Ancient Egyptian Structure Discovered Near Egypt’s Giza Pyramids

Archaeologists have identified an ancient Egyptian L-shaped structure underground near the Giza Pyramids of Egypt, according to a study published in the journal Archaeological Prospection on Monday.

A joint team of researchers from Higashi Nippon International University, Tohoku University, and Egypt’s National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics scanned below the sand’s surface in a “blank area” of Giza’s western cemetery alongside the Great Pyramid of Khufu.

According to researchers, the western cemetery is “an important burial place of members of the royal family and high-class officers,” which is densely populated with mastabas, a type of tomb with rectangular funerary chapels that give way to shafts connected to underground burial chambers.

However, there lies a “blank space” in the center of the cemetery with no structures above ground. No noteworthy excavations have been carried out there either.

Beginning in 2021, the team conducted a geophysical survey for over two years using a combination of ground-penetrating radar (GPR) and electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) to take a look under the surface. The surveys revealed anomalies the team believes “could be vertical walls of limestone or shafts leading to a tomb of structure.”

Researchers followed this up with a series of surveys using another kind of ground-penetrating radar to determine the shape of the large anomaly. The results showed an L-shaped structure approximately 33 by 49 feet that lies six-and-a-half feet below the ground.

The team remains uncertain as to the structure’s purpose. It may have served as a tomb entrance or a construction site later backfilled with sand. However, it appears to be connected to another 33 by 33-foot structure up to 33 feet beneath the ground. Without further excavation, its function ultimately remains unknown.

Another discovery at Egypt’s Giza pyramid

In March last year, Reuters reported that a hidden corridor 30 feet long had been discovered close to the main entrance of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza and that this discovery could lead to further findings.

The discovery within the pyramid of Egypt, the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing, was made under the Scan Pyramids project that, since 2015, has been using non-invasive technology including infrared thermography, 3D simulations, and cosmic-ray imaging to peer inside the structure.

An article published in the journal Nature at the time said the discovery could contribute to knowledge about the construction of the pyramid and the purpose of a gabled limestone structure that sits in front of the corridor.

The Great Pyramid of ancient Egypt was constructed as a monumental tomb around 2560 BC during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops. It had a height of 479 feet. With much of its white limestone casing removed, it now stands at 456 feet.