Examinations of the Menkaure pyramid, the third-largest monumental structure at Giza, have brought to light two unexpected pockets devoid of material, concealed behind its inclined stone surfaces.
This revelation emerges subsequent to prior discoveries within the Great Pyramid of Khufu, which included a substantial internal void and a passageway adjacent to its northern entryway. Nevertheless, the voids identified within the Menkaure pyramid exhibit marked divergences in their morphology, dimensions, and spatial arrangement, suggesting a distinct history of construction and a different intended function.
“The radiographic representations unveiled two anomalies situated directly behind the polished granite blocks, which would signify the existence of air-filled spaces,” articulated a research collective spearheaded by archaeologists Khalid Helal and Mohamed Elkarmoty, affiliated with Cairo University.
“This hypothesis was substantiated by a battery of computational analyses that accounted for a spectrum of potential scenarios under realistic environmental conditions.”
For centuries, the Giza pyramids, serving as colossal tombs for deceased monarchs, have captivated the human imagination. Beyond their associated legends, these structures offer a remarkable insight into the civilization of ancient Egypt, illuminating not only the significance of their mortuary practices and grandeur but also their extraordinary engineering capabilities.
The Great Pyramid stands as the most imposing of these ancient edifices and consequently garners the most scholarly attention. Menkaure, the least extensive of the three principal pyramids, had not undergone detailed investigation since the archaeological endeavors conducted by American Egyptologist George Reisner between 1906 and 1910.
Yet, it possesses a unique characteristic among the trio: an incomplete facade composed of reddish granite overlaying its limestone framework – an architectural feature that potentially indicates a revision of construction priorities.
All three pyramids have endured for over four millennia, standing as a magnificent testament to the ancient Egyptian mastery of construction; therefore, it is imperative to study them with utmost care to prevent any further degradation. In recent years, advancements in technology and methodology have facilitated precisely this, enabling the non-intrusive analysis of internal structures.
This is precisely the approach adopted by the researchers as part of the ScanPyramids initiative. This collaborative effort, co-managed by Cairo University and the Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute in France, employed a synergistic combination of three distinct scanning methodologies to probe the granite casing on the lower section of the Menkaure pyramid.
Electrical resistivity tomography (ERT) involves introducing an electrical current through a solid mass and measuring variations in the electrical resistance of different materials. Ground-penetrating radar (GPR) transmits radio waves through a mass and registers their reflections from diverse substances. Ultrasonic testing (UT) utilizes sound waves to achieve a comparable outcome.
By applying all three techniques to ‘visualize’ the interior of the Menkaure pyramid, the investigators identified two minor anomalies on its eastern façade that exhibited distinct characteristics compared to the surrounding limestone.
The initial anomaly was situated approximately 1.4 meters (4.6 feet) beneath the granite cladding, measuring around 1.5 meters in width and 1 meter in height. The second, positioned roughly 1.1 meters below the granite, displayed dimensions of 0.9 by 0.7 meters. Both anomalies behaved consistent with air-filled voids rather than mere interfaces between construction blocks.
Subsequently, elaborate simulations were executed to ascertain whether alternative explanations could account for the observed data. These rigorous simulations effectively dismissed models postulating that the detected signals could have originated from stone blocks possessing physical properties divergent from the adjacent materials.
“It was deduced that both anomalies likely represent air-filled cavities within a limestone matrix, commencing directly behind the external granite veneer on the eastern aspect,” the researchers concluded in their publication.
These identified cavities are notably dissimilar to those found within the Khufu pyramid, one of which is exceptionally large, and the other is characterized by a well-defined structure. A commonality between the two pyramids is that the precise functions of their respective voids remain undetermined.
However, as Helal and his collaborators point out, the arrangement of the granite blocks encasing the Menkaure voids closely resembles that of the blocks surrounding the pyramid’s northern entryway. In 2019, independent researcher Stijn van den Hoven proposed that this architectural similarity could suggest the presence of a secondary entrance.
The researchers were unable to ascertain the depth of these cavities and suggest the utilization of cosmic-ray muography for further investigation. “Nevertheless,” they stated in their conclusions, “the interpretation of these detected anomalies warrants thorough discussion among Egyptologists.”
