Analysis of Shaft Plugs in the Southern Shaft of the Queen's Chamber

By Anthony Sakovich

On September 16th, 2002, after a nine year wait, the stone at the end of the southern shaft in the Queen's Chamber of Khufu's pyramid was finally breached. In a live program on the Fox network, Dr. Zahi Hawass and a team of researchers inserted a telescopic camera assembly through a pre-drilled hole in the Tura limestone plug first encountered by Rudolph Gantenbrink's robot, Upuaut II, in 1993.

As the researchers in the room gasped, the light revealed another stone block just a few inches further up the passage. The wide-angle lens created the illusion that the new block was a greater distance up the shaft, but in actuality, they could not push the camera beyond the end of the hole in the first block because they would lose the visibility of the edges of the new block in the process. Based on the previous distances and angles shown by the lens, I would estimate the new chamber is no more than six to eight inches (16-20cm) deep.

For some, this was a tremendous disappointment. People with pet theories relying on what would FINALLY be found behind "Gantenbrink's Door" have now had to go back and rewrite their predictions. Unfortunately, it would appear that none of the "Alternative Historians" are actually abandoning their hypotheses in light of the new discovery. Instead, they have fallen back on the usual cries of extenuating circumstances and special pleadings.

What is perhaps most disappointing is the general acceptance that the new discovery is really not a discovery at all. Somehow, people seem to be convinced that this new block actually tells us nothing, and we must penetrate IT before we can get to the REAL "evidence".

My own assessment of the new block is that it actually does give us some very important information, and allows us to further our understanding of other factors that we have already suspected, but can now verify with untainted, untampered evidence..

First, we must get a clear look at the new block. Courtesy of Frank Doernenburg, I am posting here a nicely enlarged photograph of the new block.

In order to understand what we are seeing, we must first understand what we are not seeing. This block is in no way of the same type or quality as the first block discovered by Gantenbrink in 1993. Let us look at the block that Gantenbrink discovered...but so there can be no doubt of the difference, let's see it as the same camera that looked at the NEW block actually saw it:

Since both photographs were taken by the same camera under the same lighting conditions, any differences between the pictures will denote a difference in the surface condition of the blocks themselves. As we see in this overlay, the two surfaces are dramatically different. We know from several frames of video taken by both Gantenbrink's robot (hereafter referred to as Upuaut), and the new National Geographic robot (hereafter referred to as the Rover), that the surface of the first plug is fairly smooth Tura limestone. Notice the contrast below:

There can be little doubt that the surface areas are completely different. Although I am not qualified to comment upon the type of stone from which the second plug is fashioned, we can certainly make some simple observations and deduce logical conclusions from those observations of the surface of the stone.

There appear to be a profusion of tool marks all over the surface of the new plug. As we look over the entire surface, there are three areas in which we can see clear evidence of rows of adze marks. The areas are right along the edge of the bright, overexposed spot at the center of the block. Due to the tremendous variation of lighting, our best chance for observing the surface should be, and is, along the edge of this circle.

This area, in the lower left corner of the block, is obviously a row of tool marks left by a crude adze or similar chisel.

By looking around the circle, we can also see these other areas of tool marks:

These toolmarks were instantly familiar to me, as I have gone to extensive time and expense studying the lithic structures and subsidiary structures in Egypt. Today, these toolmarks can be seen on many of the tiles (some are modern replacements) that currently floor the temples.

The Floor at Karnak Temple

More floor tiles at Karnak Temple

Block in an 18th Dynasty Tomb at Saqqara

Blocks from modern structure in Luxor

To this day, this technique of shaping and texturing stones is still used in Egypt. Since these marks are made by known tools using known techniques, we have now found clear, unequivocal evidence that simple tools were definitely used during the construction of Khufu's pyramid. There can be no doubt that these marks are contemporary with the building of the structure. In all of our known history of the pyramid, this is first time evidence has been clearly available to the public that indubitably confirms the classic lithic construction methods as professed by archaeologists and egyptologists for the last century. This evidence could not have been "planted" by anyone. This evidence was not faked. The marks were not made the night before the chamber was revealed to the public.

Although this in no way disproves the idea that OTHER, more advanced tools were used to build the pyramid, it is a clear indication that simple lithic tools were definitely used to build SOME parts of the pyramid. It seems highly improbable that a culture that possessed some advanced stone-cutting technology would abandon that technology to use more primitive technology... precisely in the place where we now have the ability to examine the toolmarks. The odds of this happening are astronomical, to say the least.

Far from being a silent stone, this block tells us much about the tools and technology of the pyramid builders of the Fourth Dynasty.

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In actuality this block is reminiscent of another set of blocks in Khufu's pyramid. There has been much talk about this new block being the second of three blocks that lead into a chamber, as we have seen in the portcullis leading into Khufu's burial chamber. In addition, there are three large granite blocks that plug the ascending passage of the pyramid. It is not my opinon that these conjectures are correct.

Both of these examples are plugs that were definitely designed to keep human intruders from gaining access to different areas of the pyramid. In the case of the new block discovered by the Rover, the concept of humans gaining access is absurd: the shaft is only 8 inches tall.

Instead, we should perhaps think of the chambers around which these shafts are constructed. The chambers within the pyramid were indeed sacred, holy places. The interior of the pyramid was finished in an extraordinary fashion, and it is obvious that it was important to the ancient builders that the interior of the pyramid be finished in a way that would please the King.

Therefore, at the end of the shaft, it is necessary to have a plug that is of a quality and appearance that is commensurate with the interior of the pyramid itself. The first plug stone, the one discovered by Rudolph Gantenbrink in 1993, is that first interior layer. It is composed of fine white limestone, as was most of the visible surface of the pyramid, both inside and out.

Beyond this plug, however, it would be necessary to include a second plug, so that there could be no debris or rubble that would push down against the fine Tura limestone plug, and possibly cause it to collapse or cave in. Therefore, a second limestone plug of thicker, more durable stone, was put into place just a few inches above the lower plug. Rather than thinking of this plug as another "portcullis stone", we should think of it as more of a spacer, on a par with the Relieving Chambers above the King's Chamber, as seen below:

Relieving/Spacing Chambers Above Khufu's main Burial Chamber

The relative spacing of the second plug, in addition to the rough finish of it, is more reminiscent of the lintels above the King's Chamber than any other known structure in the pyramid.

Based on these observations, it would appear that the stone has actually given us a wealth of information on the construction techniques employed in building the pyramid of Khufu at Giza. We may also be able to use some of this information to give us more insight into the function of the shafts, as more data becomes available, and as the data we already have can be organized into a more orderly, useful fashion.

******UPDATE******

Thanks to better photographs becoming available, we can now see the toolmarks much more clearly.

*****************Notes***************

It should also be pointed out that Frank Doernenburg, who agreed to allow me to use the first screen-capture above, is of the opinion that the second block is not a block at all, but the far side of an inverted stone box placed at the end of the shaft. His analysis will soon be available here, at his English Language website.