The Egyptian pyramids continue to be a source of mystery and enthrallment. Thousands of years after they were built and decades after they were discovered and began to be studied, there are still many mysteries buried within them. Archaeologists have spent years trying to uncover the secrets passages that traverse them, the writing on the walls and the meaning of the object found inside.
Egypt has many famous pyramids, perhaps the most well-known being the Giza pyramids or the ones located in the Valley of the Kings, and each of them provides more insight into the ancient Egyptian civilization or into the specific figures, like Tutankhamun, that have helped build the lore.
Theories are plentiful, with many including Elon Musk believing that aliens built them. When he made his belief on this theory public a few years ago, the internet went wild (he has since said a lot more insane things) but at the time it was unprecedented that an educated man would say something like this, and he was quickly corrected by several Egyptian experts. Even Egypt’s Minister of International Cooperation weighed in, suggesting that Musk should take a trip around the country and visit the tombs of the workers who built the pyramids.
While the story died down, many took the chance to use the buzz to continue exploring the mysteries within the structures and now a recent discovery thanks to the advances in technology is putting the pyramids back in the spotlight. A series of underground structures stretching for more than two kilometers has been discovered, and researchers are still puzzled by the size of these tunnels, since they are not consistent in size or shape. This is not the first time that hidden tunnels and passageways are found in pyramids, but their purpose remains mysterious.
The new Egyptian pyramid mystery, hidden tunnels
To try to solve this new puzzling discovery, a group of experts launched the ScanPyramid project. Their main tool was muons, which are tiny subatomic particles generated when cosmic rays collide with atoms in the atmosphere. These particles, when they pass through stone, allow us to visualize what lies inside structures like the pyramid, whose blocks can weigh up to 15 tons.
The discovery does not lie on secret chambers within the pyramids, but with a set of underground structures that defy everything we know about their construction and access. This was found by researchers from the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and the University of Pisa and it is an incredible achievement for them.
Corrado Malanga, one of the researchers commented on the discovery (translated) “When we zoom in on the images, we will reveal what can only be described as a true underground city... a whole hidden world of numerous structures”.
What is even more of a mystery is that we do not know how old these formations are or what their purpose was. The only thing we know for sure is that they are connected by passages that follow geometric patterns and that within this system, there are eight vertical columns that descend more than 600 meters into enormous chambers.
These columns are arranged in two parallel rows, perfectly aligned from north to south. Considering that the pyramids are aligned with the cardinal points, this arrangement seems to have a meaning. Furthermore, each of these columns is surrounded by a kind of staircase.
A lot more research will have to be done within these tunnels to reveal their secrets, but for now we should just be grateful that one more mystery has been revealed and that we now have another excuse to continue to delve into these fascinating structures that can still keep un enthralled thousands of years after their construction.