Pyramid Quest (37 page)

The King’s Chamber has been damaged. The floor has settled or inclined toward the southwest corner, and the granite ceiling beams are broken near the southern side, as are also various beams in the overlying Relieving Chambers (Edgar and Edgar, 1923, pp. 77-78; see hereafter for a description of these chambers). The base of the granite walls extends about 5 inches below the plane of the floor (see Smyth, 1877, p. 14). Explanations for this damage range from immediate settling during building that cracked the beams, settling of the structure over time, earthquake damage (for instance, a severe earthquake is reported as having occurred in 908 A.D.; some think it not only caused the damage to the King’s Chamber and chambers above but also damaged the outer casing stones, making it easier for the medieval Arab Egyptians to strip them off and use them in building; Edgar and Edgar, 1923, p. 51), or an explosion in the King’s Chamber during ancient times (Mehler, 2003, pp. 329-337).

The granite coffer, or sarcophagus, is currently located at the western end of the chamber, and its long axis is aligned approximately north-south. The coffer is lidless, but it was apparently designed to have a sliding lid that could be pinned in place; the remains of the lip for the lid and holes for the pins to be dropped into can still be observed. Dimensions of the granite coffer are given hereafter.

The north and south walls of the King’s Chamber have shafts, or “airshafts” or “air channels” or “star shafts” (depending on one’s interpretation), that lead to the exterior of the pyramid, at an upward angle. Unlike the shafts from the Queen’s Chamber, there is no evidence that the interior ends of the shafts in the King’s Chamber were ever blocked, and they also open to the exterior of the pyramid. The channels are 8 or 9 inches square. Petrie estimated the angle for the southern shaft at 44° 30’ 00”, whereas more modern measurements by Rudolf Gantenbrink place it at 45° 00’ 00”, and likewise Petrie estimated the angle of the northern shaft at 31° 00’ 00”, whereas Gantenbrink has placed it at 32° 28’ 00”. (Measurements reported in Bauval and Gilbert, 1994, p. 172; I believe these authors are being overly precise in their reporting of these angles. Petrie, 1885, p. 29, says: “The air channels leading from this chamber were measured on the outside of the Pyramid; the N. one varies from 30° 43’ to 32° 4’, in the outer 30 feet; and the S. one from 44° 26’ to 45° 30’, in the outer 70 feet.”) These angles suggest to Robert Bauval that in the twenty-fifth century B.C., the southern shaft pointed to the star Al Nitak (Zeta Ori onis) in the belt of the constellation of Orion, and the northern shaft pointed to Alpha Draconis (Thuban) in the constellation of Draco (Bauval and Gilbert, 1994, pp. 172-174). Note that the lower portion of the northern shaft has kinks in it at its base as it goes around the Grand Gallery (Bauval and Gilbert, 1994, p. 209, fig. 20).

Above the King’s Chamber are five chambers or spaces that are often variously referred to as Relieving Chambers (after the idea that they serve the function of relieving the stress of the great weight over the King’s Chamber) or Chambers of Construction. As far as can be determined, they were never meant to be entered once the Great Pyramid was completed, and indeed the top four were completely sealed up until they were opened by force in the early nineteenth century. Within these chambers are rough hieroglyphic inscriptions, including some cartouches, daubed on with a red paint (see the section entitled “Inscriptions on and within the Great Pyramid”), as well as various straight horizontal and vertical lines in red and black paint, apparently the remains of markings used by the quarrymen and builders in cutting, trimming, and arranging the blocks.

The floors of all of these chambers are composed of immense granite beams running north and south that form the smooth ceilings of the chambers below. The “floor” of each Relieving Chamber is rough and irregular, with some of the granite beams being considerably higher than the others. In the lower three chambers, the northern and southern side walls are also composed of granite, whereas they are limestone in the uppermost two chambers. The eastern and western ends are of limestone, and the gabled roof of the uppermost chamber is limestone.

The lowest of the Relieving Chambers was discovered and explored by Nathaniel Davison, British consul at Algiers, in 1765 (Kingsland, 1932, p. 97; DeSalvo, 2003, p. 42). Davison noticed a rectangular hole (about 28 inches wide by 32 inches high; dimensions from Kingsland, 1932) at the top of the southeastern corner of the Grand Gallery and arranged for a ladder to be erected so that he could climb up to it and explore. The hole (apparently formed by the removal of one entire stone in the Grand Gallery wall; Edgar and Edgar, 1923, p. 73) was the opening of a passage, much obstructed with dirt and bat dung, but Davison crawled into and along the passage for some 20 to 25 feet until he discovered the opening to the lowest Relieving Chamber, since then named Davison’s Chamber in his honor. In the early nineteenth century, Caviglia is reported to have cleaned out Davison’s Chamber and used it as a place to live while exploring the Great Pyramid. Today there is an inscription in Davison’s Chamber that reads “1915 / 1st / AUSTRALIAN.-EXP. FORCE / CHAMBER.”

In 1837 Howard Vyse made a complete examination of Davison’s Chamber and, on the basis at least in part of the notion that there might be a concealed sepulchral chamber above (Kingsland, 1932, p. 97), excavated upward from the passage that Davison had found, through the masonry on the east side, and discovered the four remaining Relieving Chambers. On entering the highest chamber and observing the gabled ceiling of limestone rather than a flat ceiling of granite, presumably Vyse understood that this must be the last chamber. As Vyse discovered each chamber, they were named in honor of different people, and the names of the chambers were neatly painted in black letters inside each chamber. The chamber immediately above Davison’s Chamber was thus christened Wellington’s Chamber, followed by Nelson’s Chamber, Lady Arbuthnot’s Chamber, and finally Campbell’s Chamber.

In their study of the Great Pyramid, the Edgar brothers (Edgar and Edgar, 1910) were initially unable to enter the Relieving Chambers. It was not until 1912 that Morton Edgar first visited their interiors, reporting that the distance from the floor of one chamber to the floor of the next above is on average 10 feet (Edgar and Edgar, 1923, p. 75 n.), and on the basis of Vyse, Morton Edgar says that the apex of the gabled roof of Campbell’s Chamber is about 70 feet above the floor of the King’s Chamber (Edgar and Edgar, 1923, p. 77).

Returning to the base (north end) of the Grand Gallery, one can follow a narrow passage for about 127 feet to the Queen’s Chamber, located at the twenty-fifth course of masonry. The northern end of the Ascending Passage and the lower end (northern end) of the floor of the Grand Gallery are both cut down slightly, and there are holes in the side walls as one enters toward the horizontal passage to the Queen’s Chamber. All of these features seem to indicate that originally there were cross-beams (composed of stone?) in the holes in the walls that supported stone slabs, which covered over and concealed the entrance to the horizontal passage to the Queen’s Chamber. No remains of these slabs or cross-beams remain today. About 109 feet into the passage (heading south), there is a step down such that it is easier to stand. The passage leads into the northeast corner of the Queen’s Chamber.

This room has become known as the Queen’s Chamber simply because it has a gabled ceiling, and the custom among the Arabs was to bury men in tombs with flat ceilings and women in tombs with gabled ceilings (Tompkins, 1971, p. 11).

The Queen’s Chamber is composed completely of limestone. The walls are relatively smooth and finished, but the floor is rather rough. The principle feature of this room is the niche or recess in the eastern wall. The center of the niche is about 25.19 inches south of the midline of the eastern wall (Kingsland, 1932, p. 77), and it is a little more than 15 feet high. The back of the niche shows evidence of excavation, presumably by hunters of more unknown chambers. The niche narrows toward the top with four overlaps before reaching its top, similar to the seven overlaps in the Grand Gallery. The floor of the Queen’s Chamber is very rough, and there may have been a fine stone floor once in the chamber that has been removed, or perhaps was never put into place (see Petrie, 1883, p. 215).

Interesting features of the Queen’s Chamber are the shafts, similar to the shafts of the King’s Chamber, that occur on the north and south walls. These shafts were unknown until 1872, when Waynman Dixon was in the Queen’s Chamber and noticed a crack in the south wall through which he could push a long piece of wire. Wondering what could be there, he had the stone broken away and discovered, concealed behind 5 inches of exterior stonework, a shaft measuring about 8 to 8.5 inches square, similar to that in the King’s Chamber. Dixon next explored the north wall in the corresponding spot and discovered a similar northern shaft (Kingsland, 1932, p. 79; DeSalvo, 2003, p. 48). As far as is known, these shafts from the Queen’s Chamber are not, unlike those of the King’s Chamber, open to the exterior of the Great Pyramid. In fact, Gantenbrink found a “door” sealing the southern shaft (see hereafter). Petrie found the southern shaft of the Queen’s Chamber to be at an angle of 38° 28’ 00”, whereas Gantenbrink found it to be 39° 30’ 00” (values given in Bauval and Gilbert, 1994, p. 172; these authors may be overly precise in their reporting of these angles; Petrie, 1885, p. 24, gives a range of 38° 20’ to 38° 35’, with a mean of 38° 28’). Petrie (1885, p. 24) gives a mean value of 37° 28’ (range of 37° 25’ to 37° 33’) for the northern shaft of the Queen’s Chamber, whereas according to Bauval (Bauval and Gilbert, 1994, p. 173), Gantenbrink thought it might be closer to 39°. Bauval suggests that the southern shaft of the Queen’s Chamber pointed to Sirius in the late twenty-fifth century B.C., whereas the northern shaft pointed to the center of the four stars forming the “head” in the constellation Ursa Minor at approximately the same epoch (Bauval and Gilbert, 1994, pp. 172-173). Note that the lower portion of the northern shaft has kinks in it at its base as it goes around the Grand Gallery (Bauval and Gilbert, 1994, p. 209, fig. 20).

The east wall of the Queen’s Chamber, showing the niche. Photograph courtesy of Robert M. Schoch.

Concerning the original use and contents of the so-called Queen’s Chamber, Petrie (1883, pp. 216-217) writes:

Pochan (1978) considers the Queen’s Chamber to be the Great Pyramid’s serdab, a secret room where the king’s double was placed. This consisted of a statue (perhaps of basalt or diorite) that was believed to be brought to life by the ritual of the opening of the mouth and eyes. K. P. Johnson (1998, 1999) believes that a pendulum “clock” was located in the niche of the Queen’s Chamber and used in conjunction with astronomical observations of the skies.

Following the Descending Passage below its junction with the Ascending Passage, we then come to the horizontal passage at the bottom. Passing through the horizontal passage past the recess (described earlier with the description of the Descending Passage), we enter the Subterranean Chamber from the northeast corner. Overall this is a large room, extending approximately 46 feet east-west and 27 feet north-south, very roughly hewn out of the bedrock limestone upon with the Great Pyramid sits. Across from the entrance to the Subterranean Chamber (sometimes known as the Pit), in the southeast corner, is a small passage (just over 2 feet high and 2 feet wide) that heads south for about 53½ feet and then just ends; accordingly, this is often referred to as the Blind Passage.

The Subterranean Chamber is about 100 feet below the level of the platform of the Great Pyramid, and approximately under the apex. The Subterranean Chamber is often referred to as “unfinished” or “partially excavated,” and indeed it gives that appearance. Whereas the roof is relatively consistent (though very rough), the floor is incredibly inconsistent. At the western end, it is within 5½ feet of the roof, whereas on the eastern end, the floor is much lower, up to 16½ feet from the roof. In the approximate center of the eastern end of the Subterranean Chamber there is a vertical shaft in the floor. According to Kingsland (1932, pp. 63-64), the original depth of this shaft was about 5 feet, but Caviglia excavated in this area in 1817 to a depth of 10 feet, and then in the 1830s Vyse excavated down to a depth of 38 feet, searching for any unknown chambers, possibly the final resting site of Khufu on an island surrounded by water from the Nile as Herodotus described.