In 1945, Egyptian archaeologist Abdel Moneim Abu Bakr accidentally discovered a water-filled mine located in a small tunnel that ran along a north-south axis under the Pharaoh Khafre road in Giza
The scientist investigated it and found that a vertical tunnel connects many rooms. However, the archaeologist never excavated the mysterious underground passage and did not publish any data about it. For years, local workers bathed or drank in the water-filled mine. And the water table rose so high that archaeologists could not study it.
The purpose for which this mine was created remained a mystery for a long time. Many fans of Egyptian history learned about its existence, and rumors began to spread among them that under the mine there is a network of tunnels that lead to the pyramid of Cheops or even, perhaps, to the Great Sphinx. In the summer of 1999, Dr. Zahi Hawass decided that it was necessary to try to excavate the mysterious dungeon, determine exactly what role he played, and stop the spread of unsubstantiated rumors.
Drainage of a flooded mine
The most difficult task was to lower the water level to such an extent that archaeologists could start working in the mine. The researchers asked for help from engineer Esmail Osman, who brought the necessary equipment to pump the water. Scientists had to work with constantly running equipment. According to Hawass, "the constant noise interfered with my thinking, and the equipment was working so loudly that I was almost deaf!"
What the researchers feared most was that by pumping out the water, they could damage the mine or bring it down altogether. Everything, even the smallest cracks, were covered with plaster, and archaeologists put a date on them. If the crack began to expand and the plaster began to crack, workers would immediately notice it and take the necessary precautions.
Three rooms
After the water left the mine, archaeologists began their research. The first section of the shaft, almost 10 m deep, ended with a room measuring 8.6 by 3.6 m. When the scientists got into this room, it turned out to be empty. But in the northern part of the room, another vertical shaft 13.25 m deep was discovered. It also led to a room whose dimensions were 6.8 by 3.5 m. This time the main room was surrounded by six more small rooms and a niche from which the next mine began. In three small rooms there were stone sarcophagi, made in the style of the XXVI dynasty (about 685-525 BC), in two of them human bones were preserved.
Ushebti
Burial figurines that were usually placed in an ancient Egyptian burial. They were supposed to help the deceased if he needed to do any physical work in the afterlife. Most often, ushabti were small and produced in large quantities: sometimes they covered the entire floor around the sarcophagus. These "afterlife servants" began to be used from the time of the Middle Kingdom (about 2040-1783 BC).
“At this level, we also found ushebti and pottery fragments of the Late Kingdom. In addition, in the southeast corner of the main room, there was a niche in which the third vertical shaft began. It ended after about 8 meters in a new 9 sq. m , - said Hawass.
Lower level of the mine
The last room was the most interesting. In the center was a rectangular depression carved into the rock. Remains of square columns have been preserved at the corners of this depression. The place between the recess and the walls of the room was shaped like a gutter. This chute was interrupted at the entrance to the room, where the floor level rose significantly, and connected to the central recess. Thus, the shape of the gutter resembled the Egyptian hieroglyphic sign pr, which means "house."
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Period VI Dynasty
End of the Old Kingdom (XXVIII-XXII centuries BC). The dynasty began during the reign of Pharaoh Teti in 2345 BC. e. and ended with the death of Queen Nitokris around 2183 BC. e.
In the center of the depression was a large sarcophagus made of black basalt. The sarcophagus itself contains human remains and several amulets from the time of the Late Kingdom (664-332 BC). “But most of all we were surprised by the red smooth pottery found there with traces of white paint, which probably dates back to the period of the 6th dynasty,” Hawass said.
Burial of Pharaoh or Tomb of Osiris?
Archaeologists have been unable to find any evidence that the mine was used as a burial place for the pharaohs. “I believe that the ancient Egyptians were going to build a symbolic tomb of Osiris, the god of the underworld. It seems that the gutter around the recess was specially constructed so that groundwater would fill it. Then the depression would be surrounded by water like an island. This configuration could depict the pristine Nun Ocean, which covered the entire world until the time of creation. And in its center there seemed to be an island that was the first piece of land that appeared,”said Hawass.
Water could also symbolize Osiris' connection with fertility and rebirth. The corner columns may have been associated with the four sacred feet of the god described in later texts. The central depression itself, with a sarcophagus rising in it and columns at the corners, is similar in configuration to Osirion of the temple of Seti I in Abydos, another symbolic burial of Osiris. The burials that date from the Late Kingdom may reflect the desire of the Egyptians after death to be closer to the god of the afterlife.
Osiris mine at Herodotus
“I believe that the Osiris mine was described by the Greek writer Herodotus, the“father of history”. According to him, Cheops was buried on an island in an underground room located in the shadow of the Great Pyramid and fed by a channel extending from the Nile,”Hawass said.
Herodotus, perhaps, describes precisely the Osiris mine, although he is mistaken in its dating and the purpose of the underground structure. The Osiris mine, apparently, was built after the reign of Cheops, since the oldest objects that archaeologists found there belong only to the VI dynasty (Cheops belonged to the IV dynasty). Most of the other finds are even more recent.
"As I emphasized above, during my research I was able to establish that the mine is a symbolic burial of Osiris, and not a royal tomb, as Herodotus claims," Hawass said.
Mysterious tunnel
At the lowest level, archaeologists have made another interesting find. A narrow tunnel begins in the northwest corner of the room. This passage is so narrow that only a child could crawl through it. But then it turned out to be clogged with clay. “In 1999, I sent a boy to explore this tunnel. He was only able to crawl 5 meters, and then the course became too narrow even for him,”said Hawass.
In November 2008, television producer Richard Reisz took out an endoscopic camera to examine this narrow passage. The team that took on this project was able to move the camera just 10 meters before the clay got in the way. In December, the researchers returned there with two self-propelled research vehicles equipped with cameras that could continue their journey along the mysterious passage. After 6.5 meters, the researchers found that the tunnel forks. They sent the apparatus to a branch, it walked 10.5 meters, but then the passage again became too narrow and filled with clay for the robot to be able to move further. But the team of researchers found that the main passage continues for another 21 meters, and then, apparently, ends, although it has not yet been determined for sure.
“I contacted the Japanese team, which is going to bring in a more modern and technically advanced machine, which may be able to move beyond the points where other equipment got stuck,” Hawass said.
Archaeologists were supposed to start a new attempt to study the mysterious move on June 9, 2008. They were going to send the robot down the aisle and finally figure out where it was leading. Scientists hope to understand why the Egyptians carved this narrow passage into the rock, and even so deep underground.
Infox.ru will continue to follow the work of Dr. Hawass and will definitely tell you about the solution to this secret of the Osiris mine.
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From admin:
I see in this a strong resemblance to the narrow strange tunnels discovered not so long ago in the great pyramid of Giza
The ventilation shafts of the Pyramid of Cheops cause many questions among the researchers of the pyramids. They are narrow stone tunnels with a square cross section (the size of the sides of the square is approximately 22-23 cm), and coming from the burial chambers with the following inclination angles in relation to the horizontal plane:
The northern shaft of the Tsar's chamber - 32 deg. 28 min., South chamber of the Tsar's chamber - 45 deg., North shaft of the Tsarina's chamber - 37 deg. 28 min., South mine of the Queen's chamber - 39 deg. 30 min.
In 1837, British subjects - Wise and Perring, who were engaged in independent research of the Pyramid of Cheops, discovered that the shafts of the Tsar's chamber go out. At first, both researchers assumed that the mines lead to some kind of room, but after clearing the northern mine they felt air currents. So they decided that the shafts were created for ventilation. It was thanks to Wise and Perring that the term "ventilation shaft" appeared. However, at present, the assumption about the ventilation purpose of these mines is being questioned. Indeed, to ventilate the burial chambers in the Pyramid of Cheops, it would be wiser to place the shafts horizontally at the level of the ceiling than to make them inclined, facing a host of technical problems when laying. Besides,for some unknown reason, the builders left the blocks at the entrance to both mines in the Queen's chamber intact, so their ventilation function is extremely doubtful. Taking these considerations into account, scientists suggested that the mines were not intended for ventilation at all, but served for some purpose of a religious and ideological nature: “It is more likely that they performed some role during burial, possibly being a way for the king's soul to escape. ".
In March 1993, German engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink, hired by the Egyptian Antiquities Service, to carry out work to improve the ventilation of the interior of the Pyramid of Cheops, surveyed the southern ventilation shaft of the Queen's chamber using the Wepwawet robot. Sixty meters from the beginning of the rise, the walls of the mine became smooth and the robot crawled into the passage of polished limestone, and after another five meters it ran into some kind of obstacle and stopped. As it turned out, the obstacle was a "door" with specific metal parts, and a small gap in the lower western corner, into which it was impossible for the "Wepwawet" cells. For objective reasons, the mine survey was resumed only in September 2002 with the help of a more advanced robot equipped with a fiber optic camera,a scanning device and a special drill. On September 17, 2002, millions of TV viewers in 141st countries of the world watched the robot's progress through the southern ventilation shaft. The mini-robot crawled 60 meters along the tunnel to the door blocking it, drilled a hole in it and inserted a video camera into it, which discovered another room and a door. As Tim Kelly, president of the National Geographic Film Division, said, "We're not upset … The robot's mission went well."National Geographic Cinematography President: "We're not upset … The robot mission was successful."National Geographic Cinematography President: "We're not upset … The robot mission was successful."
These studies have convincingly proved the inconsistency of the theory about the ventilation purpose of the inclined shafts of the Cheops Pyramid.
Unfortunately, further on this discovery there were many obstacles that the famous explorer Erich von Daniken considers the situation a conspiracy of silence.