googleab8909dabd84e1ae.html

Views Inside the Great Pyramid

GPyramid01

Yes, me, but the purpose is to show how low and cramped the entrance passageways are,                                                                           rising at a steep angle of  26.5˚ (14 seked) from the entrance towards the Queen's Chamber

A colleague, showing the height of the so-called air shafts—this one inside the Queen's Chamber looking South, so QC(S). These were clearly at eye-height, but when found were covered over with stone 'plates,' so were evidently not meant to be looked into - at least not by living eyes… the King's ka, on the other hand, could see and pass through stone unhindered… Perhaps his ka was intending to 'dive through the thin coverstone and then follow the shaft. See Khufu's Vision for Akhet Khufu?


GPyramid

Peering into any one of the shafts, which are at eye level, you can see a horizontal section, longer than the arm can reach, and then there is an upward turning. Even had the entrances to the shafts not been covered, then, they could not have been used for sighting stars, and as they were covered, they could not have been used to provide useless air to a mummified king… So, what were they for?


The niche on the Eastern wall inside the Queen's Chamber. (The grill covers a modern fan ventilator). It is suspected that the niche may have been intended to hold a statue of Khufu…


The surpisingly small, low entrance to the horizontal passage leading from the foot of, and underneath, the Grand Gallery into the Queen's Chamber


GPyramid07

The sarcophagus in the King's Chamber, carved from a single block of granite - how could that have been done, with the primitive tools at their disposal? The leading corner shows signs of forced entry, but the lid - supposing there to have een one - is nowhere to be found.


Tool Collage

Collage of tools found in the Queen's Chamber Northern Shaft. At left is a diorite hammer stone used to carve out softer stone, such as limestone. At right are two views of a curious copper tool, or perhaps a symbol of office, with two curved 'horns,' and a shaft with two rivets. Also found, but now missing, was a length of wood. Copper was rare and valuable at the time. Why were the tools left in the covered shaft? Was this an archtect, or mason, leaving his signature behind? The tools are now in the British Museum. 


GPyramid06

Not strictly inside the Great Pyramid, but within its outer shell - now missing. In the foreground, see the paving stones which would have been covered with marble to create a walkway, or temenos, around the pyramid. There is also one section of finished stone visible, showing what the exterior of the pyramid would have looked like…


© D K Hitchins 2015