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French Egyptologists defend pyramid theory
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-04 16:24
A pair of French Egyptologists who suspect they have found a previously
unknown chamber in the Great Pyramid urged Egypt's antiquities chief to
reconsider letting them test their theory by drilling new holes in the
4,600-year-old structure.
Jean Yves Verd'hurt and fellow Frenchman Gilles Dormion, who has studied
pyramid construction for more than 20 years, are expected to raise their views
during the ninth International Congress of Egyptologists in Grenoble, France,
which starts Monday. They also published a book about their theory this week.
Standing in their way is Zahi Hawass, the director of Egypt's Supreme Council
of Antiquities, who heatedly rejected the theories during a Cairo press
conference this week.
"There are 300 theories concerning hidden rooms and other things inside the
pyramid, but if I let them all test their theories they will do untold damage to
the pyramid, which was built with the blood of Egyptians," said Hawass. "I will
not let Egyptian blood be damaged by amateurs."
He said earlier requests from the same pair were turned down in 1999 and
2003.
In their book, "The Room of Cheops," Dormion and Verd'hurt write that 1988
study of an area below the queen's burial chamber in the pyramid found what
appeared to be an 11 1/2-foot "structure," according to the French magazine
Science and Future.
"The study of this part of the pyramid was always neglected because there had
been a grill to block access," they wrote. "While we were working on ventilation
in 1988, we were able to penetrate into the depths and study briefly but not
enough to state anything essential."
Verd'hurt laughed off Hawass' "amateur" tag, citing previous close
relationships with Egyptian antiquities officials and work that he and Dormion
had conducted in 1998 on the Medium pyramid south of Cairo, which dates back
more than 4,500 years to the 4th pharaonic dynasty.
The work at Medium, according to Verd'hurt, led to the discovery of two rooms
and two passages that had been previously "undisturbed and unknown." They want
to do similar work at the Great Pyramid, built by Khufu, a ruler also known as
Cheops.
"To be sure of this process, we wanted to verify the result of our
architectural works using a radar that confirmed the location of a passage and a
system of closures. So I think that now we should at least take these results
into account in order to go further in our work."
Verd'hurt said Egyptian opposition to his theory is a "shame." They are
expected to raise the issue again with Hawass in Grenoble, but the Egyptian
antiquities official said he will not speak to them.
Verd'hurt said he was disappointed by Hawass' refusal.
"It's true that Cheops arouses and attracts passions but, with regard to
history, it's really too bad," he said. "I think it's too bad that he doesn't
sit down with us to let us explain ourselves."
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