Seminars

Unveiling Khufu’s pyramid secrets using muon tomography

by Dr. Marion Lehuraux (University of Warwick)

Europe/London
R61 CR3 (RAL)

R61 CR3 (RAL)

Description

The ScanPyramids project aims at scanning the Old Kingdom Egyptian Pyramids to detect the presence of unknown internal voids and structures using non-invasive and non-destructive techniques. In this context, muon tomography led to two major discoveries: the Big Void in 2017, and the North Face Corridor (NFC) that was first detected in 2016 and precisely characterized in 2022. On March 2nd 2023, a news conference was held at the foot of Khufu’s pyramid to reveal live camera footage of the inside of the latter, thus reviving the debate about the pyramid’s construction. This seminar reviews the detector developments that lead to such achievement.