The Great Pyramid: Secret chambers
The Great Pyramid and its mysteries
The Great Pyramid of Giza remains a mystery to this day. Time and again, theories circulate that it is far older than assumed by science – some even date it back to prehistoric times. Reports speak of previously undiscovered chambers in which mysterious artifacts, technical equipment and clues to an alternative history of mankind are said to be hidden. Even the legendary burial chamber of the builder, supposedly filled with precious treasures, remains untraceable to this day.
The monumental building has fascinated adventurers, treasure hunters and scientists alike for centuries. Whereas in the past, pickaxes, explosives and jackhammers were used in an attempt to get closer to its secrets, today high-tech is used: laser scanning, infrared measurements and robotics are used to gently and precisely explore the inside of the pyramid – in the hope of finding answers one day.
Investigating the pyramids of Giza with modern technology
A look behind the stones
The discoveries of new cavities in the Pyramid of Khufu, which were celebrated as a scientific sensation from 2017 to 2023, seemed less revolutionary at second glance than they initially appeared. In fact, technical investigations of the Giza pyramids go back many decades – with fascinating but often suppressed or unpublished results.
Back in 2015, Zahi Hawass made a statement at a meeting with the research team from ScanPyramids he was surprisingly contradictory: on the one hand, he described past scientific investigations of the pyramids as “hot air”, while on the other he said: “We know that there must still be cavities – and I really believe that the burial chamber of Khufu is still hidden inside.”
Early experiments: The view through the stone
1968: Nobel Prize winner in physics Dr. Luis Alvarez from the University of Berkeley examined the Chephren pyramid with muon detectors – a method that uses cosmic rays to identify hidden cavities. Despite promising approaches, the result remained unclear, mainly due to the fact that the technology was still in its infancy at the time.
1974: A team from the Stanford Research Institute examined the Pyramid of Cheops using electromagnetic high-frequency waves. Although the measurements apparently provided positive indications, no results were published – the reasons for this are still unknown today.
1986: The French architects Gilles Dormion and Jean-Patrice Goidin carried out gravimetric and radar studies in collaboration with Electricité de France. The data indicated several cavities that could account for up to 20% of the structure. In a passage near the so-called queen’s chamber, they actually discovered a cavity around three meters deep – filled with fine quartz sand. However, further investigations were prohibited after Zahi Hawass returned from the USA.
1987: A team from Waseda University in Tokyo, led by Prof. Sakuji Yoshimura, used radar technology to discover a cavity around 30 meters long, which may be part of a previously unknown labyrinth. After their departure, the pyramid was closed for several months – eyewitnesses reported intensive work inside. There was no official information.
1992: The French civil engineer Prof. Jean Kérisel used ground penetrating radar to investigate the descending corridor. His measurements pointed to another structure – possibly a passage leading to the Sphinx. No further data was published.
2015: Under the auspices of the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities, the international ScanPyramids research team was formed to systematically search for hidden chambers using the latest technology, including muon tomography. The aim was to scientifically verify old traditions.
2017: The researchers announced a breakthrough: a large, previously unknown cavity above the Great Gallery – the so-called Big Void – was identified, as was a corridor near the original entrance. However, critics pointed out that these structures had already been hinted at in earlier measurements.
2019: Further scans with the help of infrared thermography, Moun detection, ultrasound measurement, Architectural and digital 3D simulation and ground penetrating radar confirm
2020: Gilles Dormion returned – this time with financier Jean-Yves Verd’hurt. Using radar measurements, they located a chamber below the queen chamber, exactly in the geometric center of the pyramid. Their hypothesis: it could be the actual burial chamber of Pharaoh Cheops. A drilling permit was nevertheless refused. Hawass justified this by saying: “We cannot allow drilling on the basis of hypotheses alone.”
2022: The Exploring the Great Pyramid (EGP) project started under American leadership. Using a new generation of muon telescopes – 100 times more sensitive than previous systems – the pyramid was illuminated from all sides. The detectors, housed in mobile technology containers, are intended to differentiate not only cavities but also material densities – with the aim of comprehensively mapping the inner structure for the first time.
2023: With the help of an endoscope camera, a cavity about nine meters long was discovered – allegedly through a gap near the known blocking stones below the chevrons. The exact function remains unclear: is it a relief chamber? Or a mysterious interior ramp? Many engineers doubt both explanations. “The fact that the chamber is large enough to hold several people makes the discovery particularly remarkable,” commented Prof. Dr. Christian Große from the Technical University of Munich.
2025: In a podcast interview Zahi Hawass announced that the first access to the Big Voidwill be drilledin early 2026. A mini-robot is to explore the huge cavity above the Great Gallery. This could possibly also confirm findings that have been discussed since the 1980s.
Gregor Spörri’s research into the Great Pyramid
An encounter that changed everything
In April 1988, I stood in front of the Great Pyramid of Giza for the first time – young, curious and full of adventure. That night, I was able to spend time alone inside the building – an experience that left a deep impression on me. Before sunrise, I dared to try an unusual experiment: I climbed to the top of the pyramid.
Read more about this: How it all began
An unexpected clue put me on a completely new track just one day later. An elderly grave robber pointed out a special feature in the pyramid. What I discovered there stayed with me. Since then, I have been traveling to Giza regularly for almost four decades.
Read more about this: The tomb of the giants
The hidden original entrance
Today, visitors enter the Pyramid of Khufu through a tunnel that was cut into the masonry by the Caliph Al-Ma’mun in 832 AD. Apparently he hadn’t been able to find the original main entrance – or had deliberately ignored it.
I had several opportunities to explore the area of the original entrance. It is located around seven meters above the Al-Ma’mun tunnel and around 14 meters above the plateau level. From there, the imposing, double-layered saddle roof construction is visible – the so-called chevrons that tower above the entrance.
But even on my first visit in 1988, I had a strange feeling: something about this place didn’t fit the picture. The structure seemed to me to conceal much more than one would expect at first glance.
The official view of the Great Pyramid – and its contradictions
A monumental puzzle
The Pyramid of Khufu in Giza is considered one of the most fascinating buildings in the history of mankind – an architectural masterpiece with a highly complex internal structure. According to official doctrine, it was built around 2500 BC as a tomb for Pharaoh Cheops – allegedly with the simplest of means, without iron tools, without a pulley, without a wheel …
To protect his final resting place from grave robbers, Cheops is said to have followed an elaborate security concept: hidden chambers, corridors sealed with granite blocks, walled-up access points and a seamlessly smoothed limestone outer skin that made the entrance invisible. The effort involved was enormous – for a ruler about whose life hardly any reliable information exists to this day.
Structural inconsistencies
In my view, some elements of the pyramid architecture raise questions:
1. a conspicuous entrance despite the supposedly secret construction:
The original entrance on the north side is marked by a huge gabled roof construction – clearly visible instead of hidden. This contradicts the theory of a deliberately concealed burial site.
2nd pitched roof on the outside:
The massive construction weighing several tons above the small entrance to the rock chamber is almost on the outer edge of the pyramid – incomprehensible from a structural point of view and functionally unnecessary.
3. heavy cuboids with no recognizable use:
The three huge granite blocks above the entrance to the rock chamber also appear unnecessary from a technical point of view, as they have nothing to support statically.
Spörri’s alternative considerations
Over the years, these contradictions have led me to a number of alternative considerations:
1) The entrance to the pyramid with its huge gabled roof was originally magnificently designed and visible from afar.
2) The pyramid could be much older than assumed. Its construction could date back to an advanced civilization before known Egypt – possibly even to a culture from before the last ice age.
3) The construction was possibly realized under the guidance of a “god-like” elite – partly mythologically referred to as “old gods”, partly speculatively as visitors of unknown origin (e.g. from outer space).
4) The pyramid did not originally serve as a tomb, but as a storehouse of knowledge – a “safe” for information from an earlier advanced civilization and a symbol of power visible for thousands of years.
5) Only later pharaohs such as Cheops could have taken over the pyramid for ritual or political purposes – possibly also using it as a symbolic burial site.
6) The granite sarcophagus visible today in the so-called King’s Chamber could have been made later from existing building material within the chamber – for example from a closure stone.
What is in the secret chamber behind the corridor?
For Egyptologists, it would be the discovery of the century: an intact tomb of the pharaoh Cheops – perhaps with treasures comparable to those from Tutankhamun’s burial chamber. But what if ancient traditions turn out to be true – and the Great Pyramid holds clues that could fundamentally shake our historical understanding?
A building with an eventful history
Over the centuries, much has happened to the pyramid: Its once gleaming limestone cladding was removed and the gilded pyramid top was lost. In the 9th century, the Abbasid caliph Al-Ma’mun had a tunnel forcibly cut into the masonry – the entrance through which visitors still enter the pyramid today.
Al-Ma’mun’s motivation is said to have been a document from the archives of his father, Caliph Harun ar-Rashid. It described legendary artifacts: flexible glass, stainless steel, mysterious weapons – and in a so-called “Hall of Records” nothing less than the entire knowledge of mankind.
A well-kept secret
In view of the Egyptian Antiquities Authority’s reticence to date, the suspicion arises that if there really is a hidden chamber behind the newly discovered corridor, it will probably be opened in the strictest secrecy. International researchers or independent media would hardly be present live.
An old Arabic proverb puts it in a nutshell: “The pyramids do not fear time – but time fears the pyramids.”
Will the opening take place in 2026?
As already mentioned, Zahi Hawass in a podcast interview At the beginning of June 2025, Zahi Hawass announced that an access to the Big Void will be drilled in 2026, after which a mini-robot will explore the huge cavity above the Great Gallery. This could possibly confirm my findings, which have preoccupied me since the 1980s.
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