Beneath the Pyramids

For a long time I've heard stories of there being tunnels beneath the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx complex. I've heard about tunnels connecting the Pyramids to the Sphinx. I've heard that there is some sort of tomb, or hall of records beneath the Sphinx itself. So far though, there's never been an "official" confirmation of any such claims. There is evidence of their being a cavity of some sort beneath the Sphinx, and I've heard that the entrance to that cavity was cemented in decades ago. But other than that, evidence regarding the claims of tunnels below ground at Giza have either not existed, or have been kept secret.

But a British explorer has now found evidence of these tunnels. Here is an excerpt from an article published on MSNBC's website on August 14, 2009:

An enormous system of caves, chambers and tunnels lies hidden beneath the Pyramids of Giza, according to a British explorer who claims to have found the lost underworld of the pharaohs.

Populated by bats and venomous spiders, the underground complex was found in the limestone bedrock beneath the pyramid field at Giza.

"There is untouched archaeology down there, as well as a delicate ecosystem that includes colonies of bats and a species of spider which we have tentatively identified as the white widow," British explorer Andrew Collins said.

Read the rest of the article here.

So we finally have some evidence that there are some tunnels below ground at Giza. How does Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and overseer of the Giza complex react to this find? He says, "There are no new discoveries to be made at Giza. We know everything about the plateau." That's a pretty bold statement if you ask me. I know Dr. Hawass has been the overseer of the Giza complex for a long time, but to say they know "everything" about the Giza complex is a little pretentious I think.

Now I have been watching documentaries on ancient Egypt for many years now, and Dr. Hawass makes appearances in most of them. In all of my years of researching ancient Egypt and listening to Dr. Hawass on TV, I've begun to wonder if he isn't hiding something. Perhaps his statement about knowing "everything" about the Giza plateau isn't as bold as I thought. Perhaps he knows a lot more than he lets on. Maybe he knows some things that he doesn't want the public to know. I remember reading years ago about a documentary that was allegedly going to be made of an excavation below the Sphinx. I don't remember the source, but the article claimed that at some point during filming, the cameras were ordered to be shut off and the documentary never saw the light of day. Since I don't remember the source of the information, I can't confirm the validity of this claim, but I can't help but wonder that if it is true, what is it that they found that they didn't want recorded?

Some may question whether or not evidence of an important find in Egypt has ever been covered up. But the truth of the matter is, who gets to excavate what is controlled in Egypt, and the reason why they want to excavate a site is carefully scrutinized. Egypt today is a Muslim country, and Muslim beliefs place some limitations on what is allowed to be researched on Egyptian soil. In the documentary film The Exodus Decoded, the researchers pointed out that while researching material for the film, they had to keep quiet about what their true intentions were in their research. They were looking for evidence of the Biblical story of the Hebrew people's exodus out of Egypt. So why did the researchers have to keep quiet about what they were researching? Because the Muslim authorities don't want anyone finding evidence validating the stories in the Bible. The researchers not only had to keep their true intentions a secret, Egyptian authorities kept a close eye on them too. So attempts to prevent researchers from finding something is a reality in Egypt. And I think the potential to cover up a find the Egyptian or Muslim authorities don't want the public to know about certainly exists too.

So what if Dr. Hawass (and perhaps some of his cronies) knows something about the Giza complex that he doesn't want the public to know? Why would he want to hide it? Is he gaining something by keeping it a secret? Or is he hiding a religious secret that he doesn't want the world to know about? If there are caves beneath Giza, why wouldn't he want to at least have a look at them? The fact that he doesn't seem interested and even stated there is nothing new to learn about the Giza complex seems a little odd to me. It seems to me that he is either scared of what he may find, or scared of someone else knowing about what he has already found.