have a consensus on when the Sphinx was built, let alone who it was for. Some think it was made for the pharaoh Khafre, who also built the second largest of the pyramids in Giza. That would place the Sphinx's construction around 2,500 BCE.
Others think that it was Khufu who built the Sphinx, which makes the construction even older. And others still believe that the Sphinx, which shows water damage, was built as long ago as 6,000 BCE, a time when rain was more prevalent in the region. The world may never know.
Satellites Find More Pyramids Underground
Technology has allowed scientists to find more structures than were previously known to be in Giza. Whereas archaeologists used to have to rely on good ol' fashioned digging and map-using skills from ancient texts, scientists today can use satellites to help them find structures buried deep beneath the ground. And they've found a lot!
Using such technologies, NASA scientists were able to find at least 17 new pyramids built around Giza's ancient sites. Beyond those pyramids, 1,000 burial sites were also discovered. Even as these new sites are found, the oldest structure among them still remains the Pyramid of Djoser.
The Pyramid Of King Djoser
The pyramids at Giza are amazing, but they aren't the oldest to still exist in Egypt. That honor belongs to the Pyramid of Djoser, which is believed to be the oldest of the ancient Egyptian pyramids. Located just northwest of Memphis, it's believed to have been built in the 27th century BCE. It was originally 203 feet tall, is a step-style pyramid, and was built using mudbrick rather than limestone.
There were fewer treasures to discover inside the pyramid, unfortunately, due to suspected grave robbers who took most of it out. Even the king's body couldn't be found when it was first discovered.
The Great Pyramid Of Giza Was The World's Tallest Structure For Almost 4,000 Years
An amazing feat of the Great Pyramid of Giza is that it held the record for being the tallest structure in the world for an amazingly long period of time. How long, exactly? At 455 feet off the ground, it was the tallest structure for 3,871 years! That's impressive.
Its streak as being the tallest structure in the world was only bested in 1311 CE, when the Lincoln Cathedral in England was constructed. That building took 200 years to construct, while the pyramid only took about two decades. Even then, the Lincoln Cathedral only held the record for 238 years, and was only taller than the Great Pyramid because of its central spire, which collapsed in 1548 CE.
The Last Of The Seven Ancient Wonders
The Great Pyramid of Giza is considered one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It's also the only one of the seven to have survived up to modern times — the rest have been lost to the annals of history. Built for the Pharaoh Khufu between 2584 and 2561 BCE, the Great Pyramid has survived all sorts of weather events, earthquakes, and more, while the other sites have been less fortunate.
The Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Statue of Zeus, for instance, were both destroyed by separate earthquakes. The Temple of Artemis was destroyed by a mob, and the Colossus of Rhodes? Also knocked down by an earthquake.
Go West
One notable feature of the ancient pyramids is that they're all on the western bank of the Nile River. There are a couple of reasons that this was done. First, the west is the direction that the sun sets and it's believed that this was also the direction ancient Egyptians thought the home of the dead was in. If the pharaohs were trying to get to the afterlife, it made sense to give them a head-start by burying them on the correct side of the Nile.
There was a practical reason, too: it was believed building the pyramids on the west side would deter would-be looters from stealing from the sites. Unfortunately, this belief was largely wrong: the river did not stop looters from robbing treasures from the pyramids.
Don't Forget To Pack A Snack
If you have to die, you should do so in style. At least, that was the philosophy of the ancient Egyptian pharaohs. In addition to the majestic and grand pyramids they build for themselves to be buried within, the rulers also demanded other items accompany them — mainly, their stuff.
We say now that, "when you die, you can't take it with you." Not so for the pharaohs. Those buried in the pyramids had buried with them their jewelry, many statues (as many as 400 in one illustrious tomb), and even food. Apparently, you can get quite hungry as you journey into the afterlife!
A Failed Attempt To Destroy A Pyramid
Who would want to get rid of the pyramids? Apparently, a Kurdish ruler and Sultan of Egypt named Al-Aziz tried to do so in the 12th century CE. Apparently, he believed that the pyramids were idols and an affront to his religious beliefs, so he wanted them to come down.
It wasn't to be, however, as it was an extraordinary process even to extract one or two stones from the structure, which took about a day on its own to complete. The pyramids are just that tough! However, there are signs of Al-Aziz's attempts — the Menkaure Pyramid today still has a noticeable line of stones missing from one of its sides.
Blinded By The Light
We mentioned that the pyramids were really a sight to behold — not just for their immense sizes, but also because of their brightness. The polished limestone in the sides of them really made them shine, and they were like a jewel gleaming in the middle of the desert. In fact, the Egyptians called the Great Pyramid at Giza "Ihket," a word that translates to "glorious light."
So just how bright were these things? The pyramids would have reflected so much light, it turns out, that scientists believe that they could have been seen from space — as far as the moon even!
Crank The A/C
Although they are situated in the middle of a desert where temperatures can get unbearably high, inside the pyramids at Giza themselves, it's actually fairly comfortable. That's because the immense structures are incredibly good and insulating the air inside, keeping it a cool 68 degrees Fahrenheit in most places.
When the airshafts are opened on the pyramids, the cool air flows throughout, too, providing a light yet fresh breeze to enjoy. So the pharaohs buried there not only had all their treasures, food, and artifacts with them, but also had air condition? Sounds comfortable! Well, everything except the whole dying part.
Paid Labor?
It's long been assumed that the pyramids were built by the slaves — classic movies have certainly compounded to that belief, and up until 2010 it was widely accepted as fact. But in that year, scientists made a discovery: the workers at the pyramid, who spent tireless and countless hours building the structures, were actually paid for their efforts.
Archaeologists found the tombs of workers during an excavation near the pyramids, and discovered evidence of them having been paid. They also discovered they were treated well in the afterlife, being buried with bread (and beer!) within their final resting places.
The Glue Holding The Pyramids Together
The stones on the pyramids do not move — that's because they are glued in place, not just sitting there waiting to be taken away by looters or pushed aside by the elements. The adhesive holding the pyramid stones together is also incredibly strong.
Adhesives companies across the world would probably like to get their hands on that formula for glue, but they can't: scientists have tried, but still do not have any guesses as to what exactly the glue is made of. It's yet another mystery, and possibly a sign that the Egyptians really did have some technologies that are more advanced than we know of.
Flat Tops On Some Pyramids
When you think of a pyramid structure, what comes to your mind? Most people probably conjure up a tall structure with a wide base, triangular with four sides, and notably, a pointy top. But pyramids, like many things in life, come in different styles.
The earliest known pyramids in ancient Egypt, in fact, were very different — they didn't even feature that point at the top of them! The Pyramid of Djoser, which is the oldest known pyramid in Egypt, is one example of these structures that had a flat top instead. Most pyramids, regardless of their tops, still have burial chambers within them.
The Mastabas Are The Tombs Of The People
There are another set of pyramids, called Mastabas, that are also flat-topped. Like the other, well-known pyramids, these ones have hidden chambers underneath them. But they do not contain pharaohs inside — on the contrary, the Mastabas have the pharaoh's subjects in them!
The exact reason why these types of tombs were created is unknown, but most believe it has to do with tending to the dead kings after they have died. After all, they already had food, jewels, and other goods parked by their sides — all that's left was for their servants to be there to help them, too!
Imhotep's Vision
Djoser had some help from one of his closest advisers, a man named Imhotep. Many people confuse this person, when they first hear the name, with the character from the popular The Mummy movie series — they are, in fact, completely unrelated, and the movie's Imhotep is a fictional character.
The real Imhotep was a physician of sorts, and had a way of developing new medicines (he was eventually deified in ancient Egypt as a God of Medicine). He also served as the chief minister for Djoser. Included in his duties? Designing the pharaoh's final resting place, which was the first step pyramid in ancient Egypt. Without Imhotep, it's possible that more pyramids wouldn't have come after!
Not A Bad Viewpoint Of The Afterlife
What did ancient Egyptians believe about the afterlife? To create such enormous structures like the pyramids, they must have revered death very much. Indeed, they believed that the afterlife was sort of a mirror of the world they themselves lived within of the living, exactly the same in almost every way. The only difference was that there wasn't any pain and sorrow after someone died. Still, they didn't want to wake up in the afterlife with nothing! These beliefs help explain why many Egyptians, particularly those of high means like pharaohs or rich nobles, were buried with their worldly goods.
No Hieroglyphics?
When you think about ancient Egypt, what are the top two things that come to mind? The pyramids probably are up there, but so too are hieroglyphics. Oddly enough, most of the pyramids don't contain hieroglyphics on the walls inside, as many movies depict them doing! Some of the artifacts left for the pharaohs have them, but the walls are mostly blank.
Some chambers of the Great Pyramid of Giza are too small to climb through, so scientists send robots through them. Recently, one such robot DID find some hieroglyphics buried deep within the structure! Archaeologists are hopeful this discovery might give some clues to mysteries that are yet to be solved about the structures.
