Pyramid wars

[emad]

The Independent

A challenge by two plucky French amateurs to Egypt's self-styled 'guardian of the pharaohs' has unearthed a scandal of ambition, greed, pride and television ratings in archaeology's top echelons. Alex Duval Smith reports from Paris
22 November 2004


Zahi Hawass is one of the most powerful men in history - at least of archaeology - and he is angry. The 57-year-old is secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities but, as any Egyptologist will tell you, this is the least of his titles. The self-styled guardian of the pharaohs, commonly referred to as the "Big Zee", is the minder of 4,000 years of history, 500 kings, scores of legends, thousands of tourists, and hundreds of competing archaeologists.

Yet the theatrical, outspoken and Stetson-wearing Egyptian with a string of academic credits to his name and the power to dictate what the world is told about Ancient Egypt is being challenged relentlessly by two plucky French amateurs. The retired estate agent Jean-Yves Verd'hurt and the architect Gilles Dormion have for two years been applying for permission to poke a 15mm lens through a floor of the Great Pyramid at Giza. Behind it, they believe they will find the burial chamber of Chéops (Khufu), the pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty who built the seventh wonder of the world, the 150-metre-high Great Pyramid.

The Frenchmen's challenge to the Big Zee's authority has ruined the image of Egyptology as the gentlemanly pursuit of studied introverts. What has emerged since the Frenchmen went public in September with their accusations is a backstabbing world of academic ambition, national pride, tourism dollars and television ratings. "Dr Hawass treats Egypt as his private hunting ground," says M. Verd'hurt, from Lyon. "They are speculators, amateurs!" comes the retort from Dr Hawass.

"If we are useless amateurs," says Mr Verd'hurt, "then surely the best way to show us up would be to grant us permission and see us fail. I know of plenty of incapable professionals and I would much rather be dealing with capable amateurs. Besides, we have a record. And we have the support of several leading French Egyptologists."

http://news.independent.co.uk/world/africa/story.jsp?story=585377

[On the Road]

1. I Understand Zawi Hawass Has to Deal with a Lot of Kooks,

but it would be much better for the public if he allowed some alternative theories to be investigated. For example, there's wood deep inside one of the diagonal shafts in the great pyramid which could be carbon dated. There's also a door in the same shaft which could be opened and allow deeper exploration. Hawass won't allow it to be explored by a robot, as I understand it, because the last person to do so did not follow guidelines.

[Mikimouse]

2. That's an interesting story, from Gantenbrink's side...

Hawass apparently gave Gantenbrink permission to explore the shaft with Upuaut II, but it was during a period when Hawass had been temporarily suspended from his duties (some kind of scandal, but I forget exactly what it was). Anyway, Hawass gave his permission verbally and then, after the discovery of the wood and the door, he charged that Gantenbrink had violated the guidelines of the agreement. It always sounded very fishy to me, especially since the other piece of wood found under the Great Pyramid had disappeared long before (was supposedly in the British Museum, but could not be found- it is conjectured that it resides beneath the platform built for Cleopatra's needle.

[On the Road]

3. Hmmm...I Hadn't Heard the Rest of That Story

and didn't remember Gatenbrink's name.

The idea that the pyramids and the Sphinx go back many cebturies before the official dates is fascinating. Especially the observation that the Sphinx has been heavily eroded with rainwater, which could not have happened after 5000BC. That puts a lot of chronology into doubt.

This is another area in which Hawass, along with most Egyptologists, has been an obstructionist on. Would be good to open it up more to nondestructive testing.

[donhakman]

4. Hawass may be reluctent for different reasons.

Hawass wants the world to believe that the great pyramid is a burial tomb. However there is so much evidence contrary to this notion.
I would think Dr. Hawass might wish to swallow his pride and allow others to prove that the Cheops Pyramid is a tomb but then he would have to accept that the King's chamber was never the resting spot for a pharaoh.

You see I also highly doubt any mummy will be found in the great pyramid.

First - but not foremost - Unlike any other Egyptian pyramid, there are no hieroglyphics anywhere. The one graffiti example that was found was proven to be a forgery that was put there by an English researcher.

Second - There is more than ample evidence that the great pyramid was actually a great public utility project to irrigate the desert by means of underground canals and the enormous thermal hydraulic ram pump. The canals are still there - full of water and can be accessed from beneath the Sphinx. I have the Hawass video showing this in detail.

If you too are curious and are weary of all the disreputable claims of religious and alien explanations for the great pyramid I invite you to see how it used to work. (the only things missing today are the butterfly valves to make it work although the damage done by dynamite in the hands of an Arab explorer many years ago would need to be repaired).


Do your own search on ram pumps or look here http://www.dprins.demon.nl/pyramidp/built.html

[On the Road]

5. That's an Interesting Theory

and possibly correct. I do believe that the traditional explanation for how the pyramids were built is incorrect, and we're not completely sure of the real method. Another explanation I had heard for transporting the stones was the use of slippery river mud to drag them over the ground, which is infinitely more workable than using multiple logs to roll the stones.

From a mechanical point of view, I can't evaluate the ram pump theory. But it may tie into one thing that's very curious:

The diagonal shafts in the pyramid go from the King's Chamber to the outside of pyramid, relatively high up, but they are (or were) COVERED by the external layer of finishing stone. So the builders went to all the trouble of designing and building those diagonals only to cover them up at the end. That doesn't seem to make much sense.

The best explanation I've heard so far is that the shafts were ceremonial and intended to line up the King's chamber with certain stars at certain times of the year. The stars need not actually have been visible.

But it just struck me that the pump theory explains the covered vents even better. They were needed only during the building process, so it was natural to cover them once construction was finished. I'd like to read more on this.