Cavities inside the Menkaure Pyramid have surprised scientists and sparked new curiosity about what might still be hidden inside Egypt’s ancient monuments. Pyramids have always been full of mysteries: how they were built, what their hidden spaces mean, and what secrets remain untouched after thousands of years. Thanks to modern scanning technology that lets experts “see” inside without causing any damage, researchers have now discovered unexpected empty spaces behind the stone walls of this pyramid.
These cavities have made scientists wonder about if they could be related to unknown parts of the pyramid like secret paths, chambers, or even a hidden entry. So, let’s learn more about this amazing discovery.
The mysterious cavities
Scientists made a study and they found two cavities inside the walls, right behind the granite blocks that cover the base of the pyramid. These empty spaces shouldn’t have been there, at least according to what has been known about this structure.
Researchers explain that these cavities were detected thanks to very detailed images that showed some ‘’anomalies’’, meaning that some areas weren’t like the rest of the stone. These areas seemed to be full of air, not of rock.
The most interesting thing about this is that they don’t look anything like the cavities found before in the Great Pyramid of Khufu, which suggests they could have a different purpose.
How were these cavities found?
One of the most important parts of this study is that researchers didn’t have to damage the pyramid to carry this. This is not something common because in the past, studying the inside of a pyramid was very difficult since opening them or breaking some parts of the structure would mean destroying an ancient monument.
However, today, there are techniques that allow researchers to ‘’see’’ inside stone without touching them. To do this, they used three different methods:
- ERT: This technique sends electricity through the structure and measures how it travels through different materials. The way the energy moves makes it possible to tell whether there is stone, air, or something else.
- GPR: This method uses radio waves, which bounce back when they meet different materials. If there is air where stone should be, the waves detect it.
- UT: This technique uses ultrasound—sound waves—to measure how materials vibrate. It works like a medical ultrasound, but applied to giant stone blocks.
The size of the cavities
The tools detected two small cavities. Yes, they were small. I’m sorry if you were picturing huge holes on the pyramid. Let’s find out the exact measure:
- The first one is 1.4 meters behind the granite blocks and measures about 1.5 meters wide and 1 meter high.
- The second one is located a bit higher, 1.1 meters behind the granite, and measures about 0.9 meters by 0.7 meters.
Both cavities behave exactly like spaces full of air and not like a different block or a damaged area.
The purpose of these cavities
Now, here’s the big question: what are these cavities used for? Nobody knows. And don’t think researchers are not doing their job, because this is something usual. I mean, even inside the Great Pyramid of Khufu, empty spaces have been found whose purpose is still a mystery.
However, the researchers noticed one very important detail: The way the granite blocks are arranged around these cavities is very similar to the way the blocks are arranged around the pyramid’s northern entrance.
In 2019, an independent researcher suggested that this might indicate a second entrance. But for now, this is not confirmed, because the technologies used could not measure the full depth of the cavities. To learn more, experts propose using another technique called muography, which uses natural particles from space to create a kind of full-body X-ray of the entire pyramid.
So…
Even though we don’t have the answer for what’s probably the most intriguing question about this discovery, what matters most is that we now have more pieces of the puzzle and new tools that will allow researchers to continue studying these wonders without touching a single block.