The classical story of the discovery of the upper chambers
inside the Great pyramid at Giza is well known. In the ninth
century an Arab governor of Cairo, known as the Caliph al Ma'mun,
decided to see for himself what lay inside the Great Pyramid (Khufu
pyramid) and began to bodily excavate a tunnel through the casing
and core blocks with hammers and chisels. Fortuitously for the
Caliph, the workers who were busy tunneling shook the structure so
much that the capstone fell off the end of the ascending passage. The resonating crash was heard by the workers, who dug in that
direction and found not only the descending passage, but also the
ascending passage and all the upper chambers in the pyramid. After
thousands of years lying undisturbed deep inside the Great
pyramid, the King's and Queen's chambers were opened at last
and their treasure would soon belong to the Caliph. But, as the story goes, there was no booty; apparently this
most ancient and precious of cupboards was absolutely bare. There
were not only no burial artifacts, but also no burial and no
inscriptions either! The first thought to cross the mind of the
Caliph must have been that the tomb had been robbed, but how? Even
if the secret Well Shaft deep inside the pyramid had been found at
this stage, it is hardly a suitable tunnel through which to strip
a wealthy burial chamber totally bare. So where was all the loot?
The Caliph and his excavators must have not only been very
exasperated, after all their work, but mystified too. Fig 1 Great pyramid. Fable? Are we so sure that this is what really happened, just over one
millennia ago? Are we simply complacent because this it what has
been taught to us by respected authorities for centuries? Perhaps
it merely easier to agree with the established consensus of
opinion, rather than thinking positively and laterally about the
problem. Fortunately, there are a few individuals out there, who are
more than happy to challenge a whole raft of classical myths; and
so it was one day that a short e-mail arrived in Ralph Ellis'
in-box from a like-minded colleague, Mark Foster. Mark had an idea
that had been bothering him for some time and he wanted to throw
it around a bit. A quick read convinced Ralph that it was a highly
original idea and definitely worth some further thought. After a
few debates here and there, the following alternative scenario to
the classical story developed, which is quite attractive in many
respects. The new explanation not only answers some irritating
puzzles, but it also poses some interesting and fundamental
questions in return. As Mark explained, the basic problem with the classical
explanation was that Ma'mun's tunnel is rather too accurate for
comfort, it tracks into the pyramid in a direct line for the all
important junction between the descending and ascending
passageways. It is often cited that Ma'mun had to turn the tunnel
sharp left to discover the original passageways, a fact that Ralph
and Mark had in the back of their minds when they first visited
the Great Pyramid. But as Ralph and Mark ambled down the forced
tunnel, they were both equally rather mystified, because the left
turn cited in the literature could not be found! Having
backtracked the tunnel and tried again, that left turn seemed to
be no more than a slight widening of the tunnel at this point. In
actual fact, the diggings were almost right on their target. So
how did this happen, was Ma'mun just lucky and happened to pick
the right spot? Did he have an idea of where to go to? There is also the problem of why Ma'mun was tunneling inside
the pyramid in the first place. Not only was the presence of the
true entrance to the pyramid well known in classical times but
also people were also aware of the descending passage and the
subterranean cavern at the very bottom of the pyramid. Strabo says
of the original entrance to the Great Pyramid: "The Great
Pyramid, a little way up on one side, has a stone that may be
taken out, which being raised up there is a sloping passage to the
foundations." 1 Strabo seems to be describing a door made of stone that is
movable in some way, it can be moved upwards and outwards at the
same time. This sounds like a hinged flap arrangement, with the
hinge at the top of the stone. Strabo was clearly familiar with
the internal layout of the lower portions of the pyramid, he calls
the rough hewn hole there the foundations rather than the more
obvious term of chamber and he is also familiar with the form that
the entrance stone took. Sir Flinders Petrie backed up this quotation with a detailed
study of the entrances to the Vega (Bent) pyramid, the only
pyramid that still has the doorways around the entrance intact. He
found that on either side of the entrance, there were holes cut
opposite each other, about 9cm in diameter by 14cm deep. These
holes were just inside the entrance and only 15cm from the top of
the passage. Petrie, not unreasonably, interpreted these as being
the hinge sockets to swing the stone door from. Behind these sockets, the passageway contained more door
sockets. These were smaller vertical sockets, for a very
lightweight door, perhaps made of wood and presumably to keep out
the wind-blown sand. Fig 2 Great pyramid's entrance closed Great pyramid's
entrance open. Fig 3 Great pyramid's entrance closed Great pyramid's
entrance closed. The diagrams above were developed by Petrie and based on his
analysis of the Vega (Bent) pyramid entrance. The hinged stone
door is clearly marked as the large shaded stone. It needs to be
this shape, with a long top extending backwards, in order to
counterbalance the weight of the stone. The amount of
counterbalance at the top would have been judiciously arranged by
the architect, so that the force required to open the stone was
within normal human limitations, say about 25kg of force. Invisible Here then, we have clear evidence that a movable entrance stone
was fitted to the Great pyramid, and that the descending passage
had been visited, perhaps many times, throughout recorded history. To gain entry to the pyramid, however, was still not easy. A
series of ladders would have to be erected against the pyramid to
reach the door. Presumably the entry stone must have had a handle
of some sort on which to pull, and it would then need a prop of
some nature to keep it open, while the new initiate scrambled into
the thin hole and down the descending passage. A knotted rope
would also have to be fed slowly down the length of the passage,
to allow for an easy exit from the dark and foreboding depths of
the sacred pyramid. Undoubtedly, all of this frenetic activity would have scratched
and pitted the entrance to the pyramid over the millennia in a
very obvious fashion. Yet, it is generally accepted that the
casing blocks must have been intact during the rule of Ma'mun, as
the casing blocks appear to have been used by Sultan Hasan for the
construction of his mosque in 1356. The question is, therefore, why could Ma'mun not see these
tell-tale marks and the original entrance to the pyramid that lay
only a few meters above him? Why could he not see the handle on
the door, or the scuff-marks on the smooth exterior? The knowledge
of the true entrance must still have been known, so why could none
of the locals be persuaded' to point it out? This apparent
invisibility of the original entrance could not have been because
it was covered by sand, for instance, because Ma'mun's tunnel
lies below the level of the real entrance. So what was the
problem? Why so was much effort expended in digging a new tunnel,
when an easy entrance lay just above? Two very important questions have just been posed why could
Ma'mun not see the real entrance, when it was so well known? And
why was his alternative tunnel so accurate, if he did not know
where the real entrance was? Bit of a catch-22 really. Guide passage Mark Foster had had an idea that Ma'mun already knew of the
original entrance and the descending passage, and had used the new
forced entry tunnel for another reason perhaps to get around
the granite plug-blocks in the ascending passage, perhaps to get
the necessary equipment into the right position to dig around
those blocks. But if Ma'mun did not discover the ascending passage
while he was creating his new forced tunnel, how did he know it
was there? The ascending passage was, after all, completely secret
and unexplored at this time, so how was it discovered? Mark and Ralph both came to the same conclusions on this topic.
The key to discovering the ascending passage lies outside the
pyramid, just to the east of the base and to the north of the
causeway. Here, there lies what Petrie called the trial passage,
which is simply a foreshortened replica of the Great Pyramid's
descending passage and the junction with the ascending passage. As everything on the plateau has a purpose, we can pose the
questions, why is it there? Petrie thought it was a test-bed on
which the architect could test out the procedures for laying out
the internal passageways to the pyramid. This is a possibility.
However, we both think that the real answer is that it is not a
trial passage, but a guide passage. Any interested party looking
into this short passage system will clearly see the symmetry with
the real descending passage inside the pyramid, but a little
further down they will come across a junction with another
ascending passage. The idea might just dawn on someone that the
real pyramid passageways just might have exactly the same
configuration. Thus the ascending passage was quite possibly found by
Ma'mun's men entering the original entrance to the pyramid and
tapping down the ceiling of the descending passage, searching for
that elusive passageway that was hinted at by the guide
passageways outside. Success at last, the men found a concealed
entrance! But as they were not able to penetrate the granite plugs
that blocked this ascending shaft, a small tunnel was dug through
the softer limestone core-blocks, around the granite plugs, and up
into the ascending passage. Ma'mun was at last able to enter the
Queen's and King's chambers and to plunder his expected booty. If all this is so, however, it may also be an indication of
another passageway inside the Great pyramid. The only difference
between the guide passageways' and the real passageways, is that
the guide system has a vertical shaft attached to the junction of
the descending and ascending passages. Mark believes this to be a
sure sign that a similar vertical shaft lies undiscovered within
the Great Pyramid - it is a distinct possibility. Excavation This is all very well as scenarios go, you might say, but if
this is the case then why on Earth is that great forced tunnel of
Ma'mun's there? Surely the classical explanation is correct,
Ma'mun came in via this crude excavation! - Perhaps, but here is
where Ralph's traditional lateral thinking comes into play.
Tunnels are not only for getting in, but also for getting
out...... It is highly probable that the real reason for the forced
tunnel was not to get into the pyramid, but rather to get
something OUT. Whatever it was, though, it must have been small
enough to go down the first part of the ascending passage, but it
was too long to go around the bend between the descending and
ascending passageways. The only alternative for the intrepid
explorers, was to dig a tunnel directly outwards from the junction
of the two passageways, bypassing the internal passageway
constriction. This explains both of the questions posed above. The original
entrance had been known about and used, and the accuracy of the
forced tunnel is now also obvious, because is was started from
inside and dug outwards. This may also explain why so much rubble
was later found in the bottom of the descending passage, it came
from the forced tunnel's excavations. So what was the long thin booty that Ma'mun had found and
liberated? Had the King's chamber been filled with sacred and
valuable artifacts and the mummy of a great and ancient king? Had
Ma'mun discovered a king's ransom in bullion? Perhaps, but
personally Ralph thinks that the real answer is probably more
prosaic and poignant that this. The Caliph's Tale Ma'mun laboriously climbed his way up the 41.2 cubits of
swaying ladders, to the original entrance of the Great Pyramid, a
difficult task for a well-fed Caliph and a worrying moment for his
advisors. After a short slide down the descending passage, he
entered the small rough shaft that his men had dug around the
granite plug blocks and scrambled into the ascending passage. From
there he struggled up the Grand Gallery, his men cautiously
pushing his bulk from behind. Sweating and cursing, he finally
crawled on hands and knees into the King's chamber, a degrading
and exhausting experience that no Caliph had endured either before
or since. Ma'mun was flustered, even angry, but also elated. Although he
had been briefed that the King's chamber was basically empty,
what it did possess was an untouched, enigmatic and completely
sealed sarcophagus! This was the prize that justified these
privations, Ma'mun was going to be at the opening of this
sarcophagus at whatever cost he was not about to let his chief
vizier run of with the treasure of the ancient kings, or perhaps
even the secrets of the gods themselves! A disorganized rabble of workmen arrived and pried at the
coffer lid with crow-bars; they cursed, swore and shouted, but the
lid just would not budge. Finally, in a state of ecstatic
anticipation, Ma'mun pushed the rabble aside and ordered the
coffer to be smashed with sledge-hammers. The chief gaffir aimed a
few heavy blows and with a great crash, one corner of the
sarcophagus flew off - the result still being visible today. Ma'mun ordered the workers away, yelled for silence, grabbed a
flickering lamp from a soldier and approached the hole in
trepidation. Then, the significance of the moment struck him. He
was standing inside the greatest of all the world's ancient
monuments, a structure rumored to have been constructed by the
gods themselves. Here at the heart of this sacred monument lay a
simple, unadorned, solitary black-granite coffer, that had been
sealed for thousands of years; and he, Caliph al Ma'mun, was going
to be the first to see inside. His hand began to tremble at the
thought and he quickly steadied it with his other, least the
workers see him as apprehensive. The light flickered and it was difficult to see, but at last it
steadied and he saw for himself that the sarcophagus was .......
empty! This is exactly what happened to the archeologist Zakaria
Goneim a millennium later. He was excavating the pyramid of
Sekhemkhet at Saqqara, when a sealed sarcophagus was found
complete with its funerary wreaths still on the top. With great
difficulty the sliding end of the coffer was raised and it was
...... empty! Whilst Zakaria Goneim was greatly disappointed, the Caliph Al
Ma'mun was absolutely livid. Suspecting, perhaps, that one of his
workers had manufactured this little rouse, he flew into a violent
rage and vented his anger on a few unfortunate victims of summary
justice. Ma'mun, however, was not about to go back to his palace
empty handed, after all he had been through. But the chamber only
contained the sarcophagus and it was quite obvious that it was
bigger than the entrance to the chamber. As a consolation prize,
they found that the lid of the sarcophagus could be turned
diagonally and just about squeeze through the King's chamber's
tough granite entrance blocks. Ma'mun was going to have it as a
memento at all costs. Unfortunately for the workers, however, after sliding the great
block of stone down the Grand Gallery, they found that the lid was
not going to squeeze around the plug blocks and into the
descending passage. Besides, the lid must have weighed a ton, and
if it ever got into the descending passage, nobody could think of
a way of preventing it from plunging all the way down to the
bottom of the pyramid. In addition, the original entrance
stone-flap was far too small to get the lid through. It was all
becoming a bit of a nightmare. Spurred on by an enraged Caliph, however, the chief of
engineering came up with an answer. The only practical solution
was to force a new tunnel from the junction of the descending and
ascending passageways, horizontally through the core blocks of the
pyramid and into the open air. THIS is Ma'mun's forced tunnel.
K'aba So where did the lid eventually end up? Ralph and Mark have
sometimes been accused by more orthodox writers of layering
speculation upon speculation, but this one is too obvious not to
mention in passing. The Caliph was, quite obviously, a Muslim. At
the center of the sacred Islamic city of Mecca lies a plaza that
draws the faithful from all over the world during the Hajj. In the
middle of this plaza lies a simple cubic building or chamber, the
K'aba. Inside the K'aba, lies the holiest relic in the Muslim
world. This relic is simply a piece of black granite - of unknown
origin...... P.S. Many people continue to be critical of the strange notion that
the Great Pyramid chambers were designed and constructed to be
perfectly empty, it seems to be counter intuitive. But all the
evidence seems to point towards the Great Pyramid's sarcophagus
being empty - just like the sarcophagus of Sekhemkhet was found to
be in recent excavations. But this is not actually so strange as
it may first seem. The truth of the matter is that a billion or so
people today, known as Christians, base their entire philosophy on
just this concept - the empty tomb. Egyptologists will not rock
the contemporary boat with such symmetric symbolism, but perhaps
the importance of the history of Egypt is
slowly becoming apparent to some...
Ralph Ellis and Mark Foster are independent researchers with an interest in ancient Egypt.
For further reading please see:
" Jesus, Last of the Pharaohs" by Ralph Ellis
" Thoth Architect of the Universe" by Ralph Ellis
© 1998, 1999 by R. Ellis & M Foster
http://www.touregypt.net