Archaeologists Spotted Strange 'Anomaly' Buried Near Giza Pyramids

Bright Side

​Archaeologists recently uncovered a mysterious "anomaly" beneath the Western Cemetery near Egypt's Great Pyramid of Giza. Using ground-penetrating radar and electrical resistivity tomography, they identified two underground structures: a shallow L-shaped feature and a deeper, larger one. Both structures appear man-made due to their distinct shapes and densities differing from the surrounding soil. Researchers speculate that the shallow feature might have served as an entrance to the deeper structure, possibly indicating the presence of a tomb. Excavations are planned to further investigate these intriguing findings. ​

Transcript

00:00Something strange is lurking beneath the sands of Giza, and scientists have no idea what it is.

00:07Archaeologists just found a hidden structure near the Great Pyramid using advanced ground scanning technology.

00:14What's inside? Nobody knows, but excavations are already underway.

00:19The Great Pyramid of Giza is one of the most famous monuments on Earth.

00:23But it doesn't stand alone. It's surrounded by an ancient necropolis, a massive royal graveyard filled with tombs and monuments.

00:32They belong to pharaohs, nobles, and other high-ranking officials.

00:37Most of these tombs are above the ground. They're called mastobas, rectangular, flat-roofed tombs built from limestone or mud brick.

00:44And they've been studied for decades.

00:46But from old movies, we know that these weren't simple graves.

00:50They have deep vertical shafts leading to underground burial chambers, where the past was sealed away for eternity.

00:58And recently, archaeologists found one curious empty space in the cemetery.

01:03A completely unexplored patch of ground.

01:06No mastobas, no visible ruins, nada.

01:10For years, they ignored it.

01:12But between 2021 and 2023, they decided to investigate.

01:16They didn't dig, though. Instead, they used a technology that kind of acts like x-rays for the ground.

01:23These radars let scientists see the secrets hidden there.

01:26And there was something hidden beneath the sand.

01:29Something deliberately buried and forgotten.

01:32A two-part underground structure.

01:34One part was shallow and L-shaped.

01:37It's about 33 feet long and buried just 6 and a half feet deep.

01:41But below that, a deeper, more mysterious anomaly.

01:45A structure completely different from anything else in the area.

01:49They called it a highly resistive anomaly.

01:51Which means it's dense and solid.

01:54Likely made of stone, sand, or even metal.

01:57And still, no one has a clue what's inside it.

02:01Now, it's clear that humans made the L-shape.

02:04It wasn't formed by nature.

02:05And the shallower structure might have been an entrance to whatever is hidden below.

02:10But they only have some theories about what might be hidden there.

02:14It's also filled with sand and gravel.

02:17It was probably deliberately backfilled after its construction.

02:21Perhaps to preserve this.

02:23Why?

02:23Well, we don't know yet.

02:25The archaeological team will need to excavate to understand what exactly this thing was and why it was built.

02:32The first guess is a lost burial chamber.

02:35Many tombs in Giza have underground burial sites.

02:38But most have clear surface markers.

02:41This one, for some reason, has nothing.

02:44But it could be one of them.

02:46The second guess is an ancient offering chapel.

02:49Egyptologists know that some chapels were built in this shape.

02:52But usually, they were above ground, not buried like this.

02:57And finally, it might be something we've never seen before.

03:00If this turns out to be a new type of structure,

03:03it could rewrite what we know about the burials of pharaohs.

03:06The only way to know for sure is to dig it up.

03:10And that's exactly what's happening right now.

03:13Excavations are already underway.

03:15Archaeologists are racing against time to uncover the truth.

03:19But there's a real danger there, too.

03:22Giza's fragile ancient structures need to be handled carefully.

03:26Otherwise, they could be damaged beyond repair.

03:29So all we can do is wait for the truth.

03:31Now, these tombs always held fascinating mysteries.

03:36Unfortunately, we'll never learn tons of these mysteries because of some relentless tomb robbers.

03:42Egyptian tombs were built to guard the bodies for eternity.

03:46But that absolutely didn't stop people from breaking in and stealing everything valuable inside.

03:52They've been bothering these ancient sites for thousands of years, starting way back in pharaoh's times.

03:58Many of the most famous tombs, including those in Giza, Sacra, and the Valley of the Kings, were looted.

04:05It was a common practice in ancient Egypt.

04:08And they were serious about this whole thing.

04:10They dug secret tunnels to bypass traps and walls.

04:14Bribed or threatened tomb workers to get inside knowledge.

04:17Cracked open sarcophagi to grab gold, jewelry, and artifacts.

04:21And by the time modern archaeologists got to most of these tombs, they had already been picked clean.

04:28The reigning pharaohs got tired of this infuriating nonsense.

04:32The Valley of the Kings, the famous burial ground of Egyptian royalty, was supposed to be the ultimate safe zone.

04:39Tombs were built deep underground, hidden in the desert.

04:43Passages were sealed with giant stone blocks.

04:46False doors and tramps were added to confuse thieves.

04:49Even curses were written on the walls, warnings of horrible endings for anyone who dared to disturb the tomb.

04:56Which is exactly where we got all those horror stories about mommies from.

05:00Spoiler alert, none of it worked.

05:03Most tombs in the Valley of the Kings were fully robbed within a hundred years of being sealed.

05:08Even King Tutankhamun's tomb, one of the most famous in history, was broken into twice in ancient times.

05:16Some of them decided to try and fight back.

05:19The New Kingdom rulers built hidden, unmarked tombs, in a way that should have prevented the looters from finding them.

05:25But didn't work.

05:27Some pharaohs, like Ramses II, were moved in secret to prevent their bodies from being stolen.

05:33Nope, didn't matter.

05:34The grave robbers always won.

05:36That's because tomb raiders weren't just random thieves.

05:39They were skilled, organized, and well-connected.

05:42They knew exactly where to look.

05:45Many were the ones who had built these sites in the first place, and they knew where the entrances were.

05:51If they couldn't smash through the doors, they'd dig through the walls, floors, and even ceilings to break inside.

05:57They also worked fast, often within a few years after the tombs were sealed, before anyone forgot where the valuable stuff was.

06:05The Khufu's pyramid, the one that's next to this newly discovered structure, was looted long before modern times.

06:13The one thing left inside when explorers got there?

06:16An empty granite box where the sarcophagus used to be.

06:21Unfortunately, it's not just about gold.

06:24History itself gets stolen during these raids.

06:27Ancient Egyptians wrote detailed records of what exactly and where they buried.

06:32So, when archaeologists compare these lists to what's found, they can see what's missing, which is often everything valuable.

06:40Most artifacts don't end up in museums.

06:42They just disappear into private collections, where they can never be studied again.

06:47Which is, of course, completely unfair.

06:50In fact, a few countries have had enough and started passing laws to take historical artifacts back from private collectors.

06:58In Italy, if you own an ancient Roman artifact, you must prove you got it legally.

07:04China is actively hunting down stolen artifacts, and they must find ways to retrieve it back from the Western collectors.

07:11In Egypt, they passed new laws making it illegal for private citizens to own any ancient Egyptian artifacts at all.

07:20Other countries, like the U.S., the U.K., Germany, or Switzerland, are completely fine with rich guys owning their history.

07:28The British Museum is built on looted things.

07:31European empires invaded half the planet and took whatever they wanted back home.

07:36Their museums are often full of such stolen artifacts, and unfortunately, they refuse to give most of them back.

07:44For example, the Rosetta Stone.

07:46It was taken from Egypt by Napoleon's army.

07:49Then stolen again by the British after they beat the French.

07:53Egypt has been demanding to return for years, but they still can't get it back.

07:58Or the Parthenon marbles.

08:01These magnificent massive Greek structures were taken from the Parthenon in Athens by a British lord in the 19th century.

08:09Greece has been begging for them back ever since, but the U.K. doesn't feel like it.

08:13Not to mention tons of Mesoamerican artifacts scattered in various museums across the world.

08:20European explorers raided Mayan and Aztec temples, took statues, jewelry, and sacred objects, and now Mexico is fighting to get them back.

08:29Well, wouldn't it be surprising, even if this mysterious underground chamber has somehow been looted already?

08:36But if it's a newly found place, could it be one of the few that escaped the hands of grave robbers?

08:43Could there still be ancient artifacts, untouched for 4,500 years?

08:47We can only hope that those guys didn't get there first.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended