(CAIRO) — A nine-meter long hidden passageway was discovered inside the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Egyptian tourism and antiquities minister announced on Thursday.
The function of corridor inside the Pyramid of Khufu, the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza, was not immediately known but officials said it could lead to further discoveries.
The finding was made by researchers from the Scan Pyramid project, an international mission that since 2015 has been using modern methods — including scanners and infrared thermography — to probe the internal structure of the pyramid.
The gabled ceiling of the secret tunnel suggests it was built to lighten the load on the structure, Mostafa Waziri, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities told reporters at the pyramid site.
“But a big question mark hangs over whether this corridor was created to relieve the weight on the [main] entrance or lighten the load on a space yet to be discovered,” he added. “Scanning work will continue to uncover more secrets.”
The Great Pyramid is the last surviving wonder of the ancient world. It was built as a royal tomb some 4,500 years ago during the reign of Pharaoh Khufu.
Egypt aims to tap into new ancient discoveries to draw in tourists, a major source of foreign currency and jobs that has been hard hit by the COVID-19 pandemic as well as political instability following the 2011 revolution.
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