Is there a ‘vast hidden city’ beneath Egypt’s Giza pyramids?

Researchers claim to have found a hidden city underneath Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza. In a “groundbreaking” study, scientists from Italy and Scotland have discovered “a vast underground city” beneath these famed pyramids.

The researchers used a new radar technology for the study. However, some experts have denied the claims of this research, dubbing them “fake” and “exaggerated”.

Let’s take a closer look.

Inside the ‘underground city’ in Egypt

Italian and Scottish scientists examining the pyramid of Khafre claim to have unearthed a sprawling city under the Pyramids of Giza in Egypt.

The Khafre Project team’s Corrado Malanga from Italy’s University of Pisa and Filippo Biondi of the University of Strathclyde in Scotland led the expedition to survey the second-largest pyramid at Giza — the Khafre Pyramid.

“This groundbreaking study has redefined the boundaries of satellite data analysis and archaeological exploration,” the project’s spokesperson, Nicole Ciccolo, said in a press briefing on March 15, according to The Sun.

Scientists claim to have discovered eight vertical cylinder-shaped wells, known as shafts, surrounded by “spiral staircases” under the Khafre Pyramid.

These shafts extend over 6,500 feet across and span over 2,100 feet below the pyramids. The spiral pathways around each well connect to two 80-meter cube-shaped structures, as per The Sun report.

Ciccolo told the media that these were found below each of the three pyramids and likely “serve as access points to this underground system”.

The Khafre project team used synthetic aperture radar (SAR), a non-invasive technology for examining structures deep below the surface, that helped locate five small room-like structures inside the pyramid. One of them had a sarcophagus – a stone coffin – once believed to be the pharaoh’s tomb, as per The New York Post report.

The study also claims that there are more unidentified structures, about 4,000 feet below the base of the pyramid.

“The existence of vast chambers beneath the earth’s surface, comparable in size to the pyramids themselves, which have a remarkably strong correlation between the legendary Halls of Amenti," Ciccolo said.

“These new archaeological findings could redefine our understanding of the sacred topography of ancient Egypt , providing spatial coordinates for previously unknown and unexplored subterranean structures.”

As per Daily Mail, researchers sent radar signals using two satellites, perched about 676 km above in space, into the Khafre Pyramid. These signals were then transformed into sound waves, letting them “see” through the solid stone.

Data was then compiled into high-resolution images that allegedly show the below surface of the pyramids. The team made a rough 3D model to showcase their claims to the world.

“When we magnify the images [in the future], we will reveal that beneath it lies what can only be described as a true underground city,” Malanga from Italy’s University of Pisa told Daily Mail.

Experts deny study’s claims

Experts have rejected the researchers’ claims about a “hidden city” underneath Egypt ’s ancient pyramids as “false” and “exaggerated”.

Dr Zahi Hawass, a renowned archaeologist and Egypt’s former minister of antiquities, slammed the research as “completely wrong” and “fake news.”

“The claim of using radar inside the pyramid is false, and the techniques employed are neither scientifically approved nor validated,” he told the National.

Speaking to Daily Mail, Professor Lawrence Conyers, a radar expert at the University of Denver, said that radar pulses penetrating that far in the underground is not possible, calling the claims “a huge exaggeration”.

However, he admitted that there could be small structures, such as shafts and chambers, beneath the pyramids, as the site where these pyramids are located was “special to ancient people”.

“The Mayans and other people in ancient Mesoamerica often built pyramids on top of the entrances of caves or caverns that had ceremonial meaning to them,” he said.

Researchers hope to continue their study but securing approval for physical excavation is highly tough.

“Despite the scepticism, the only way to prove the discoveries are true is through targeted excavations,” Conyers told Daily Mail.

The findings by the Italian and Scottish researchers are yet to be peer-reviewed by independent scientists.

With inputs from agencies