Scientists discover hidden corridor in Pyramid of Giza through cosmic-ray muon radiography.

Extract from ABC News

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Scientists explain discovery of hidden corridor in 4,500 year-old Great Pyramid of Giza.

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A nine-metre long hidden corridor has been discovered close to the main entrance of the 4,500-year-old Great Pyramid of Giza, which Egyptian antiquities officials believe could lead to further findings.

Key points:

• Scientists detected the corridor using cosmic-ray muon radiography
• Researchers fed a 6mm-thick endoscope through a tiny joint to take photos of the corridor 
• It is likely the unfinished corridor was created to redistribute the pyramid's weight

The discovery within the pyramid, which is the last of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World still standing, was made as part of the scan pyramids project by the Egyptian Tourism Ministry of Antiquities.

Since 2015 scientists has been using non-invasive technology including infrared thermography, 3D simulations and cosmic-ray imaging to look inside the structure.

Scientists detected the corridor through cosmic-ray muon radiography, before retrieving images of it by feeding a 6mm-thick endoscope from Japan through a tiny joint in the pyramid's stones.

An article published in scientific journal Nature on Thursday said the discovery could contribute to knowledge about the construction of the pyramid and the purpose of a gabled limestone structure that sits in front of the corridor.

The pyramid was constructed as a monumental tomb around 2560 BC during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu, or Cheops.

The corridor is about seven metres from the entry used by tourists. (Reuters: Amr Abdallah Dalsh)

Built to a height of 146 metres, it now stands at 139 metres and was the tallest structure made by humans until the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1889.

Secretary-General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, said the unfinished corridor was likely created to redistribute the pyramid's weight around the main entrance which is about seven metres away, or around another undiscovered chamber or space.

"We're going to continue our scanning so we will see what we can do … to figure out what we can find out beneath it, or just by the end of this corridor," he said.

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Five rooms on top of the king's burial chamber in another part of the pyramid are also thought to have been built to redistribute the weight of the massive structure.

Dr Waziri said it was possible the pharaoh had more than one burial chamber.

In 2017, scan pyramids researchers announced the discovery of a void at least 30 metres long inside the pyramid, which was the first major inner structure found since the 19th century.

Reuters