Door Shuts on Pyramid's Mysteries

BBC NEWS ^ | September 17, 2002

[ramdalesh]

Tuesday, 17 September, 2002, 07:55 GMT 08:55 UK Door shuts on pyramid's mysteries

A fibre optic camera was inserted inside the door

Hopes of unlocking the secrets of the Pharaohs have hit an obstacle after a robot sent into the heart of Egypt's Great Pyramid in Giza has found its way barred.

Scientists will study the footage and prepare for another expedition

With audiences watching on live television, the miniature robot - dubbed the Pyramid Rover - crawled about 65 metres (71 yards) up a narrow tunnel to explore a mysterious shaft blocked by a limestone door.

When it got to the door, it drilled a hole and inserted a fibre optic camera to film what lies beyond.

But the crafty pyramid builders have kept their secrets from prying eyes because the chamber was blocked by yet another door - not seen for more than 4,000 years.

The 12-centimetre (five inch) tall robot, may yet return for another crack at the mysteries of the Pharaohs.

'Successful mission'

Zahi Hawass, the director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), said the next job for researchers was to study the footage and plan for further inspections, which could take up to 12 months.

Mr Hawass's SCA, along with engineers from the Boston firm iRobot and researchers from National Geographic, had spent a year planning Tuesday's event.

"I enjoyed the moment of discovery. We were not disappointed... we were successful in our mission," said Tim Kelly, president of National Geographic's television and film division.

The Great Pyramid of Cheops is the largest of a family of three pyramids on the Giza plateau near Cairo and a "must-see" attraction for every tourist who has ever visited the Egyptian capital.

Deep inside the pyramid, running from the Queen's chamber, is a mysterious 20cm wide tunnel.

In 1993, a German archaeologist sent a small robotic probe into the shaft armed with a fibre-optic camera.

It travelled for about 60 metres before it ran straight into the thick limestone door that has now been pierced.

[Southack]

Does it mean anything that the copper "handles" on the shaft't outer door aren't centered?

[JennysCool]

"Centered" means nothing. The term is "Hawass" ... and, boy, is THAT ever crooked!

[Vidalia]

The Pyramid's internals and its theories of mysticism may be suffering from "Slump", but that would be for a geological engineer to discuss.

The "slump" would have to occurred many hundreds, possibly a couple of thousand years ago when the Nile still fed aquifers, and as the aquifers were depleted by nature or usage, there might be a small geographic shift from the geologic shift.

Otherwise seismographic recordings of recent would have picked up the shift of subterranean movements to fill the voids left by the ancient aquifers.

[weegee]

There's got to be something in the catalog to get the job done.

Maybe something with some dynamite...

[BubbaJunebug]

Get Geraldo...maybe he'll find Al Capones stuff

[weegee]

More of the Whitewater billing records...

[ChasingFletch]

"More of the Whitewater billing records...'

How about Vince's car keys?

[fivekid]

Mr. Hawass is well fed these days.

[WyldKard]

"I enjoyed the moment of discovery. We were not disappointed... we were successful in our mission," said Tim Kelly, president of National Geographic's television and film division.

De-Nile ain't just a river in Egypt, Tim baby...

(Oh well, look at it this way..at least we were spared the horrible curse of THE MUMMY! AIE! THE MUMMY'S CURSE! IT BURNS EVEN MY SOUL!!!)

[Texas dog]

More of the Whitewater billing records...

I kind of thought it might be Al's lockbox.

[MrB]

Giza plateau near Cairo

Just the great tourist spot this time, eh?

[ramdalesh]

I was disappointed that they didn't actually find anything. Many of us are hopeing that the ancients left us a time capsule with a message in there. I'm not surprised that now is not the right time. We seem more geared up for a war and less prepared to hear the ancient message.

there's a great photo of the pyramid and the little robot, in the article, but I didn't format correctly. My lap top is going to run out of batteries pretty soon.

freep-on

[flying Elvis]

What are you expecting that ancient message to contain?

[Vidalia]

"We seem more geared up for a war and less prepared to hear the ancient message. "

What is the "ancient message"?

Where does the "ancient message originate from"?

What language would it be in? Who would know how to translate, or would it be absolute ESP or partial ESP, or another form of linguistic provision, and who would be chosen to "know" the essence of it all?

What spatial quadrant do you think your spirit originates from?

What could it provide to anyone? Would it be lay down with the bastards who shall kill your weak-minded kind as soon as it is possible?

Could you name any era, any time when some megalomaniac did not have people killed to enhance his or her position?

You Truly Live in...

...

[ramdalesh]

What is in this secret chamber? How can this revelation impact our philosophers, our politicians. What theological ramifications will come as its result. Perhaps we will wait in vain, all of our hopes to uncover the secret of the ancients crushed in a final unveiling. There is nothing there but dust!