For the first time in 186 years, an international research team including members from Nagoya University has confirmed that there is a previously unknown space within the world's largest Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt. expected to lead to
Eight years ago, in 2015, an international research team from Egypt, Japan, France, Germany, etc. began using the latest technology to unravel the internal structure of the Pyramid of Khufu, which is said to have been built approximately 4,500 years ago. has been proceeding.
As a result, it was confirmed by last month that there was a passage-like space extending from the northern slope of the pyramid to the central part, measuring 2 meters in length and width and 9 meters in depth.
It is said to be the first time in 186 years that a new space has been confirmed inside the pyramid.
For the survey, the technology of Nagoya University and the High Energy Accelerator Research Organization, which measures the mass of matter from the amount of elementary particles called "muons" that rain down from space, was used, and NHK cooperated with the shooting using the scope. .
A press conference held in Giza near Cairo, where the pyramids are located, was attended by Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Isa and Associate Professor Kunihiro Morishima of Nagoya University who participated in the international research team.
The research team used the same technology six years ago (2017) to obtain analytical data indicating the existence of a huge space inside the pyramid that is different from the one discovered this time, which may lead to new discoveries in the future. is also expected.
Archaeologist 'Historical Discovery of Pyramid Research'
"This is the first time in about 200 years that a new space has been found inside Khufu's Pyramid, and it is a discovery that will go down in the history of pyramid research," said Shoto Kawae, an archaeologist and associate professor at the Institute for Advanced Study of Nagoya University who is familiar with the structure of pyramids. It is also important in that it uses new technology," he said, evaluating this discovery.
Regarding the newly discovered space, he said, ``It is strange that it is near the entrance of the pyramid and that there is nothing inside, and I do not know the purpose.''
And he added, "It is not conceivable that the underlying entrance to the space that was found served a structural role in guarding, or was used in rituals, but was ultimately blocked. Is it?” he pointed out.
In addition, regarding the discovery of other huge spaces with a length of 30 meters or more in the muon survey, he said, "It was a space that was suddenly unbelievable from the research so far, but with the results of this time, this space I also found out that there is no doubt that there is also a new space.In addition, there is a possibility that a new space can be found from other pyramids of Giza."
What is muon research?
Muon surveys are attracting attention as a new survey method that can investigate the inside of huge buildings without damaging them.
"Muons" are one of the "elementary particles" that are formed when particles called "cosmic rays" flying in space collide with the atmosphere, and a large amount of muons are usually falling on the ground.
Because they are so small, they can pass through a wide variety of substances, but in dense substances such as rocks, fewer particles pass through.
By using this property and analyzing the difference in the amount of muons that pass through a building, it is possible to see through the internal structure like an X-ray photograph.
Research using muons has been used to investigate the position of magma in volcanoes and to investigate the inside of nuclear reactors at the Tokyo Electric Power Company's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station.