French Egyptologists Defend Pyramid Theory

My Way News ^ | 9/4/04 | PAUL GARWOOD/AP

[wagglebee]

CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - A pair of French Egyptologists who suspect they have found a previously unknown chamber in the Great Pyramid urged Egypt's antiquities chief to reconsider letting them test their theory by drilling new holes in the 4,600-year-old structure.

Jean Yves Verd'hurt and fellow Frenchman Gilles Dormion, who has studied pyramid construction for more than 20 years, are expected to raise their views during the ninth International Congress of Egyptologists in Grenoble, France, which starts Monday. They also published a book about their theory this week.

Standing in their way is Zahi Hawass, the director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, who heatedly rejected the theories during a Cairo press conference this week.

"There are 300 theories concerning hidden rooms and other things inside the pyramid, but if I let them all test their theories they will do untold damage to the pyramid, which was built with the blood of Egyptians," said Hawass. "I will not let Egyptian blood be damaged by amateurs."

He said earlier requests from the same pair were turned down in 1999 and 2003.

In their book, "The Room of Cheops," Dormion and Verd'hurt write that 1988 study of an area below the queen's burial chamber in the pyramid found what appeared to be an 11 1/2-foot "structure," according to the French magazine Science and Future.

"The study of this part of the pyramid was always neglected because there had been a grill to block access," they wrote. "While we were working on ventilation in 1988, we were able to penetrate into the depths and study briefly but not enough to state anything essential."

Verd'hurt laughed off Hawass'"amateur" tag, citing previous close relationships with Egyptian antiquities officials and work that he and Dormion had conducted in 1998 on the Meidum pyramid south of Cairo, which dates back more than 4,500 years to the 4th pharaonic dynasty.

The work at Medium, according to Verd'hurt, led to the discovery of two rooms and two passages that had been previously "undisturbed and unknown." They want to do similar work at the Great Pyramid, built by Khufu, a ruler also known as Cheops.

"To be sure of this process, we wanted to verify the result of our architectural works using a radar that confirmed the location of a passage and a system of closures. So I think that now we should at least take these results into account in order to go further in our work."

Verd'hurt said Egyptian opposition to his theory is a "shame." They are expected to raise the issue again with Hawass in Grenoble, but the Egyptian antiquities official said he will not speak to them.

Verd'hurt said he was disappointed by Hawass' refusal.

"It's true that Cheops arouses and attracts passions but, with regard to history, it's really too bad," he said. "I think it's too bad that he doesn't sit down with us to let us explain ourselves."

[Lockbar]

French theory on Pyramids: They were actually giant symbols of surrender.

[JoeGar]

His theory is that the Kings Chamber is a temperature/pressure controlled room and the sarcophagus is a volumetric measuring vessel developed to establish true measuring devices for grain or other commodities requiring accurate measurement standardization.

In The Giza Power Plant, the author points out that the sarcophagus is cut from a solid piece of rock, its four corners are very precisely drilled, and its bottom is perfectly flat when measured with an engineer's rod. His theory is that the sarcophagus is so precisely hollowed out that it could only have been done by machine.

[JoeGar]

... was it at all plausible; or, just an 'interesting read'?

It was all plausible from a mechanical engineering point of view. I don't remember any chemical engineering comments -- it's been a while since I read the book -- except that the shafts (too small for humans) were, in theory, used to pour chemicals into the main chamber for combining.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, I'll ping everyone when I'm home again.

related topic:

Uncovering The Secrets Of The Great Pyramid
IOL ^ | 8-29-2004 | Annick Benoist
Posted on 08/29/2004 8:46:23 AM PDT by blam
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1202336/posts

[ApplegateRanch]

Thanks. Do you remember title/author? Now I'm curious enough to read it, if it is still on shelves somewhere.

After reading sci-fi for 50 years, one more book won't hurt at all. :)

[TEXOKIE]

There is an interesting magazine which has been publishing for about a decade called "Atlantis Rising." I have found it at our local Hastings book store. They have had articles in their past issues about the book Joe Gar mentioned as well as others with similar themes.

You might want to check out

www.atlantisrising.com

[TEXOKIE]

Here's a better link:

http://atlantisrising.com/

[SunkenCiv]

The late Luis Alvarez (most familiar due to the Alvarez model for impact-induced mass extinctions) conducted a cosmic ray detection experiment in the Khafre pyramid at Giza. A weird result he got led him a little astray at first, but eventually he figured out what was happening. He concluded that Khafre has no unknown chambers, at least as far as cosmic ray detection can find, and suggested the use of radar to make a quicker and more accurate study. I think the details can be found in that old Peter Tompkins book, but I dunno for sure. There's very little about this in Google.

Secrets of the Great Pyramid by Peter Tompkins with Livio Catullo Stecchini

didn't realize the late Livio Stecchini contributed to the volume (probably the foreword?).

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on or off the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list (alt)
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.

[SunkenCiv]

Here's a link to the title, found in a post in the earlier topic.

[SunkenCiv]

The Pyramids: An Enigma Solved by Joseph Davidovits first edition website

[SunkenCiv]

Hawass: "I will not let Egyptian blood be damaged by amateurs."

Nope, he insists on doing all the damage himself. ;')

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see Civ's favorites incl Books, Magazines, Movies, Music

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[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, I'd forgotten about that one.

[ApplegateRanch]

Thanks!

[ApplegateRanch]

...and thank you, too, Sir!

Soon as I finish Unit For Command & Tolkien's Lost Tales....

[DJ MacWoW]

Teal'c will get you for that!

Only if I'm right and you might be surprised how fast this old bird could run with someone that big behind me. I guess I'd be surprised too! :-)

[solitas]

FYI: http://www.touregypt.net/godsofegypt/

NEAT site!

[solitas]

No doubt. From everything I've ever read about Hawass, he comes off as a pompous jerk.

You ought to try catching him on a Discovery- or History- or Learning- Channel show. It's almost entertaining to see him hyperventilate over dead egyptians and piles of rocks. Of course he worships those rocks - without them he'd never be able to get his face in front of a camera.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks wagglebee & farmfriend.

Please FREEPMAIL me if you want on, off, or alter the "Gods, Graves, Glyphs" PING list --
Archaeology/Anthropology/Ancient Cultures/Artifacts/Antiquities, etc.
The GGG Digest -- Gods, Graves, Glyphs (alpha order)

[MacDorcha]

"His theory is that the sarcophagus is so precisely hollowed out that it could only have been done by machine."


i saw a bit on the Discovery Channel a while back about wind-power being a likely source of constructing the pyramids and erecting the obelisks. they used kites and pullies hooked to temporary structures that fit the chucks of stone together. they backed this up by doing so, and then by witnessing the hyroglyphics with wingspans and noting that they were the perfect deminsions for a level-flying wing.

the idea of the ancient egyptians making machines capable of precision cutting without combustable engines is IMO plausable.

[FairOpinion]

Related article:

2,500-Year-Old Hidden Tomb Found in Egypt
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1206236/posts

Egypt's antiquities chief on Thursday revealed a 2,500-year-old hidden tomb under the shadow of one of Giza's three giant pyramids, containing 400 pinkie-finger-sized statues and six coffin-sized niches carved into granite rock.

Zahi Hawass, the director of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said archaeologists had been working for three months to clear sand from a granite shaft found between the pyramid of Khafre — also known by its Greek name of Chephren — Giza's second-largest tomb of a pharaoh, and the Sphinx.

Under blaring sun Thursday, Hawass said Giza's latest ancient discovery came to light after archaeologists detected what appeared to be a four-sided shaft. The antiquities chief verified it by climbing a pyramid to get a bird's eye look.