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Morishima K, Kuno M, Nishio A, Kitagawa N, Manabe Y, Moto M, Takasaki F, Fujii H, Satoh K, Kodama H, Hayashi K, Odaka S, Procureur S, Attié D, Bouteille S, Calvet D, Filosa C, Magnier P, Mandjavidze I, Riallot M, Marini B, Gable P, Date Y, Sugiura M, Elshayeb Y, Elnady T, Ezzy M, Guerriero E, Steiger V, Serikoff N, Mouret JB, Charlès B, Helal H, Tayoubi M. Discovery of a big void in Khufu's Pyramid by observation of cosmic-ray muons. Nature 2017; 552:386-390. [PMID: 29160306 DOI: 10.1038/nature24647] [Citation(s) in RCA: 190] [Impact Index Per Article: 27.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2017] [Accepted: 10/24/2017] [Indexed: 11/09/2022]
Abstract
The Great Pyramid, or Khufu's Pyramid, was built on the Giza plateau in Egypt during the fourth dynasty by the pharaoh Khufu (Cheops), who reigned from 2509 bc to 2483 bc. Despite being one of the oldest and largest monuments on Earth, there is no consensus about how it was built. To understand its internal structure better, we imaged the pyramid using muons, which are by-products of cosmic rays that are only partially absorbed by stone. The resulting cosmic-ray muon radiography allows us to visualize the known and any unknown voids in the pyramid in a non-invasive way. Here we report the discovery of a large void (with a cross-section similar to that of the Grand Gallery and a minimum length of 30 metres) situated above the Grand Gallery. This constitutes the first major inner structure found in the Great Pyramid since the nineteenth century. The void, named ScanPyramids' Big Void, was first observed with nuclear emulsion films installed in the Queen's chamber, then confirmed with scintillator hodoscopes set up in the same chamber and finally re-confirmed with gas detectors outside the pyramid. This large void has therefore been detected with high confidence by three different muon detection technologies and three independent analyses. These results constitute a breakthrough for the understanding of the internal structure of Khufu's Pyramid. Although there is currently no information about the intended purpose of this void, these findings show how modern particle physics can shed new light on the world's archaeological heritage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kunihiro Morishima
- F-lab, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
| | - Mitsuaki Kuno
- F-lab, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
| | - Akira Nishio
- F-lab, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
| | - Nobuko Kitagawa
- F-lab, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
| | - Yuta Manabe
- F-lab, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
| | - Masaki Moto
- F-lab, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 464-8602, Japan
| | - Fumihiko Takasaki
- High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), 1-1 oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
| | - Hirofumi Fujii
- High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), 1-1 oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
| | - Kotaro Satoh
- High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), 1-1 oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
| | - Hideyo Kodama
- High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), 1-1 oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
| | - Kohei Hayashi
- High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), 1-1 oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
| | - Shigeru Odaka
- High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK), 1-1 oho, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0801, Japan
| | - Sébastien Procureur
- Institut de Recherche sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Université Paris Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - David Attié
- Institut de Recherche sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Université Paris Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Simon Bouteille
- Institut de Recherche sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Université Paris Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Denis Calvet
- Institut de Recherche sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Université Paris Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Christopher Filosa
- Institut de Recherche sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Université Paris Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Patrick Magnier
- Institut de Recherche sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Université Paris Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Irakli Mandjavidze
- Institut de Recherche sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Université Paris Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | - Marc Riallot
- Institut de Recherche sur les lois Fondamentales de l'Univers (IRFU), Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives (CEA), Université Paris Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
| | | | - Pierre Gable
- Emissive, 71 rue de Provence, 75009 Paris, France
| | - Yoshikatsu Date
- NHK Enterprises, Inc. (NEP), 4-14 Kamiyama-cho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0047, Japan
| | - Makiko Sugiura
- Suave Images, N-2 Maison de Shino, 3-30-8 Kamineguro, Meguro-Ku, Tokyo 153-0051, Japan
| | - Yasser Elshayeb
- Cairo University, 9 Al Gameya, Oula, Giza Governorate, Egypt
| | - Tamer Elnady
- Ain Shams University, Kasr el-Zaafaran, Abbasiya, Cairo, Egypt
| | - Mustapha Ezzy
- Cairo University, 9 Al Gameya, Oula, Giza Governorate, Egypt
| | | | | | | | - Jean-Baptiste Mouret
- Inria, Villers-lès-Nancy F-54600, France.,CNRS, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy F-54500, France.,Université de Lorraine, Vandœuvre-lès-Nancy F-54500, France
| | - Bernard Charlès
- Dassault Systèmes, 10 Rue Marcel Dassault, 78140 Vélizy-Villacoublay, France
| | - Hany Helal
- HIP Institute, 50 rue de Rome, 75008 Paris, France.,Cairo University, 9 Al Gameya, Oula, Giza Governorate, Egypt
| | - Mehdi Tayoubi
- HIP Institute, 50 rue de Rome, 75008 Paris, France.,Dassault Systèmes, 10 Rue Marcel Dassault, 78140 Vélizy-Villacoublay, France
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