Scientists using an imaging method on cosmic rays have detected a hidden structure in the Great Pyramid of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo.<br /><br />The discovery was made on Thursday (November 2) but the purpose of what scientists are calling a “void or cavity” inside the pyramid remain unknown.<br /><br />A hidden internal structure in Khufu’s Pyramid, the largest pyramid in Giza, Egypt, is uncovered https://t.co/hW8osQ8vjv pic.twitter.com/Wxw0iWS9xx— nature (@nature) 2 novembre 2017<br /><br />Scientists found this “void” by using an imaging technique called muon tomography, which uses cosmic-ray imaging to penetrate deeply into solid objects.<br /><br />“What [we] are sure about is that this big void is there, that it is impressive, that it was not expected by, as far as I know, any kind of theory,” said Mehdi Tayoubi, president and co-founder of the HIP Institute in France and one of the leaders of the study published in the science journal Nature.<br /><br />The project entitled Scan Pyramids, which led to the discovery of the unknown structure, was meant to scan the internal structure of the pyramids in a non-invasive way and understand how they are built. <br /><br />The project was not meant to find “hidden cavities” said Hany Helal of Cairo University.<br /><br />The newly-discovered structure is at least 100 feet (30 metres) long and is located above the Grand Gallery, a series of passageways inside the pyramid. <br /><br />Very proud to be part of this adventure! https://t.co/PD1SN7wcrP with HIP_i_ #scanpyramids pic.twitter.com/BjEIIJ8a9C— Jean-Baptiste Mouret (jb_mouret) 2 novembre 2017<br /><br />Researchers said this was the first major inner structure found in the Great Pyramid since the 19th century.<br /><br />However, Zahi Hawass, an Egyptian archaeologist, Egyptologist and former Minister of Antiquities does not believe the “void is not a discovery.”<br /><br />“If you understand how the pyramid was built, you will know that inside the pyramid there are many hollows and many gaps. What they announced today is not a discovery.”<br /><br />Hawass pointed out that to build the Grand Gallery, they had to build hollows around it. <br /><br />“The thirty meters (100 feet) void they mention was mentioned by Dieter Arnold [curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art] 25 years ago”<br /><br /> The Great Pyramid was constructed during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu and was the tallest structure constructed by mankind until the Eiffel Tower in 1889.<br />
