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Results of Thermal Scans on Pyramid is Extraordinary Abnormality – Oklahoma City Tech Part

Two weeks of new thermal scanning in Egypt’s Giza pyramids have identified anomalies in the 4,500 year-old burial structures, including a major one in the largest pyramid, the Antiquities Ministry announced Monday.

technical experts working on the project showed the higher temperature being detected in three specific adjacent stones at the bottom of the pyramid in a live thermal camera presentation to journalists

The scanning showed “a particularly impressive one (anomaly) located on the Eastern side of the Khufu pyramid at ground level,” the ministry said in a statement. The largest of the three Giza pyramids is known locally as Khufu and internationally as Cheops.

The thermal scanning was carried out at all times of the day, including during sunrise, as the sun heats the structures from the outside, and then during sunset as the pyramids are cooling down.

The speed of the heating and cooling phases is being used to uncover “hypotheses” such as empty areas in the pyramids, internal air currents, or different building materials used.

“The first row of the pyramid’s stones are all uniform, then we come here and find that there’s a difference in the formation,” said el-Damaty, pointing at the three stones showing higher temperatures.

While inspecting the area, el-Damaty said they found “that there is something like a small passage in the ground that you can see, leading up to the pyramids ground, reaching an area with a different temperature. What will be behind it?”

Other heat anomalies were detected in the upper half of the pyramid that the experts said need to be investigated further.

El-Damaty invited all Egyptologists, especially those interested in ancient Egyptian architecture, to join in the research and help come up with ideas on what could be behind the anomalies.

The pyramids, located on the outskirts of Cairo, are one of the major tourist attractions in the country.
The pyramids, which were used as sacred burial structures, were built in the fourth Pharaonic dynasty. The great pyramid is the oldest and only surviving monument of the seven wonders of the ancient world.

 

Thermal scans of the Great Pyramid of Giza have revealed an “impressive” anomaly in the rock — a change in temperature that could indicate something behind the 4,500-year-old walls.

“This anomaly is really quite impressive and it’s just in front of us, at the ground level,” said Mehdi Tayoubi, founder of the Paris-based Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute that is conducting the Scan Pyramids experiments using a mix of infrared thermography, muon radiography and 3D reconstruction.

The anomaly is located on the eastern side of the pyramid, also known as the pyramid of Khufu

The scans were conducted at different times of the day and night; temperatures were measured as the stones grew warmer and cooled off. While the temperature differences between most adjacent stones typically varied by between 0.1 degrees and 0.5 degrees, this one particular segment had a 6-degree variation, as can be seen in the thermal scans:

“We have several hypothesis but no conclusion for the moment,” said Tayoubi.

Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty said he also had several hypotheses, but wanted to do more research before revealing them.

“It could be void spaces, fissures or passages,” he told Ahram Online. “So far, I do not know.”

El-Damaty told The Associated Press that closer inspection of the site found what appeared to be “a small passage in the ground” on the eastern side leading up to the area with the temperature change.

Egyptologist Beth Ann Judas said it makes sense that the anomaly is on the eastern side of the pyramid as that was in many ways the “focal point” of the pyramid, with several major temples and tombs located on that side.

“The Nile was to the east of the pyramid, and most everyone would have approached from the east,” she said. “Pyramids also have a connection to the solar aspect, and the cult of the god Ra, in ancient Egyptian religion.”

Judas, who has done several seasons of fieldwork in Egypt, said the Khufu pyramid contains the most complex series of passages of any of the pyramids and may have had several design changes during construction.

The original burial chamber, for example, is below ground. However, the eventual final resting place of the pharaoh was the “King’s Chamber” located near the top of the pyramid.

Judas said whatever is responsible for the anomaly could be connected to the earliest phases of the construction and that first burial chamber.

“At the very least, this anomaly will shed additional light on the construction techniques of the 4th dynasty Egyptians,” said Judas. “It’s rather exciting actually. Over the past few years, archaeologists have been learning more about the workmen and officials who are connected to the pyramids, and this gives us more information about their work.”

Several other anomalies found at the Khufu pyramid, as well as on other monuments, will be examined as the Scan Pyramids project continues through 2016.

‘Impressive’ anomaly

A team of architects and scientists from Egypt, France, Canada and Japan used infrared thermography to survey the pyramids during sunrise, as the sun heats the limestone structures from the outside, as well as at sunset when they cool down.

In a statement, the Egyptian antiquities ministry said the experts had “concluded the existence of several thermal anomalies that were observed on all monuments during the heating-up or the cooling-down phases”.
“To explain such anomalies, a lot of hypotheses and possibilities could be drawn up: presence of voids behind the surface, internal air currents,” it added.
An “particularly impressive” anomaly was found at ground level on the eastern side of the Great Pyramid, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu, the statement said.

“The first row of the pyramid’s stones are all uniform, then we come here and find that there’s a difference in the formation,” Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damati said as he showed reporters the three stones showing higher temperatures.
Other thermal anomalies were detected in the upper half of the Great Pyramid.
The structure will be the subject of further investigation during the Operation Scan Pyramids project, which began on 25 October and is expected to last until the end of 2016.

As part of Operation Scan Pyramids, the team said that they have “concluded the existence of several thermal anomalies that were observed on all monuments during the heating up or the cooling down phases”.

It said in particular that it had found an “impressive” heat spot “on the eastern side of the Khufu pyramid at ground level”. It also found the anomalies in the upper half of the pyramid.