So have people been inside the known chambers? Can you tour them?
Yes, you can go in them. I've been in them. Though that was back in 1995.
'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
111–120 of 246 posts
Re: 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
#112The more we learn about the Giza Pyramids, the more they look like some technological device. I highly doubt the common "understanding" that their designed use was a fancy mausoleum for dignitaries. I have no doubt they have been used for this purpose, but unlikely to be the original intent.
Re: 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
#113The more we learn about the Giza Pyramids, the more they look like some technological device. I highly doubt the common "understanding" that their designed use was a fancy mausoleum for dignitaries. I have no doubt they have been used for this purpose, but unlikely to be the original intent.
Why? There is no evidence for that, is there? Also, look at the great cathedrals of the middle ages - people built them during several lifetimes and at huge expense, and the only "practical" purpose was to have a space for religious services. That and maybe the hope for eternal life after death etc...
Re: 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
#114Interesting how the pyramids have been around for 4500 years and we still don't know all about their structure... Fun fact: there's a Neolithic site in Ireland, Newgrange, that's actually older than the pyramids. Fascinating and worth a visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange
It seems that peoples through the ages have respected the pyramids enough to leave them mostly intact and undisturbed, giving us the unique heritage that we have today. I can't help but contrast this with the British explorers who just started blowing through it with explosives and pulling stuff out wholesale.
The Pyramids were originally cased in a layer of white limestone. Almost all of that is gone, since, if I recall, they were small enough that they could be carted away, unlike the granite that remains.
Monumental buildings almost always end up being wholesale building supply once they aren't revered and maintained.
Re: 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
#115Earlier quoted context omitted.
Never to be found again
Orbits decay, often at a plannable rate. Eventually it crashes back to earth and becomes an archeological relic for future explorers. I bet you could even design the sattelite to burn specatularly (in many colors) on the way down so it's more likely to be seen and sought after.
Though, it would most likely end up in the ocean since the majority of the earth's surface is covered by water.
Re: 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
#116Earlier quoted context omitted.
Oh, I may have become confused as to which part of this thread I was responding to - I thought we were talking about finding a satellite after reentry.
Oh, I imagine unplanned and reentry would likely make it very hard to locate, if not destroy the contents in the process. Decaying orbits would mean it's likely to happen, too. But I think if a civilization has the capability to reach an orbit, it's likely they have the technology to find something in orbit, or will shortly. A better plan might be to create a structure on the moon to house it, and create giant triang…
And we should make it black and rectangular shape. I suggest we call it the monolith. We might want to put a few of them around the solar system just to be safe.
Re: 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
#117Slightly off-topic but perhaps someone has an answer: After finishing "Dark Forest" / "Death’s End" I somehow ended up with the questions if our way of doing archaeology is actually a good idea. Currently we i) remove a lot of things from the ground / graves / ruins, ii) analyze them, iii) put them in a museum and iv) write books about them. This means that all the knowledge about those artifacts and our history is s…
Einstein said "I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones." I don't think archeology will be of much concern after WWIII.
Well, not immediately after WWIII. But, possibly, eventually after sufficient millennia have passed.
Re: 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
#118Interesting how the pyramids have been around for 4500 years and we still don't know all about their structure... Fun fact: there's a Neolithic site in Ireland, Newgrange, that's actually older than the pyramids. Fascinating and worth a visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange
It seems that peoples through the ages have respected the pyramids enough to leave them mostly intact and undisturbed, giving us the unique heritage that we have today. I can't help but contrast this with the British explorers who just started blowing through it with explosives and pulling stuff out wholesale.
Almost every pyramid was looted nearly immediately, and the limestone covers on the pyramids were stolen long ago. Most of the reason the pyramids remain as they are is because they are made of very large blocks which are inordinately difficult to move and impractical to use for other purposes.
Re: 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
#119Interesting how the pyramids have been around for 4500 years and we still don't know all about their structure... Fun fact: there's a Neolithic site in Ireland, Newgrange, that's actually older than the pyramids. Fascinating and worth a visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newgrange
It seems that peoples through the ages have respected the pyramids enough to leave them mostly intact and undisturbed, giving us the unique heritage that we have today. I can't help but contrast this with the British explorers who just started blowing through it with explosives and pulling stuff out wholesale.
Not at all. Most of the pyramids, and many many other burials were ransacked by graverobbers and scavengers in antiquity - in a lot of cases, even while there were still pharaohs. It's assumed that a lot of them were robbed immediately, by the same workers who built them - in fact, even as early as the Middle Kingdom, there was a thriving trade in robbed grave goods for the explicit purpose of reuse in another burial, so it's far from uncommon to find people interred with spells on papyri that are centuries older than them, but have had the original owner's name scratched out and the new one inserted. If anything, the respect shown for the Giza complex in the last hundred years or so is the exception in its history. Heck, one of the two smaller pyramids has a huge hole in the side from where a 16th or 17th century caliph tried to demolish it.
Essentially, humans have always been garbage.
Re: 'Big Void' Identified in Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza
#120This diagram shows a shaft going into this void from two sides. I was wondering why they don't send a robot down into those. Seems the answer is that they have, but there's something blocking the shaft and they're not willing to destroy it any further for some reason: http://guardians.net/hawass/articles/news_on_the_robot_Dec_2... http://www.crystalinks.com/gantenbrink.html http://www.gizapower.com/Articles/door2.htm…
"...for some reason:" - they shouldn't be allowed to destroy such an important monument to satisfy their curiosity.
I don't think that a 12 inch hole drilled big enough for a drone in a section of the pyramid that is protected from the weather and not visible to the public is "Destroying a monument".
Do you think that the DNA test of King Tut was also destruction?