Could there be a ‘vast underground city’ beneath the Pyramids of Giza?
Egypt’s desert holds many secrets, even after centuries of excavation and graverobbing.
The last undiscovered tomb of the Tutankhamun dynasty was only confirmed to belong to pharaoh Thutmose II earlier this year.
Around half the known pharaoh’s burial sites are yet to be found.
Even the river that allowed the pyramids to be built along its banks has vanished into the sand.
That made the way two-and-a-half million 2.5 ton blocks of granite were moved to build the Great Pyramid of Giza seem mysterious, until the older course of the River Nile was mapped last year much further to the west than it runs today.
Lingering questions of where, how and why have fuelled speculation that the pyramids could point towards alien intervention or lost civilisation, and advanced technologies of which we can only imagine.
Now researchers claim they have discovered ‘the legendary halls of Amenti’ – in other words, the underworld of Egyptian mythology – right beneath the pyramids of Giza.
Describing it as ‘a vast underground city’, they say the ‘unprecedented discoveries’ using synthetic aperture radar (SAR) includes structures, rooms and corridors underground.
Listing their claimed discoveries they said: ‘The discovery of an extensive network of vertical shafts estimated to extend at least 1km deep beneath each Great Pyramid, which appear to serve as access points to this underground system.
‘The existence of vast chambers beneath the earth’s surface, comparable in size to the pyramids themselves.
‘A remarkably strong correlation between the layout and characteristics of these underground chambers and the legendary Halls of Amenti, as described in ancient myths, including those associated with the god Thoth.’
This may be a ‘huge exaggeration’, according to Professor Lawrence Conyers, a radar expert at the University of Denver, who told MailOnline that the technology used doesn’t penetrate 1km into the ground.
‘My take is that as long as authors are not making things up and that their basic methods are correct, their interpretations should be given a look by all who care about the site,’ he said.
‘We can quibble about interpretations, and that is called science. But the basic methods need to be solid.’
The only way to really prove the theory is to do targeted digs of the site.
But these bold claims have captured the imagination of social media users who believe a range of conspiracy theories, including that aliens built the pyramids.
Another, that followers claim is proven by these researchers, is a highly advanced civilisation known as the Tatarian Empire developed infinite energy, world peace and elaborate buildings before being wiped out by mud floods and war, and then deliberately erased from history.
Devotees of this theory point to buildings as varied as the Pyramids of Giza, the White House and random churches all over the world as entry points to this supposedly lost civilisation buried beneath our feet.
Others have claimed the pyramids were ancient power plants, which one of the researchers – Corrado Malanga – appears sympathetic to.
Part of what has made this claimed discovery go viral is the proliferation of AI imagery, offering various interpretations of what hypothetical underground structures could look like.
While these latest claims lack credibility, there is some evidence of underground structures yet to be explored.
A 2024 study from Japanese and Egyptian researchers, published in Smithsonian Magazine, found what could be ‘a shallow structure connected to a deeper structure’ beneath the pyramids.
Whether it is empty or filled with sand and gravel, they do not know, but the evidence they found pointed to nothing ‘comparable in size to the pyramids themselves’, like the latest claims suggest.
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