Scientists think they found a secret doorway in a 4,500-year-old Egyptian pyramid

Scientists believe they’ve discovered the remains of a secret entrance inside one of Egypt’s oldest pyramids, more than 4,500 years after it was built.

A joint team from Cairo University and the Technical University of Munich made the discovery while studying the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three pyramids on the Giza Plateau. Using advanced non-invasive scanning tools, researchers detected what appears to be two air-filled voids behind a polished section of granite on the pyramid’s eastern side.

The team used radar, ultrasound, and electrical resistivity tomography to probe beneath the surface without damaging the ancient stonework. The scans revealed hollow areas that experts say could mark the location of a long-suspected second entrance.

Professor Christian Grosse, who leads the non-destructive testing program at the Technical University of Munich, described it as “an important finding in Giza,” suggesting the results could confirm long-standing theories about additional passages hidden inside the pyramid.

Hidden entranced possibly discovered in the Pyramid of Menkaure

The main known entrance to the Pyramid of Menkaure is on its northern side. However, researchers have been intrigued for years by the unusually smooth granite blocks on the east face, a clue that something significant might lie beneath.

Independent researcher Stijn van den Hoven first proposed the existence of another entrance in 2019, and this latest evidence appears to support his theory.

Built around 2510 BC, the Pyramid of Menkaure stands roughly 200 feet tall and is believed to have housed the tomb of King Menkaure, a ruler of Egypt’s Fourth Dynasty. The location of his sarcophagus remains one of Egyptology’s enduring mysteries, as it was lost at sea in 1838 when the ship Beatrice vanished en route to the British Museum.

Egypt’s ancient treasures remain highly coveted. Earlier this year, thieves stole a bracelet belonging to Pharaoh Amenemope from Cairo’s Egyptian Museum and melted it down for a mere $4,000.