Ancient Egypt’s Most Interesting Discoveries We Know about the Pyramids

It is claimed that the very first pyramid in Egypt was built around 4,700 years ago, during the Third Dynasty, when ancient civilization hadn’t yet discovered the wheel! That means that they had assembled these gigantic structures seemingly without using wheels for transportation. Now that is impressive!

Because the pyramid was constructed using bulky granite and limestone blocks, there was no way they could’ve relocated them using wooden rails and ropes.

The only evidence scientists have from that period is that the Egyptians only had ropes and wooden ramps to build their structures and fortresses. According to calculations, in one day, they would have had to lay down a new block every two and a half minutes to finish the construction in 20 years!

There is no concrete evidence of how the Egyptians build something so incredibly big and extremely precise. Therefore many historians, archaeologists, and scientists believe that the pyramids were built by a civilization that was even more advanced.

The largest pyramid and the most massive structure in the world is the Great Pyramid, built around 2550 BC, during Pharaoh Khufu's reign. Scientific research says it was built by 20 000 people, and it took them 20 years to complete it.

When we look at it through our modern perspective, it seems highly unlikely that the ancient people managed to build such a magnificent project only using wood and ropes—no wonder it took so long!

The Great Pyramid appears to blend with the sand and dirt surrounding it, but these pyramids looked utterly different back in the day. The surface layer was covered with shiny, white polished limestone, which made the pyramids shine.

Sadly, there was a strong earthquake in 1303 AD that caused the limestone layer to loosen, so people had to take the surface stones off. Of course, these stones didn’t go to waste. They were reused for fortresses and other structures.

When you think of a pyramid, it's a geometrical shape with four sides. However, that's not exactly the case with the Great Pyramid. It may look like it has four sides when you look at it from the ground; the Great Pyramid actually has eight sides. If you were to fly over the pyramids in a plane, your perspective would change, and you would see that the pyramid does have eight sides, not four.

Some experts believe it was constructed this way to prevent the stones from shifting. Others believe that erosion from the wind caused the pyramid to split into eight sides. There is no evidence to prove either of these theories, but the sides seem so precise that it seems unlikely that wind could’ve made that happen.

Scientists believe that ancient civilizations had more advanced tools than we believe; a significant piece of evidence was found in Khufu’s Sarcophagus. Archaeologists, who worked on this site, discovered the evidence of drills that were strong enough to drill through granite blocks. Khufu, who was behind the Great Pyramid construction, had a coffin that weighs over 3.5 tons.

The only rational conclusion is that the stone was brought to this place before. The sarcophagus stood separate from other blocks in a room inside the pyramid, with holes that had to be made by humans. Considering that it was made of granite, the block was way too dense to have been drilled with anything other than advanced tools, which supposedly did not exist at that time.

We already know about the intricate labyrinth underneath the pyramids, but we don’t know how long it is and where it can lead us. The sophisticated tunnel system is made from limestone bedrock, and some of the most notable archaeological discoveries were made in them. Even though archaeologists have dug quite far into these tunnels, they still haven’t scaled every corner nor found the end of the labyrinth.

Conspiracy theorists maintain that scientists are keeping this underground world full of catacombs a secret from the public. All that we now know is that the labyrinths under the Great Pyramid stretch 55 miles south of Cairo, underneath Hawara.

One of the most recent findings inside the Great Pyramid was a hidden chamber. Archeologists were only able to discover the mysterious chamber using advanced technological imaging that record fragment particles deep within the rocks. They used cosmic-ray imaging, which is similar to X-Ray imaging, but it can penetrate farther into the pyramids' structure.

Even though this technology has significantly advanced, the images it provides are still low in quality and resolution. Therefore, scientists are still uncertain whether it is a single chamber or a different room series. They’re also not sure what the chamber was for, and whether something hiding inside it could show us an entirely new perspective about this ancient world...

It has been hypothesized for centuries that the ancient pyramids could be generating some kind of energy. However, we still don't have any substantial evidence to lead us in the right direction to investigate this theory. After the Great Pyramid's hidden chamber was located, scientists also ascertained that the pyramid collects electromagnetic energy in its interior rooms.

To make things even more interesting, the higher amounts of energy were recorded in the rooms where people found the remains of Pharaoh Khufu and his wife's chamber.

On August 1st, 2018, archaeologists made one of the most recent discoveries when they found a precious statue during a restoration project. The statue was found inside the Djoser pyramid in Saqqara, and it depicted Osiris, one of the most well-known Egyptian gods. Archaeologists were baffled by such an unexpected discovery, as the statue was placed inside an unknown crack within the wall.

This discovery was so peculiar because no one could figure out why they would place such a cherished statue in a random spot within the wall. Did it have any meaning? Or was it hidden for some reason? The head of the Saqqara archaeological site speculates that “the statue was probably hidden in this way by a priest of Saqqara in antiquity.”

Brien Foerster discovered one of the most enigmatic discoveries inside this tunnel; he found 20 boxes built from Aswan granite. These rocks were cut into boxes with staggering accuracy. What’s even more striking is that each box weighs around 100 tons. Some assumed that these boxes were a burial site for prized animals and livestock, yet no evidence has been found to prove this speculation.

Some experts believed that these mysterious boxes also held some sort of energy. However, more established authorities seem to deny this view. We cannot know whether there is a chance of such a phenomenon, and we cannot be sure that the scholars tell us the whole truth. This is truly a mystery that makes you think.

Scientists have now discovered that the giant pyramids emit heat from some rooms within the chambers while other sections remain cool. So, where could this heat be emanating from? The first hypothesis was that some kind of ancient technology could produce heat. Could this be, or is it merely an accident resulting from their construction?

The heat points were located in the upper half of the pyramid. Because of this, we can’t guarantee whether the heat is created from the sun reaching the upper half section of the pyramid or because there are more mysterious and undiscovered chambers.

History books will tell you that the Pyramids were exclusively used as cemeteries for pharaohs and kings. If this is true, why would they build such grand and impressive structures for no other purpose than laying their royals to rest? Some conspiracy theorists share a far more intriguing idea that the Pyramids were power plants and that the ancient Egyptians were an far advanced society who even had electricity.

Ultimately, there is definitive proof in etchings that depicted Egyptians holding torches that appear to be powered by electricity. And water flowing through the underground tunnels can create an electrical current. Scientific evidence also proves that the shafts inside the pyramid are crafted from slightly radioactive granite, ionizing the air, and creating an environment comparable to a conductive insulating cable.

While we're on the subject of shafts, the Great Pyramid was the only pyramid built with airshafts. Nevertheless, nobody can explain why. More importantly, these precise shafts align with the stars, which opens up a whole new set of mysteries. How did they succeed in creating such precise cuts without advanced tools? And what is the significance behind it?

Some assume that the star alignment shafts has to do with sending the deceased to the afterlife. Some more radical conspiracy theorists suppose that these alignments might have been used to signal to aliens. But, not all shafts reach the external area as some were shut off for no apparent reason.

Believe it or not, the doors entering the pyramid weighed 20 tons, and, even more surprisingly, you could open them with a single push. No human can push a heavy 20-ton door open just like that unless we're talking about the pyramid doors. These doors were constructed with such a precise balance that you could easily push them if you wanted to enter.

These doors were first discovered when the Great Pyramid was being explored in the 1800s, and it took very little effort to push the doors open from the inside. So, how did this ancient civilization manage to create such an impressive entryway with no technology whatsoever?

One of the more intriguing findings was a new mysterious chamber called the “big void.” After all, it definitely is a void since the chamber is not connected to any passages inside the pyramid. So what was it for, and why did the Egyptians create a totally disconnected chamber? Scientists believe this chamber was built to relieve some of the weight and prevent the Grand Gallery from collapsing in.

Now, tourists can walk through the Grand Gallery if they hunch down through a long tunnel. The Grand Gallery is attached to the Queen’s chamber, which can also be visited. Overall, the new chamber is about equal in size to the Grand Gallery, and it sits directly above it.

It would seem that the ancient Egyptians enjoyed aligning their constructions. It’s not only their shafts that were aligned with the stars. All three Pyramids of Giza are connected to outer space. The Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure’s pyramids are aligned exactly with the famous Orion’s Belt stars. The pyramids are aligned with three stars Alnitak, Alnilam, and Mintaka.

Like many ancient civilizations, the Egyptians studied the skies, taking measurements from the stars to accurately align their pyramids. But what is puzzling is that Orion’s Belt wasn’t discovered until 2000 years after the pyramids were built.

There are those that believe the pyramids were built by aliens, while others hold the more sober approach that the pyramids were used as power plants. If these don't sound plausible, there is yet another speculation, one about the pyramids devoted to supporting their king's ascension to Sun Ra, the God of the Sun.

This kind of guidance to the afterlife could clarify why they wanted to align the pyramids with constellations and stars. And that could also be why they buried their kings with objects they could use in the afterlife.

It is possible that the ancient Egyptians might have been more advanced than our civilization since their chambers point north with much better precision than the Royal Observatory in Greenwich. We’re not speaking about the general North but the specific direction towards the magnetic North.

Founded in 1675, the Royal Observatory in Greenwich sets the actual clock to GTC (Greenwich Mean Time or Prime Meridian Time.) If it took so many centuries to build the Royal Observatory, we can't help but wonder what kind of technologies and strategies the Egyptians were working with back in their time?

We have some evidence that proves the ancient Egyptians knew mathematical constants. If we subtract the Great Pyramid length from its height, the result we get is 314.16 – 100 times Pi. If we then add the two sides together in meters, it equals 100 times Phi, also known as the Golden Number used in architecture, art, and theology.

What makes this so bizarre is that Pi as an official mathematical constant was not identified until 1793. Ancient Egyptians used cubits to take measurements, where one cubit equaled 0.536 meters. So, the circumference of a circle that has the diameter of a single cubit equals Pi. This means that Egyptians were capable of making complex calculations way before we originally thought.

Today, it seems like the pyramids stand isolated in a desert area with nothing surrounding them, but it wasn't that way back in their heyday, as many structures were encompassing the grand pyramids. However, the pyramids were still essential town structures, despite being surrounded by Necropolis, the allegedly smaller tombs. It’s kind of eerie when we think about it since Necropolis translates to the City of the Dead.

Other structures and buildings in the area included religious buildings and temples for honoring the king. The staff who worked in temples and looked after the kings also lived close by. The majestic Great Sphinx of Giza is also situated near the pyramids.

Just like the pyramids, the Sphinx carries a similar mystery. No one claims to know who constructed it and why exactly it was built. Two theories examine who was behind building the Sphinx. Some maintain that Khafre was the one who created the Sphinx and the second largest pyramid. If this was correct, it would suggest that the Sphinx was built around 2500 BCE.

But some archaeologists and scholars hold that the Sphinx is older than Kharfe and that it was commissioned by his father Khufu; he was the one who ordered the building of the Great Pyramid.

As if all these discoveries weren't enough, archaeologists and scientists have also uncovered 17 more pyramids. They used satellite technology to detect hidden structures underneath Earth's surface, and they found 17 pyramids around Giza. But that's not all; they also revealed over one thousand burial sites hidden underneath the sand in the area thanks to their infra-red technology.

Crews on the ground are already studying and examining two of these newly discovered pyramids. Even though new pyramids are still being found, the oldest one remains the Pyramid of Djoser.

The oldest of all known pyramids, the Pyramid of Djoser, is believed to be built during the 27th century BC. Unlike the Great Pyramid that is surrounded by burial sites and graves, the Pyramid of Djoser is enclosed by a courtyard and numerous ritual embellishments. The structure has sustained a lot of damage, as weather conditions severely corroded it.

Unlike other pyramids, the Pyramid of Djoser also features a smaller pyramid edifice known as the mudbrick structure, which comprises multiple complexes. Inside this pyramid, we will find a burial chamber, but, surprisingly, archaeologists did not find a body inside it when the pyramid was discovered. There is some indication that the pyramid may have been used as King Djoser's tomb.

The Pyramid of Giza held the title of the world’s tallest structure for a total of 3 871 years. In other words, it took humanity approximately 4 000 years to construct a new building taller than the pyramid. The next tallest structure that came close was the Lincoln Cathedral in England, which was built in 1311. What’s even more surprising is that the ancient Egyptians built the pyramids in 20 years, but building the English Cathedral took more than 200 years to build!

If we look at the Cathedral of Lincoln now, we wouldn’t consider it to be taller than the impressive Pyramid at Giza. Nonetheless, that’s because the Cathedral’s central spire collapsed in 1549, after which it was never reconstructed. This Cathedral was the world’s tallest building for a total of 238 years, but its importance lies in the record it broke!

It is important to mention that the Great Pyramid is the only one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World. This is quite unbelievable because it was built between 2584 and 2561 BCE. There is no doubt that this ancient structure has managed to stand the test of time as inclement and oppressive weather conditions could not destroy it throughout the centuries.

The Statue of Zeus was ruined by an earthquake, just like the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. The Temple of Artemis was wrecked and ravaged by a Christian mob in 401 CE, while the Colossus of Rhodes was toppled down in 654 CE. In other words, none of these structures could compare to the pyramids in durability and strength.

It seems peculiar that pyramids were all built on the same side of the river Nile – along the west embankment. The pyramids had to face the Sun as it was believed that the Sun was the dead's home. Another reason is that the Egyptian kings dreaded that they would be robbed after death, which is why they took their gold and valuables into their tombs. They believed the pyramids could protect and guard them in the afterlife as well.

As brilliant as their plans and complicated designs had seemed, they weren’t quite sufficient to prevent grave-robbers. Even though the bodies were buried in chambers that could be reached only by those who knew their way around the secret passages, grave-robbers still managed to locate their way to the lavish tombs.

Ancient Egyptians devoutly clung to their beliefs in the afterlife. That is why Egyptians were buried with different objects and possessions supposed to help them in the afterlife. These objects included everything from gold to expensive jewelry to random everyday items, even food!

Another thing Egyptians attempted to bring along to their “afterlife” were little statues. Historians and archaeologists eventually discovered that it was believed that these miniature statues come to life in the next world to help and care for the pharaoh. When one tomb was found, archaeologists recovered over 400 statues inside.

Someone brave enough aspired to demolish the pyramids and ruin the Ancient Egyptian legacy in the 12th century. Al-Aziz, a Kurdish ruler, wanted to destroy the pyramids, so he went along tried to execute his plan but he soon found that destroying the pyramids would be as expensive as it took to build them, and he gave up soon after.

Al-Aziz did manage to leave his mark on the Menkaure’s Pyramid. If you visit the pyramid today, you will see a massive slash on one side. That’s all that Al-Aziz managed to achieve during his intention to demolish one of the most stunning structures in the world. This score stands to establish just how unyielding and sturdy these structures genuinely are.

According to scientific estimations, the pyramids could have been seen from the moon, thanks to their reflective surfaces. Even the people residing in the hills and mountains in neighboring Israel could view the majestic pyramids.

The ancient Egyptians termed the Great Pyramid “Ikhet,” which translates to “glorious light.” Nevertheless, we will never honestly know how bright the structure was.

Even though it was evident that some parts of the pyramids produce mysterious heat, the building itself remains comparatively cold on the inside. The official temperature readings show that the most common temperature inside the pyramid is around 68 degrees Fahrenheit. So not only did the ancient Egyptians create such an architectural masterpiece, they incorporated a cooling system using nothing but “archaic” tools.

The pyramid’s ventilation system is made of airshafts that were strategically placed. Once these shafts are opened, they immediately let cool air inside the chamber. As soon as you open them, the temperature in the chamber drops quickly. However, what is so mind-blowing is that no matter the temperature outside, the temperature inside the pyramids always remains 68 degrees. No one knows how this is possible without any machinery and technologies maintaining the temperature.

We used to think that the pyramids, just like everything else, were built by slaves. However, recent research proves that the pyramids were constructed instead of paid workers who spent hours upon hours designing and planning these elaborate structures. It took over 20,000 people to build the pyramids, and these paid workers were highly valued for creating this work of art.

The evidence about these paid workers only came out in 2010. Before that, we all accepted that it was slaves who labored to build the pyramids at Giza. Archaeologists unearthed tombs of the paid workers during an assignment, and the fact that their bodies had been preserved in the sand and buried along with food explains that these people were not poor slaves.

We do not doubt that the pyramids are the most stable structures in the world. They were built of stone, but the ancient people needed something to keep the stones together. Unfortunately, even contemporary experts still don’t know what was used to glue the rocks together. It is evident that some kind of adhesive had to be put in place, but they still haven’t figured it out.

For all we know, the “adhesive” that ancient Egyptians used is incredibly strong. This strong paste between the massive stones is so strong that it has made the pyramids indestructible and able to resist earthquakes, unfavorable weather conditions, and intentional attacks.

As pyramid are geometrical shapes, they have four sides and a pointed tip, but not all pyramids had this point towards the sky. In fact, the earliest Egyptian pyramids originally had flat covers. These constructions did not even resemble the typical pyramids with the triangular sides. They were, however, used as tombs, just like the rest of the pyramids.

One of the oldest of Egypt's pyramids with a flat top is the Pyramid of Djoser, which is also the oldest pyramid in Egypt. All pyramids contained burial chambers, whether they had pointy tops or were flat. Although, the flat-top pyramids, known as Mastabas, had one particular purpose.

Mastabas were small tombs with flat tops that contained their hidden chambers underground. However, it was not pharaohs who were buried in these tombs, but their loyal subjects. They were not as important to have their own pyramids, but they were given a place of rest in the flat-topped Mastabas.

Pharaohs wanted to bury their loyal subjects because they believed they would help and tend to them in the next world. Another popular Egyptian belief was that the dead needed to be guided so that their soul could move on to the afterlife.

Many people are familiar with Imhotep, the famous character from the acclaimed movie, "The Mummy." And it was Imhotep who designed the first Egyptian pyramid. Imhotep was one of the most notable architects of his time, and he was also the chief minister of Djoser.

Imhotep outlined and planned the pyramid from the first blocks to the top. Because of this, King Djoser appreciated him so much that he authorized a statue to present Imhotep's name in the King's court, which was an honor like no other at the time.

We already established the purpose of the pyramids – to guide the kings and pharaohs’ souls into the afterlife. Egyptians seemed to have been obsessed with the afterlife. Therefore, they considered that life after death entailed returning to our origins.

However, unlike life on Earth, the ancient Egyptians maintained that life in the next world would be free from suffering and anguish of any kind.

We often associate hieroglyphics with the Egyptian pyramids, even though hieroglyphics were never encountered inside the pyramids. But there are chambers that are so little that only tiny robots can enter and explore them and a recent finding by one of these robots presented evidence of what seemed to be hieroglyphics.

The robot with a camera attached was able to capture footage of what looked like the first ever hieroglyphics found within a pyramid. Maybe these symbols could explain and clarify some of the mysteries attached to these ancient remains.

The pyramids' incredible design was also planned in such a way so that it won't cast any shadows at noon. In other words, the Great Pyramid was not only an immemorial tomb but also a sundial, and it is one of the most complicated sundials ever built.

Sundials were used as one of the earliest objects to tell time. These age-old clocks would cast a shadow based on the sun's position and tell the time as accurately as the contemporary clocks we have today. What is positively startling is that ancient people succeeded in building such a large pyramid and use it as a sundial.

If we were to take all the stones used to build the pyramids, we could make a wall around France's entire border. We could theoretically make a ten-foot-tall wall solely utilizing these stones. The wall would be one-foot thick, and it would probably be one of the sturdiest walls in the world.

This leaves us questioning where did the ancient Egyptians acquire so many of these massive stones? Several experts hold that these were rocks that were collected around the Nile while others came from the nearby Quarries of Aswan. These sites still exist today, even though most of them have been flooded many times over the centuries.

The purpose of the Great Pyramid at Giza persists as the biggest mystery surrounding the ancient pyramids to this day. Because we are still nowhere near the truth, this enigma might persist for years to come. There was never an actual corpse or a mummy discovered in the Great Pyramid at Giza, causing many experts to deem that this pyramid was never meant as a tomb.

The pyramid was first explored back in 820 AD by Arab travelers, who only encountered a granite box identified as the “coffer.” This could suggest that the tomb was looted, and the mummy was stolen. However, there is still a chance that the Great Pyramid was not intended to be a burial site at all.

According to the calculations by Dr. Joseph Seiss, he arrived at this thrilling conclusion in 1877, that the pyramids are located at the precise location where the world's most extended lines of longitude and latitude meet. The pyramids continue to surprise us, was this ancient nation aware of this when constructing the pyramids, or is it a genuine coincidence?

If it is a coincidence, then it is quite an exceptional one. This means that the Pyramids at Giza are so far the most carefully aligned structures in the entire world for all we know.

Egyptologists were excited when they found a new pyramid, but what they found below left them with more questions than before! The discovery was made in Dahshur, a royal necropolis located in the desert on the Nile's west bank, around 40km from Cairo.

Archaeologists also unearthed the foundation of an immense tower that belongs to the 13th Dynasty. During the last few years, archaeologists have carefully investigated and examined the remains, eventually making their way down to the burial chamber.

Bits and pieces of wood were found in this burial chamber and they have finally been secured together; it turns out this a coffin lid with a beautifully carved face. The restoration has unveiled something surprising; this isn’t a king; it is a mystery woman.

The answer may lie in another article found near her grave, a case decorated with hieroglyphs. Experts were not only shocked by this discovery of this mystery lady within the burial chamber, but they also have no inkling who she might be.

Coffins typically had similar features to the owner but idealized because they would look like for eternity. She was wearing the Hathor wig that was common throughout the Middle Kingdom and was worn only by women. What’s significant about this case is that we know it belonged to a princess because it reads ‘daughter of the king,’ with her name following.

But her name has the most damaged to it, which is very frustrating for the experts. Ancient Egyptians held firmly to the notion that the worst thing you could do to someone was to erase their name.

This specific kind of design is particular to a king; it’s not what we would expect a lower royal family member to be in. Usually, a princess would only have a shaft tomb with a chamber at its base, making this entire discovery such a cryptic puzzle.

They also found other relics from the same era, including the crown of a Princess from Dahshur, made out of gold and decorated with semiprecious stones. The newly uncovered tomb believably contained materials very similar to this, many precious metals like gold, which was probably stolen a long time ago.

The Egyptian antiquities authority has published a discovery of at least 100 ancient coffins, some with mummies still inside, and about 40 intricate statues in a huge Pharaonic necropolis south of Cairo.

Sealed sarcophagi and statues that were laid to rest more than 2,500 years ago were presented in a makeshift display at the feet of the famed Step Pyramid of Djoser at Saqqara. Archaeologists opened one coffin, with a well-preserved mummy encased and bound in cloth.

Khaled el-Anany, the tourism and antiquities minister, said in a news interview that the objects date back to the Ptolemaic dynasty that ruled Egypt for 300 years from about 320BC to about 30BC.

He clarified that they would move the artifacts to at least three museums in Cairo, including the Grand Egyptian Museum, that Egypt is building near the famed Giza Pyramids. This acquisition at the renowned site is the latest in a range of archaeological findings in Egypt.

With all these spectacular discoveries, there is still more to unearth, but urban development and sprawl threaten this cultural heritage. By no means has everything been explored and excavated around the Pyramids and its surroundings. The same is true of the great catacombs and tombs like the one in Saqqara.

For over 3,000 years, it was the main cemetery of the Egyptian capital, Memphis. If we were to look at old maps from the early 19th century, we could see that there are many sites to be excavated; archaeologists just haven’t got around to it until now.

Even with the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities' active support, the teams of archaeologists and scientists are under tremendous time pressure. It seems that many people are considering going to Egypt as well at some point because of these fascinating discoveries.

Nowadays, there are far more sight-seeing opportunities than there were just a few decades ago. And that, of course, is also always a good reason to go back to Egypt.