Pyramid Quest (38 page)

The so-called Well Shaft extends from the northwest corner (lower end) of the Grand Gallery nearly vertically down to the Grotto (an enlargement of the shaft or chamber at approximately the upper level of the bedrock under/within the Great Pyramid), and from the Grotto, the lower end of the Well Shaft extends down to and intersects with the western side of the Descending Passage toward the southern (lower) end of the Descending Passage.

The upper portion of the Well Shaft, as it originates at the base of the Grand Gallery, has been known at least since the ninth century A.D., when Al Mamun’s men may have explored it. One Arab tradition (Kingsland, 1932, p. 73) is that a man fell down it and took three hours to reach the bottom! In the early nineteenth century, Caviglia attempted to explore the upper portion of the Shaft by clearing it of accumulated debris and descending down it using a rope, but he found the passage blocked by large stones. In 1817 Caviglia was working on clearing out the Descending Passage of debris and discovered the lower portion of the Well Shaft. He was then able to clear out the entire Well Shaft, starting from below, and make his way through it.

The Grotto may have been basically a natural feature, namely a fissure or cavity in the bedrock at or near the original surface of the plateau, and it was possibly packed with stones, sand, and gravel before building the Great Pyramid over it (see Kingsland, 1932, p. 74, and the photographs of the Grotto in Edgar and Edgar, 1910, 1923). The upper part of the Well Shaft, from the Grotto to the Grand Gallery, runs through the pyramid’s masonry. The uppermost vertical 25 feet or so of the Well Shaft is sometimes reported to be very regular, leading some to believe that at least this portion was planned and built into the pyramid originally, whereas the lower portion down to the Grotto is more irregular and may have been cut through the masonry after it was in place (Kingsland, 1932, p. 74). Petrie believed that the Well Shaft was cut after the masonry through which it passes, writing:

The portion of the Well Shaft from the Grotto to the Descending Passage is cut through the bedrock.

There is no universal consensus as to when the Well Shaft and Grotto were constructed, or what their purpose(s) were. One standard story, which was advocated by Smyth and Petrie, for instance (see also Hall, 2003, p. 112), is that the Well Shaft was a means for the workers to escape after they had blocked the Ascending Passage just below the lower end of the Grand Gallery with the granite plugs. Presumably they then retired down the Well Shaft, and the last person out dropped a block of limestone into place above his or her head to seal the upper entrance to the Well Shaft. The workers made their way down the Well Shaft to the Descending Passage, and came back up the Descending Passage and exited the pyramid through the entrance. Was the lower end of the Well Shaft also somehow blocked or sealed to prevent marauders from entering the Grand Gallery by the same means that the workers left, or was it thought that the steepness of the Well Shaft would preclude anyone from successfully making their way up it? It has been suggested that later pyramid robbers, to enter the upper chambers of the Great Pyramid, used this very “escape route.” Alternatively, Hall (2003, p. 112) cites a Mr. Dupré who believed that the Well Shaft from the Descending Passage to the Grand Gallery was itself cut out by robbers (at an unknown date, but prior to Al Mamun’s entry in the early ninth century A.D.), who first successfully entered the upper chambers when only the Descending Passage and Subterranean Chamber were known and open for entry; Hall (2003, p. 112) gives his opinion that “it is improbable that they [the robbers] used the descending passageway,” although he does not explain how they would have entered the Subterranean Chamber otherwise (presumably through another, yet undiscovered, passageway?).

Davidson and Aldersmith (1924, and n.d., pp. 161-165) believe that the Well Shaft and Grotto were not original to the Great Pyramid but do date back to ancient times. According to these authors, the Great Pyramid suffered from subsidence and possible earthquake damage “not long after it was built, possibly within a few generations from the time of its construction, and certainly before precise details and measurements of its internal construction were lost or forgotten” (Davidson and Aldersmith, n.d., p. 161). In order to inspect the interior of the Great Pyramid to see what, if any, damage had occurred, according to Davidson and Aldersmith, the “keepers of the Pyramid” entered the original entrance, descended almost to the Subterranean Chamber, and then cut the Well Shaft from the bottom up to the lower end of the Grand Gallery in order to access the interior chambers. The reason they began so low in the Descending Passage was due to their desire to intersect and inspect two natural fissures in the rock before reaching the Grotto. Davidson and Aldersmith contend that the final stone to be removed in the Grand Gallery was forced up and out.

Pochan (1978, pp. 229-230) believes that the lower portion of the Well Shaft, up to the top of the bedrock, was excavated contemporaneously with the Descending Passage and the Subterranean Chamber. In his view, this portion of the Well Shaft was simply a means “to ensure that descending workers would not interfere with their fellow workers climbing back up the Descending Passage, bearing stone-cutting debris.”

The top of the Well Shaft is currently (observation made in May 2004) covered with a cage and grate by the Egyptian authorities, who were hesitant to even allow me to photograph it from a distance. The site where the lower part of the Well Shaft intersects the descending passage, on the west side of the Descending Passage wall, is currently (observation made in May 2004) covered over by the Egyptian authorities, with plywood and other materials.

Today there are two entrances to the Great Pyramid: the original entrance just described and a forced entrance and tunnel that enters the pyramid on the north face at a level below and to the west of the original entrance. Most researchers ascribe this passage to Abdullah al Mamun (also known as simply Al Mamun, Al Mamoun, or Al Mamoon, entered the pyramid c. 810-830 A.D.); however, Pochan (1971; 1978, p. 4) contends that this is an old tunnel dating from the Seventh to Ninth Dynasty that was plugged up under Ramesses II and only reopened by Al Mamun’s men in the early ninth century A.D. According to Pochan (1978, p. 130, footnote number 40), “‘Al Mamun’s’ hole was not cleared until 1917. The members of the Commission d’Egypt Expedition [the French expedition under Napoleon, 1799-1801] were unaware of its existence.”

Today there is a large gash on the southern side of the Great Pyramid where Howard Vyse in 1837 attempted to either force another entrance into the Great Pyramid or search for otherwise unknown chambers in the structure (DeSalvo, 2003, p. 88).

Seiss (1877, pp. 10-11) postulated an undiscovered chamber in the center of the Great Pyramid (as viewed from the air) about halfway between the uppermost so-called Relieving Chamber (above the King’s Chamber) and the apex of the pyramid. Holland (1885, p. 135) believed there is a currently unknown chamber above the Queen’s Chamber and below the Antechamber of the King’s Chamber. Hall (2003, p. 113) says: “Nearly all students of the subject believe that subterranean chambers exist beneath the Great Pyramid.” Hall then quotes Ballard (1882) as saying:

H. S. Lewis (1936, 1939, 1945, 1994, pp. 126-127) suggests that there is an underground reception chamber and temple under and behind the Great Sphinx, and underground passages for this temple to each of the three major Giza pyramids. Lewis obtained this information from “secret manuscripts possessed by archivists of the mystery schools of Egypt and the Orient” (Lewis, 1994, p. 181). D. H. Lewis (1980, p. 81) suggests there is a hidden entrance near the summit of the Great Pyramid that leads to a hidden staircase that runs down the center of the pyramid, past the King’s and Queen’s chambers, to a secret room below the Subterranean Chamber. The stairway continues even deeper into the bedrock, finally coming to another room that is connected to various tunnels and passages, including one that leads to the Great Sphinx (1980, p. 92).

In the context of hidden or formally unknown chambers, my colleague John Anthony West reports the following (2003, p. 232).

Apparently referring to the same study, DeSalvo (2003, p. 58) reports that in 1986 two French architects, using “electronic detectors,” found a 3-by-5-meter chamber under the passageway to the Queen’s Chamber. They bored into this chamber and found it filled with 99 percent pure quartz sand that “may come from El Tur in southern Sinai” (DeSalvo, 2003, p. 58). According to DeSalvo (2003, pp. 58-59), in 1987 and 1988 Japanese researchers found similar cavities under or off the passageway to the Queen’s Chamber, and they also detected a cavity or cavities behind the western end of the northern wall of the Queen’s Chamber.

Melchizedek (2000, pp. 248-249) elaborates on these supposed rooms near and around the Queen’s Chamber:

DeSalvo (2003, p. 59) says:

DeSalvo (2003, p. 179) also writes: “Recently remote sensing has detected an incredible large underground complex under the Giza Plateau with many tunnels and areas that we have no idea when and why they were constructed.”

Yoshiki Su’e (1999), in postulating that the Great Pyramid is some sort of giant instrument for measuring vibrations and the rotation of the earth, suggests that there must be hidden control and measurement rooms in the structure. Just as I was putting the finishing touches on this manuscript, another report of suspected but unknown chambers came across the Internet. Two French amateur archaeologists, Gilles Dormion and Jean-Yves Verd’hurt, believe that there is a chamber under the Queen’s Chamber that could be the true resting place of Khufu (Benoist, 2004).

Lepre (1990, p. 270) has suggested that there might be a possible western “entrance” or opening in the west wall of the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid. Lepre (1990, p. 275) also postulates that there might be a second original entrance to the Great Pyramid, located on its north side, under the floorstones, where an offering shrine may have been located. In addition, Lepre (1990, pp. 275-278) has spotted what appears to his eye to be a 4-by-10-foot stone sunk into the foundation of the Great Pyramid on the northern side, 70 feet west of the pyramid’s northeast corner. Originally this stone would have been covered by the external casing stones covering the pyramid, and thus would have been concealed. Lepre speculates that it conceals an entrance or cavity that may lead to the true burial chamber of Khufu under the Great Pyramid.