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Sydney Morning Herald
6 days ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Nowhere on Earth feels more connected to the ancient world than here
On the desert outskirts of Cairo, new and old stare each other down. From atop their lofty plateau, Giza's pyramids peer over what's being billed as the world's largest archaeological museum. Twice the size of the Louvre and New York's Metropolitan Museum, the Grand Egyptian Museum will harbour 100,000 artefacts when the doors to its full 12 galleries officially open to international and domestic visitors by year's end. But you needn't even set foot in a museum in Egypt to sense history on the grandest of scales. Nowhere on Earth have I felt the ancient world as real and all-encompassing as on a journey through this country, with this my first visit. In its millennia-old temples, tombs and pyramids, ambition and accomplishment remain on vivid display, but even as I travelled between its ancient wonders on a 16-day visit with Bunnik Tours, new wonders materialised, with Egypt's vast modern ambitions and aspirations on full show. In one of the world's greatest ancient civilisations, what's old is new. The greatness of Giza Car horns chatter, the call to prayer sounds across the city and there are the constant cries and shouts of roadside exchanges. It's the everyday cacophony of a single city – the largest in Africa – with a population almost that of Australia. From the windows of our tour coach, the rooftops of Cairo's apartment blocks sprout satellite dishes like fields of metal mushrooms. Minarets rise like the hands of drowning swimmers. It's a sensation as much as a city, and yet it all ends so suddenly and reverently beneath the Giza Plateau. Where modern Cairo finishes, antiquity begins. Atop this limestone mantelpiece, a trio of pyramids – burial tombs for Egypt's pharaohs – has come to embody the ingenuity of the ancient world. Tallest among them is the Great Pyramid, rising almost 140 metres above our heads. For about 4000 years, this was the world's tallest building, puzzled together from 2.3 million limestone blocks during the lifetime of the pharaoh Khufu, who would be buried within. Despite my Egypt first-timer status, it all feels so familiar that there's almost a sense of deja vu. Camels lollop across the sands, tourists riding high on their backs, and souvenir vendors chirp their soon familiar, cryptic greetings: 'Welcome to Alaska' (yes, Alaska…), 'Walk like an Egyptian', or the seemingly promising entreaty, 'Only $1', though, of course, what they're selling is never only $1. But even as I ponder the scale of everything around me – the pyramids, the desert, the expanse of history – I realise that a member of the party is missing: the Great Sphinx. To find this celebrated stone creature with the head of a human and the body of a lion, we must head down, for it's set shyly into a hollow, seemingly guarding now against encroachment from the city that's grown to almost reach to its paws. Once, the Sphinx would have loomed large from the desert but today it feels so much less prominent than I've imagined all my life. Over its 4500-year battle-scarred life, it has lost its nose and, at times, it has been buried up to its neck in sand. It's a survivor, and in this narrow space between the city edge and the pyramids, it's a kind of bridge between antiquity and modernity, like Egypt itself. A town called Alex Egypt is 95 per cent desert, but you wouldn't know it on the so-called Desert Road from Cairo to Alexandria. Once a grey line through a dun-coloured landscape, the road is today a strip turned green. A fertile facade of wheat, peanuts, grapes, oranges and tomatoes flicker past the coach window as we drive through an irrigated corridor from Cairo to the coast. Running beside the road for a time also are the supports for one of Egypt's newest infrastructure projects: the world's longest driverless monorail, a 53-kilometre line that will connect Cairo to the prosaically named New Administrative Capital. Inaugurated as Egypt's capital city in 2024, NAC is one of 24 new cities built in Egypt over the past 15 years to ease congestion in metropolises such as Cairo. Travel the country and you see them rising like sci-fi settlements in places such as El Alamein and New Qena, just outside of Luxor. Behind its outer skin of industry, Alexandria is a city where you can almost feel the formation of language. The Pharos of Alexandria lighthouse, one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World, gave the Greeks the word 'pharos' for lighthouse, while the Mouseion of Alexandria, built in the 3rd century BC, was the origin for the word 'museum'. Suitably in this city of words, it's a library that commands centre stage. On the shores of the Mediterranean, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina is one of Africa's most striking buildings and proof that not all of Egypt's grandest constructions are ancient. Opened in 2002, the library is a giant, angled disc, resembling a sun rising from the Mediterranean and covered in eye-shaped windows (complete with eyelids) that flood the world's largest reading room with natural light. It's as far in appearance from Egypt's temples and tombs as it's possible to get, but despite the modern design, the Bibliotheca is, in effect, a cultural replica of one of the world's most impressive ancient libraries. The Great Library of Alexandria was one of the largest cultural centres of its time, holding up to 400,000 scrolls, and it is said to have gone into decline only after being accidentally burned by Julius Caesar in 48 BC. Today, the Bibliotheca holds 2.1 million items, including half a million books and a replica of the only surviving scroll from the Great Library, held in one of its four museums. Step outside the library, and it appears like the Mediterranean's northern shores, with Alexandria more architecturally reminiscent of Italy or Greece than Cairo or Luxor. 'I've been to Turin [in Italy] twice, and I felt like I fitted right in,' says Hassan Abdelrazik, our Bunnik tour guide, archaeologist and Egyptologist It feels fitting for a city with European origins, having been founded by Alexander the Great in 331 BC. Hunt further within the city and a 26.5-metre Roman column known as Pompey's Pillar spears up from between apartment blocks. Burrow beneath the city and the 30-metre-deep Roman-era Catacombs of Kom El Shoqafa, rediscovered in 1900 when a donkey fell through the earth, reveal themselves. They're sights worthy of Rome or Athens, but in Egypt they're like tales from modern history. Of temples, tombs and Tutankhamun After a night back in Cairo, it's an hour by plane to Luxor, flying over a blank sheet of desert marked only by the long green squiggle of the Nile River. Egypt's capital for 1500 years, Luxor was the city of Tutankhamun, Ramses II and Nefertiti, and yet this city of 420,000 people feels more like a town grown large. Horse-drawn carriages wheel visitors around its riverside streets, and at dawn the sky fills with hot air balloons – I count 50 hovering overhead one morning. The Nile River is Luxor's defining line. On its east bank, the ancient Egyptians built their colossal temples, and on its west bank they buried their regal dead in tombs that line the suitably barren landscape of the Valley of the Kings like houses on a dusty street. Luxor is claimed as one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, though it's still a 900-year step forward in time from the Giza pyramids when you enter the Valley of the Kings. And lessons had been learned. Pyramids had proved easy targets for tomb raiders, so Luxor's rulers elected to be buried underground in this valley opposite the city. To date, the tombs of 64 royals and nobles have been discovered in the Valley of the Kings, but there are likely to be more hidden within. A new tomb was discovered as recently as 2006 (and other nearby tombs have been unearthed even this year) and tombs for Ramses VIII, Nefertiti and Tutankhamun's wife, Ankhesenamun, have never been found. Entry tickets grant access to any three tombs in the valley, and while the tomb of Tutankhamun, containing the 19-year-old's sarcophagus and, rather ingloriously, his withered mummified body, is the resoundingly popular choice, it's the painted tombs of Ramses III and Ramses IV that are most memorable. As I step inside these tombs, the colourless desert is replaced by brightly painted walls and ceilings – scenes of kings interacting with gods, wartime heroics and ceilings bedazzled with stars. They are 3000-year-old creations, and yet at times it looks almost as if somebody ducked out to the hardware store for paint just a few months ago. I feel as if I'm standing in a Sistine Chapel from antiquity. Back across the river, it's temples rather than tombs that dominate Luxor's cityscape in a scene often described as the world's greatest open-air museum. At one end of the city, Karnak Temple was the world's largest religious complex, sprawling across 5000 square metres. It might also have been the longest construction project: its multitude of structures were built across 2000 years. It's akin to a construction job starting around the time of Christ and finishing up only now. Inside, Karnak is a forest of columns and obelisks, including the tallest obelisk found in Egypt and the incredible Great Hypostyle Hall, with its 134 columns standing as tall as 21 metres. It's a complex so large it somehow makes the city's other great temple, Luxor Temple, look like a chapel in comparison, and yet the latter is also one of the ancient world's grandest buildings. At the end of a 2.5-kilometre-long avenue lined with 1050 sphinxes that connected the two temples, the entrance to Luxor Temple is framed by towering 14-metre statues of a seated Ramses II and a lone obelisk. A matching obelisk, gifted to France in the 19th century, now stands in Paris's Place de la Concorde. Like Karnak, it's the column-lined Great Colonnade Hall that seems to define Luxor Temple, though look at any wall in the complex and there are carvings, hieroglyphics and reliefs telling historic tales, including additions from Alexander the Great's followers and the Romans. 'They're like the National Geographic of the day,' Hassan says, bouncing with enthusiasm as he details the stone stories of gods and kings. 'Each one is a chapter.' It's late afternoon as we wander through the temple, watching the columns and architraves turn to gold in the day's last light. We're staying this night on a Nile river cruiser docked immediately across the road, and at dawn I return to the temple, somehow compelled to view it one more time, as if to affirm that something this magnificent is real. From feluccas to fancy liners The romance of long felucca journeys on the Nile might have been almost consigned to history, but the world's longest river is still the highway of choice between Luxor and Aswan. Today, three-level ships with comfortable cabins, buffet restaurants, rooftop bars and swimming pools make the voyage, travelling almost in convoy up and down the river. Loading As we set sail, the sky is hazy under the 40-degree heat, with Luxor soon fading into the smudge like a Turner watercolour. Buffaloes and donkeys graze the riverbanks, and villagers wrangle fishing nets from dugout-style boats, as Egypt morphs from a swirl of tourism to rural simplicity. Only 240 kilometres separates Luxor from Aswan, a distance that could easily be covered in a couple of days, but sailings stretch over four days, with boats rising and falling through locks and pausing to visit Egypt's second-largest temple in Edfu and a temple to the crocodile god Sobek in Kom Ombo, where about 300 mummified crocodiles have been found. Most fascinating is the moment, on the approach to Kom Ombo, when the boat squeezes through Gebel Silsila, a 350-metre-wide gorge that forms the Nile's narrowest point in Egypt. Desert dunes roll back from the edges of its low cliffs, stretching for thousands of kilometres across north Africa, and it feels like an origin story: the gorge's sandstone was quarried to build the temples in Luxor, Edfu and beyond. Thousands of years on, that work is still visible. The cliffs are shaped into blocks, resembling something built from Lego bricks. Life on the Nile 'Luxor is about monuments; Aswan is about the Nile,' Hassan says as we sail into Egypt's most southerly city. At dusk, motorless feluccas drift about the river in such numbers as to resemble the start of a Sydney-Hobart yacht race, and the hotel in which Agatha Christie penned Death on the Nile famously sits atop riverside cliffs. For all that, Aswan is still a city dominated by a distant temple and its remarkable survival story. When the Aswan High Dam was built in the 1960s to create Lake Nasser, the world's sixth-largest artificial lake, more than 100,000 people were displaced and resettled, but even more challenging was the threat the dam posed to one of Egypt's greatest temples. With its iconic 20-metre-high rock reliefs of the seated Ramses II, Abu Simbel was the original Mount Rushmore. Unlike Egypt's other temples, built from stone, Abu Simbel's two temples were carved into the slopes of a mountain. When the dam was built, the temples were doomed to flood, until the world banded together to raise them to higher ground. As Lake Nasser filled, thousands of engineers and workers cut the main temple into 807 blocks, each weighing about six or seven tonnes, piecing them back together 65 vertical metres higher up the slopes and reconstructing their interiors with their walls and ceilings filled with painted tales of Ramses II's war exploits. Dozens of buses now leave Aswan before dawn each day for the three-hour drive to Abu Simbel, and to reach this ancient wonder, you pass more new wonders. Close to Aswan, one of the world's largest solar-power plants, visible from space, opened in 2019, while the road to Abu Simbel cuts through a band of desert greenery – a vast and ever-growing area of circular, pivot-irrigated crops planted to secure Egypt's food security in response to the war in Ukraine. See it from the air and the desert looks pixellated. Back where we began In the imagination, Egypt's pyramids often start and end in Giza, but there are more than 115 pyramids across the country, including 14 alone near Sakkara and Dahshur, 20 kilometres beyond Giza. On arriving back in Cairo, our final day in Egypt is a glimpse beyond the Great Pyramid to this cluster of pyramids, which have their own distinct stories and characteristics. The six-tier Djoser Step Pyramid is the world's oldest pyramid, built a century before the Great Pyramid, while the strangely lopsided Bent Pyramid seems to fold in on itself as it rises. Loading As structures, they're overshadowed by Giza's pyramids, but that somehow only enhances their effect. 'This is my favourite pyramid,' Hassan says of the Bent Pyramid, a view that resonates across the travel group as we wander among these stepped, bent and coloured pyramids. For me, the culminating moment comes at the Red Pyramid, two kilometres across the sands from the Bent Pyramid. In their attempt to foil tomb raiders, the pyramid's makers built its entrance 28 metres above the ground. Climbing to the entrance is like ascending an unnatural mountain, with the desert falling away beneath me and other more distant pyramids rising into view. The pyramid is entered through a low, sloping corridor, its ceiling polished smooth by hats and heads to reveal the red colour in the rock. In the corridor, I make a crouching descent, almost crawling to emerge into a trio of chambers 30 metres below the Earth's surface. With their high, church-like ceilings, each chamber is like a pyramid within a pyramid. Tiers stripe the ceilings in almost mesmerising patterns that could easily be architectural features from a modern design home, and yet they were crafted 4500 years ago. If this is history, I'm a convert. Know before you go: Five dos and don'ts for Egypt Cover up There is no lack of midriffs and other body bits on display among visitors to Egypt's monuments, but this is a conservative country, so all genders, please cover up accordingly as a simple gesture of respect. The hustle Whether at monuments or in markets, you will be pestered to buy trinkets. Be polite in your refusal and try to enjoy the interaction. … but then again One of my most memorable encounters was with a felucca skipper in Luxor who followed me along the riverbank trying to entice me into a sailing, but who soon settled into a chat about our homes and families. Hands off I lost count of the number of people touching and leaning against the walls or columns of Egypt's temples and tombs. Sure, they're stone and solid, but human touch is still corrosive, and it'd be nice to think these monuments will survive tourism to still be around in another 3000 years. Mind your manners When eating in Egypt, it's considered a compliment (to the sheer abundance of food in this country) for the guest to leave a small portion on his or her plate, while it's also a compliment to accept a second serve. The details Loading Tour a-based Egypt specialist Bunnik Tours runs a 16-day Egyptian Discovery escorted journey with a maximum group size of 20. The itinerary includes visits to Cairo, Alexandria, El Alamein, Luxor and Aswan, staying in four to five-star hotels, with four nights aboard a luxury Nile river ship. Tours start at $12,295 a person twin share, with airfares included as well as gratuities. See Enter Tourist visas for a visit of 30 days can be obtained online, but it's also a simple task to organise on arrival at Cairo airport. See Fly Emirates operates direct daily flights from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide to Dubai, with connections to Cairo, a four-hour flight from Dubai. See
Time of India
29-07-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Mystery of the Great Sphinx of Giza: Who built the massive ancient limestone statue?
The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of ancient Egypt's most iconic and mysterious monuments. This prehistoric limestone statue, which has the body of a lion and the face of a man, has been the subject of research and mystery for historians, archaeologists, and travellers for centuries. Located on the Giza Plateau near modern-day Cairo, near the famous pyramids, the Sphinx is more than just a stone figure, as it represents a powerful symbol of kingship and divine protection in ancient Egyptian culture. While many admire its grandeur, a poignant question has long been on people's minds, as there has been a long-lasting speculation about who built the Great Sphinx. Who built the Great Sphinx of Giza? Most historians believe that the Great Sphinx of Giza was built during the reign of Pharaoh Khafre, who ruled from around 2575 to 2465 BCE during Egypt's Fourth Dynasty. This theory is supported by both archaeological and stylistic evidence. According to Encyclopædia Britannica, the Sphinx 'likely dates from the reign of King Khafre' and may even depict his face. The Sphinx was carved directly from a single limestone ridge on the Giza Plateau. One of the most striking features of the statue is that its body lies in the shape of a reclining lion with a human head wearing a royal headdress, believed to symbolise the pharaoh's power. The monument measures about 240 feet (73 meters) long and 66 feet (20 meters) high, making it one of the largest sculptures in the world carved from a single piece of stone However, not everyone agrees. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No annual fees for life UnionBank Credit Card Apply Now Undo Some researchers argue that the Sphinx might have been built by Khafre's older brother, Redjedef (Djedefre), as a tribute to their father, Khufu. This view comes from facial studies that suggest the features of the Sphinx resemble Khufu more closely than Khafre. Despite the debate, most modern Egyptologists favour the Khafre theory due to the statue's proximity to his pyramid and the architectural harmony of the complex. The mystery of the Sphinx's missing nose has added to its mystery, but illustrations predating Napoleon's arrival in Egypt show the nose was already missing, suggesting other causes of damage over time What makes the Sphinx mysterious? The mystery surrounding the Great Sphinx of Giza deepens when considering the erosion patterns on its surface. Unlike the typical effects of wind and sand seen elsewhere in Egypt, the Sphinx shows signs of water erosion in the form of deep vertical grooves and fissures, especially along its lower body and the walls of its enclosure. These patterns suggest long-term exposure to rainfall and water runoff, which is not something to expect in Egypt's dry climate today. Geologist Dr. Robert Schoch argues that this kind of erosion could only have occurred during a much wetter time, possibly around 10,000 to 12,000 years ago, at the end of the last ice age. If that's true, it means the Sphinx may be far older than traditionally believed, predating the rise of the pharaohs and pointing to the possibility of an earlier, unknown civilisation. It is also popularly believed that a lost advanced civilisation may have built the Sphinx, not just as an isolated monument, but as part of a larger network of ancient structures around the world, including Stonehenge and sites in South America. They point to the Sphinx's precise alignment with the cardinal directions and constellations as evidence of deep astronomical knowledge. Though mainstream archaeology doesn't support these alternative theories, the lack of clear ancient Egyptian records about the Sphinx's origins keeps the mystery alive
Daily Mail
09-07-2025
- Science
- Daily Mail
New discovery beneath Egypt's Sphinx fuels theory of ancient underground city built 38,000 years ago
The mystery of a 'underground city' beneath Egypt 's pyramids has intensified after scientists revealed new scans showing a shaft plunging below the Great Sphinx. Italian researchers, who made waves earlier this year with claims of vast structures hidden beneath the Pyramid of Khafre, now say they have identified a colossal vertical shaft leading and two chambers below the Sphinx. The findings were presented at the recent Cosmic Summit in North Carolina, a gathering known for exploring alternative theories about ancient history. While mainstream archaeologists have slammed the work as unscientific and speculative, the team insists their latest scans point to something extraordinary. Filippo Biondi, a radar expert from University of Strathclyde in Scotland and co-author of the research, told 'These findings strongly support the hypothesis that the Giza Plateau conceals a vast subterranean complex, potentially indicative of an extensive underground city.' The scans detailed a massive shaft surrounded by a spiral-like staircase, decedending from the center of the Sphinx's base and down into two square structures, one at 2,000 feet and another 4,000 feet underground. Armando Mei, an Egyptologist and co-author of the study, noted that similar underground features have now been detected beneath all three major pyramids, suggesting a unified architectural blueprint. 'The discovery proves that the Giza Plateau was engineered long before the dynastic era, possibly around 36,400 BCE, as my research suggests,' he added. If confirmed, the findings could dramatically rewrite the history of ancient Egypt, challenging the long-held belief that the pyramids were built solely as royal tombs, and hinting instead at a forgotten civilization with advanced engineering skills. The iconic Giza pyramids and the Great Sphinx have long been hailed as marvels of ancient engineering, built roughly 4,500 years ago with breathtaking precision and scale that still baffle experts today. But the researchers are shaking up that timeline, suggesting these legendary monuments may rest atop far older, hidden structures that could predate known history by tens of thousands of years. It all began in March when the team announced four massive shafts and chambers were found under the Pyramid of Khafre using a type of sonar technology. They employed cutting-edge SAR Doppler Tomography, a technique that uses satellite radar to detect tiny seismic movements. By analyzing radar signals are and the timing or pattern of those signals when they bounce back, the team was able to create 3D maps revealing hidden subsurface structures. The technology has been published in a peer-reviewed journal. However, latest work by Corrado Malanga from Italy's University of Pisa, Biondi and Mei has not yet been published in a scientific journal for the review of independent experts. They plan to publish a study in 2026. 'Our geophysical surveys beneath the Great Sphinx uncovered pillar-like formations remarkably similar to those beneath the Khafre and Menkaure pyramids,' explained Biondi. 'Even more compelling, our tomographic imaging revealed two large chambers nearly 2,000 feet below the surface.' The two massive chambers, each measuring 131 feet by 131 feet, appear to be connected by an underground shaft, according to recent findings. The data collected also points to a network of hidden structures below the surface, possibly part of a vast underground city, potentially as expansive as the entire Giza Plateau itself. Mei explained that their theory of a lost city draws from ancient Egyptian texts, particularly Chapter 149 of the Book of the Dead, which references the '14 residences of the city of the dead.' 'It describes certain chambers and some inhabitants of the city. That is why we believe it could be Amenti [realm of the dead], as described in ancient texts,' he said. 'Of course, we must be certain, but we believe this could be the case because the pyramids are located exactly where the texts say. 'The texts state that the pyramids were built on top of the city, sealing its entrance.' Biondi added that the mysterious chambers found more than 4,000 feet below the pyramids may be linked to the legendary Hall of Records. The Hall of Records is a mythical chamber said to lie beneath the Great Pyramid or the Sphinx, reputed to house lost wisdom about ancient civilizations. Armando Mei (center) and his team, which includes Corrado Malanga (right) and Filippo Biondi (left), took the world by storm last month when they discovered shafts and chambers more than 2,000 feet below the surface. Despite its enduring allure, there is no solid evidence proving the Hall of Records exists. The team proposes that an advanced civilization originally built the complex, but was destroyed around 12,000 years ago by a 'divine flood' triggered by an asteroid impact. According to their theory, the pyramids are the lone surviving 'megastructure' from this ancient society. Alternate historians, including Graham Hancock, a frequent guest on Joe Rogan's podcast, have long suggested that a sophisticated prehistoric civilization was wiped out by a global cataclysm, possibly a comet strike. This theory holds that the catastrophic floods and upheaval erased most traces of this civilization, with survivors passing down critical knowledge of astronomy, engineering, and sacred architecture to later cultures such as the ancient Egyptians. The researchers now hope to gain permission from Egyptian authorities to excavate beneath the Giza Plateau and put their findings to the test, potentially rewriting the story of human history. 'We have the right. Humanity has the right to know who we are because, right now, we don't,' Biondi said.
India Today
25-06-2025
- Science
- India Today
7 Unsolved Mysteries of the Ancient World
7 Unsolved Mysteries of the Ancient World By : Kashmik Singh Chouhan From lost civilizations to unexplained monuments, these 7 ancient mysteries continue to baffle historians and archaeologists. How were the pyramids built with such precision? The methods remain a mystery despite numerous theories. 1. The Pyramids of Egypt The purpose of Stonehenge—whether an observatory or religious site—is still unknown. 2. Stonehenge Atlantis, a legendary civilization said to have sunk, has never been found, leaving its existence in question. 3. The Lost City of Atlantis How were the massive Moai statues transported across the island without modern tools? 4. Easter Island's Moai Statues Massive geoglyphs in Peru, visible only from the sky, remain unexplained in purpose and creation. 5. The Nazca Lines The origins and purpose of the Great Sphinx, with its lion body and human head, remain unclear. 6. The Sphinx of Giza The advanced Indus Valley civilization's writing system and sudden disappearance are still unsolved. 7. The Indus Valley Civilization These mysteries challenge us to explore further, keeping the secrets of ancient times alive.
News18
11-06-2025
- Science
- News18
Experts Dismiss Viral Report Claiming Hidden City Beneath Egypt's Pyramids
Last Updated: In ground-breaking research, a group of scientists earlier claimed to have discovered evidence of a second underground city beneath Egypt's Giza Plateau. The history of the Pyramids, located in Egypt, still remains a mystery, notably for their construction. While the ancient Egyptians were in charge of building them, the exact methods, tools, and resources employed are still being researched and debated today. In a ground-breaking research, a group of scientists earlier claimed to have discovered evidence of a second underground city beneath Egypt's Giza Plateau, connecting the Khafre Pyramid to other surrounding sites. But now, top archaeologists have refuted the previous claims, calling it 'unscientific.' As per a Daily Mail report, experts used Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) tomography to discover what they believe to be a huge subterranean complex connecting the Khafre, Khufu, and Menkaure pyramids, as well as the Great Sphinx. Filippo Biondi, a radar expert at the University of Strathclyde, stated that these buildings are '90 per cent likely" to be connected. 'We firmly believe that the Giza structures are interconnected, reinforcing our view that the pyramids are merely the tip of the iceberg of a colossal underground infrastructural complex," Biondi earlier told CNN. Also, the previous report claimed that the researchers had identified vertical shafts that went as far as 2,000 feet below the Khafre pyramid. According to them, the shafts could date back to a civilisation 38,000 years ago, considerably older than the pyramids, which were built around 4,500 years ago. Egypt's pyramids are ancient masonry buildings designed primarily as tombs for pharaohs and their consorts during the Old and Middle Kingdom periods. Over 130 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, with many of them part of larger complexes. The Great Pyramid of Giza, built for Pharaoh Khufu, is the largest and most famous and was once the tallest man-made structure in the world. First Published:
