Nexus - 1701 - New Times Magazine-pages

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DOWN INTO THE GIZA UNDERGROUND A vast network of caves and tunnels is believed to exist within the Giza Plateau, but so far the Egyptian authorities have refused to give credence to the idea or conduct scientific explorations. he Great Pyramid of Giza is the only surviving wonder of the ancient world. It is also unique in that, for centuries, it has been the subject of intense intrigue and speculation, far beyond the scope of the actual discoveries that have been made in and around the structure. The pyramids on the Giza Plateau, just outside the Egyptian capital Cairo, remained largely unexplored until the 19th century, when the inner chambers were finally penetrated. Since then, there have been continuous claims that the Great Pyramid, specifically, contains still-undiscovered chambers. Indeed, by far the most prominent series of recent investigations were robotic explorations of the so-called “air shafts" that run from the Queen's Chamber, which revealed a sequence of two tiny doors. The discovery has reignited the debate about the possible existence of more chambers, although archaeological work on this project is particularly slow $A nen enn to progress. The pyramids on top of the Giza Plateau are so special and intriguing that the rest of the plateau has received less attention. Still, it is to be expected that the reason why pyramids were built here is because the Giza Plateau was already held to be sacred by the ancient Egyptians. And this means that there is something on the plateau that would have given it its sacred nature. That "something" is likely to be the plateau itself and the network of natural cavities that are a typical trademark of limestone formations. Most of the attention when it comes to underground structures in Giza has gone to one man: Edgar Cayce. In the 1920s, this American psychic predicted the presence of a Hall of Records near the Sphinx, which was prophesied to contain information about the lost civilisation of Atlantis. Since then, dozens of books have been written about this prophecy alone, but, so far, no Hall of Records has been discovered. Yet slowly, the underground of the Giza Plateau is beginning to surrender some of its secrets...and these suggest that what's underneath the plateau might be jus’ as interesting, if not more, than what is on top. In 1998, Egyptian authorities revealed the existence of a so-called Tomb o! Osiris on the Giza Plateau. Osiris is the Egyptian Lord of the Underworld, and this rock-cut, tomb-like structure is interesting as it shows that the ancient Egyptians drilled deep into the ground to create sanctuaries for the dead. Unfortunately, the structure's lower levels are currently inhibited from being explored because of underground water, due to the nearby presence o the River Nile. However, it is less well known that the Tomb of Osiris was discovered as early as 1933-34 by Dr Selim Hassan. He reported that the tomb dates from the Saitic period (26th Dynasty, c. 600 BC), and he labelled it "the mos extraordinary example of this type of hole". He noted that the first chamber led to a second, in which there were seven niches, each containing a basal sarcophagus, two of which were substantially larger than the others. by Philip Coppens © 2009 PO Box 13722 North Berwick EH39 4WB United Kingdom Email: info@philipcoppens.com Website: http://www. philipcoppens.com PO Box 13722 North Berwick EH39 4WB United Kingdom Email: NEXUS ¢ 47 by Philip Coppens © 2009 DECEMBER 2009 - JANUARY 2010 www.nexusmagazine.com