Pyramid Quest (39 page)

Alford (2003, 2004) believes that the intact tomb of Khufu is hidden in a network of caves beneath the Great Pyramid. Alford says (personal communication to Robert Schoch, November 26, 2004):

In 1993 Rudolf Gantenbrink used a small wheeled robot, that looked somewhat like a miniature military tank equipped with a video camera, to ascend the southern shaft originating in the Queen’s Chamber (DeSalvo, 2003, p. 60). The shaft goes straight back from the wall for about 7 feet, then ascends. The robot, named Upuaut 2, traveled about 200 feet up the 9-inch-square shaft, where it encountered a stone “door” with two copper “handles” and could go no farther. In September 2002, another robot (not associated with Gantenbrink), designed by iRobot of Boston, ascended the shaft to the door, drilled through the approximately 3 inches of the door, and looked through with a camera. Behind the first stone door was a small, empty space, and then another stone door (DeSalvo, 2003, p. 62). The same robot was later sent up the northern shaft of the Queen’s Chamber, where it encountered a stone door at 208 feet from the Queen’s Chamber very similar to the stone doors found in the southern shaft (DeSalvo, 2003, p. 63).

Note:
Unless otherwise stated, the following measurements (in British inches, as opposed to so-called pyramid inches), but not necessarily the descriptions, are from Kingsland’s compilation (1932, pp. 113-117), with the exception of those for the Chambers of Construction, which are from Bonwick (1877, pp. 45-46), and the measurements of the coffer found in the King’s Chamber, which are from Petrie (1885, p. 30).

All lengths of passages and chambers are floor lengths, unless otherwise stated. The value of the cubit used in the measurements that follow is the value adopted by Kingsland (1932), namely 20.612 British inches to a cubit. In some cases I believe that Kingsland’s numbers are overly precise, but rather than round them I have reported them as he published them.

Length of missing portion of entrance due to removal of the casing: 124.2 ± .3

Vertical height of original entrance above the platform of the Great Pyramid: 668.3

Length from original entrance to point of intersection with the Ascending Passage: 1110.64

Length from point of intersection to the bottom of the passage where it meets the short horizontal passage to the Subterranean Chamber: 3036.804

Total original length of the Descending Passage: 4147.444

Vertical depth of foot of Descending Passage below platform level: 1164.578

Average width of Descending Passage: 41.6

Average height taken perpendicular to floor and roof of the Descending Passage: 47.4

Average true vertical height of Descending Passage: 52.8

Total length of this passage: 350.75

Average height of the passage: 34 (0.91 meters, according to Pochan, 1978, p. 13)

Average width of the passage: 34 (0.80 meters, according to Pochan, 1978, p. 13)

Distance of “recess” or “niche” from the southern end of the horizontal passage (Pochan, 1978, p. 13): 1.45 meters

Approximate length parallel to the passage of the “recess” or “niche” off of this passage (Pochan, 1978, p. 13): 1.85 meters

Approximate east-to-west length: 553.07

Approximate north-to-south width: 325.904

Approximate height at the western end: 5.5 feet

Approximate height at the eastern end: 12-16.5 feet

Length of southern “Blind Passage”: 53.5 feet

Average height of southern “Blind Passage”: 28

Average width of southern “Blind Passage”: 28

Length from the intersection to the bottom of the Grand Gallery (75 cubits): 1,545.9

Horizontal length of Ascending Passage: 1,388.457

Vertical height of southern end of Ascending Passage above platform level: 850.396

Average width of Ascending Passage: 42.1

Average height of Ascending Passage perpendicular to floor and roof: 47.4

Average vertical height of Ascending Passage: 52.6

Length from north wall to south wall: 1,883.6

Horizontal length from north wall to south wall: 1,689.191

Length of the “Great Step” at the southern end: 61.32

Height of the “Great Step”: 36.0

Height of the lower portion of the Grand Gallery above the platform level: 850.396

Height of the top of the “Great Step” above the platform level (82 cubits): 1,690.184

Width of the Grand Gallery over the side ramps (4 cubits): 82.448

Width between the side ramps (2 cubits): 41.224

Width of the Grand Gallery at the roof (2 cubits): 41.224

Width of each ramp (1 cubit): 20.612

Average height of ramps: 23.5

Average height of Grand Gallery: 28.5 feet

Length of passage from Grand Gallery to Antechamber: 52.02

Height of passage (2 cubits): 41.224

Width of passage (2 cubits): 41.224

Length of Antechamber: 116.08

Average width of Antechamber at floor level (2 cubits): 41.224

Average width of Antechamber at roof: 65.0

Average height of Antechamber: 149.35

Height of wainscoting on the east: 103.35

Height of wainscoting on the west: 112.1

Length of passage from Antechamber to King’s Chamber: 100.8

Average height of passage: 42.89

Average width of passage: 41.4

Length of King’s Chamber (20 cubits): 412.24

Width of King’s Chamber: (10 cubits): 206.12

Height of Granite walls in the King’s Chamber: 235.2

Vertical height of floor above the platform level (82 cubits): 1,690.184

Total length of passage: 1,524.811

Length from north wall of the Grand Gallery to the step in the passage: 1,307.0

Length from the step to the Queen’s Chamber: 217.811

Depth of the step (1 cubit): 20.612

Average width of the passage: 46.5

Average height of the passage at the northern end: 46.5

Average height of the passage at the southern end: 66.2

Vertical height of the northern portion of the passage above the platform level: 855.396

Vertical height of the southern portion above the platform level: 834.784

Length of the Queen’s Chamber (11 cubits): 226.732

Width (10 cubits): 206.12

Average height of the north and south walls (9 cubits?): 184.47(?)

Average height to the ridge of the roof: 245.1(?)

Height of Niche: 183.9 (Kingsland, 1932, p. 117, lists 193.8, but this is an error; on p. 77 he cites it as 183.89 inches, and Petrie, 1885, p. 24, gives a value of 184 inches)

Width of Niche at the base (3 cubits?): 61.74(?)

Width of Niche at the top (1 cubit?): 20.3(?)

Average depth of the Niche (2 cubits?): 41.07(?)

Height of the floor of the Queen’s Chamber above the platform level :834.784

Outside length: 89.62

Outside width: 38.50

Outer height: 41.31

Inside length: 78.06

Inside width: 26.81

Inside depth: 34.42

Thickness at the northern end: 5.67

Thickness at the southern end: 5.89

Thickness of the eastern side: 5.87

Thickness of the western side: 5.82

Thickness of the bottom: 6.89

Volume of the inside: 72,030 cubic inches

Volume of the solid bulk of the granite: 70,500 cubic inches

Volume overall: 142,530 cubic inches

 

 

The volumes are calculated by Petrie (1885, p. 30), “omitting all notice of the attachments for the lid, employing the mean [average] planes.”

Length of passage from the entrance at the top of the Grand Gallery (southeast corner) to Davison’s Chamber: 24.75 feet

Vertical height from the floor of the King’s Chamber to the top of Campbell’s Chamber: 69.25 feet

Length of Davison’s Chamber: 38 feet 4 inches

Width of Davison’s Chamber: 17 feet 1 inch

Height of Davison’s Chamber: 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet 6 inches

Length of Wellington’s Chamber: 38 feet 6 inches

Width of Wellington’s Chamber: 17 feet 2 inches

Height of Wellington’s Chamber: 2 feet 2 inches to 3 feet 8 inches

Length of Nelson’s Chamber: 38 feet 9 inches

Width of Nelson’s Chamber: 16 feet 8 inches

Height of Nelson’s Chamber: 2 feet 4 inches to 4 feet 10 inches

Length of Lady Arbuthnot’s Chamber: 37 feet 4 inches

Width of Lady Arbuthnot’s Chamber: 16 feet 4 inches

Height of Lady Arbuthnot’s Chamber: 1 foot 4 inches to 4 feet 5 inches

Length of Campbell’s Chamber: 37 feet 10 inches

Width of Campbell’s Chamber: 20 feet 6 inches

Height of Campbell’s Chamber: 5 feet 10 inches to 8 feet 7 inches

All of the passages and chambers in the Great Pyramid occur in approximately a north-south oriented vertical plane that runs through the structure. This plane, however, is not aligned with the central axis of the Great Pyramid but rather is displaced slightly to the east. This displacement is cited as 7.29 meters by Pochan (1978, p. 12); on the basis of the data of Petrie (1883), Kingsland (1932, p. 57) gives it as about 100 inches (2.54 meters) for the center of the King’s Chamber to about 287 inches (7.29 meters) for the center of the north entrance (original entrance). Davidson (see Davidson and Aldersmith, 1924) related his “displacement factor” to the displacement of the passages to the east of the central axis of the Great Pyramid, believing the two values to be numerically equal.

Pochan (1978, p. 12) explains the eastern displacement of the passage system as follows. “This displacement of the axis was necessary in order to avoid inundat ing the Subterranean Chamber, as each face’s hollow constituted a vast gutter capable of draining more than 2,000 cubic meters of water during a rainstorm.” I have never found this explanation tenable. Such storms were few and far between on the eastern edge of the Sahara; furthermore, the entrance to the Great Pyramid was apparently fitted with a tight stone door, so tight and inconspicuous that when knowledge of its exact location was lost, it could not easily be found again, resulting, for instance, in the forced passage of Al Mamoun (see hereafter). Such a tight-fitting door would hardly have let in enough water to inundate the Subterranean Chamber. Richard Proctor (1883) offers a better explanation for the eastern displacement of the passages, I believe. Proctor suggested that the partially completed Great Pyramid, built up to the level of the floor of the King’s Chamber, served as a pretelescopic observatory. The Grand Gallery, open to the south, was the primary sighting tube for observations, but the flat, square, top of the partial pyramid, aligned to the cardinal points, would also have been used to make observations.