Scientists have discovered a 30-metre-long empty void inside Egypt's Great Pyramid, adding to the mystery of the ancient structure.
The discovery was published in Nature, an international scientific journal, on Thursday. The article described how scientists used small high-energy particles similar to x-rays called muons to take a look inside the 4,500-year-old structure.
The international project, Scan Pyramids, started as a means of trying to further study the known chambers of the Great Pyramid, but what they found is a large empty space that no one had yet discovered. The void’s existence leads to a host of new ideas on how the pyramids were built around the year 2500 B.C.
While many are attracted to the idea of the chamber holding expensive treasures, scientists disagree. It is said that there is little chance that the space was used to keep the king’s burial artifacts since there is already a sarcophagus in a burial chamber of the Great Pyramid. What the space was actually used for, however, is still up for speculation.
What is agreed upon is that the discovery was unexpected, and that it upends many held beliefs about the ancient wonder.