4,000 Years of Intrigue: Two Hidden Entrances Discovered in the Giza Pyramid

The idea that the pyramids revealed all their secrets does not hold up for long to new technologies. Beneath the masses of stone and ancient stories, certain clues continue to challenge archaeologists. The most discreet of the great constructions of Giza has just shaken some certainties. The pyramid of Mykerinos, long considered the least enigmatic on the plateau, today reveals cavities invisible to the naked eye, as if the monument itself had not yet revealed the entirety of its plan.

Under the stones, questions more than 4,000 years old

In the monumental shadow of Cheops and Khafre, the pyramid of Mykerinos is intriguing with its apparent sobriety. More modest in size but not in mysteries, it remains the least explored of the three great pyramids of Giza. Built during the 4th dynasty, it would have sheltered the pharaoh Mykerinos around 2,490 BCE. Unlike its neighbors, its polished granite facing remains partially visible at the base of its east facade, with blocks carefully adjusted to approximately four meters in height. This polished area has puzzled archaeologists for decades, because it is strangely reminiscent of the layout of the only known entrance, located on the north face of the monument.

In 2019, independent Egyptologist Stijn van den Hoven formulated a bold hypothesis. These well-aligned blocks could hide a second, previously unexplored entrance. For a long time, this intuition remained theoretical. But recent research by the international ScanPyramids project, in collaboration with Cairo University and the Technical University of Munich, has dramatically revived the question.

What new analyzes of the Mykerinos pyramid reveal

To probe the eastern facade without damaging it, the researchers combined three complementary and non-invasive approaches. They used electrical tomography, geological radar as well as ultrasound imaging. Together, these methods allow us to observe matter in depth and reveal its internal contrasts. They identify areas of variable density and spot any anomalies. Thanks to this technical synergy, two air-filled cavities were identified behind the granite blocks.

The first, located 1.4 meters below the surface, measures approximately 1.5 meters wide and 1 meter high. The second, smaller, is 1.13 meters deep, with dimensions of around 0.9 by 0.7 meters. The data was crossed using an Image Fusion process, a digital superposition technique which reinforces the reliability of the results by comparing the signals from the three tools. According to Professor Christian Grosse, specialist in non-destructive testing at the TUM, this approach makes it possible to obtain a reading of unprecedented precision on the interior of the pyramid without altering its structure.

These results, published in 2025 in the journal NDT & E International, mark a major advance in the study of the monument. They confirm that the polished area to the east is not only decorative, but may well have been designed to house an internal structure, today invisible to the naked eye.

A new access to the Egyptian past?

The presence of these two cavities therefore changes the situation. If their exact nature remains to be confirmed, their configuration strongly suggests the existence of a passage, or at least of a deliberately designed space. This hypothesis finds particular resonance after the discovery in 2023 of a hidden corridor in the pyramid of Khufu, brought to light by the same team. It now becomes plausible that the builders of the time planned several access points to the pyramids, including on previously ignored faces.

The study, relayed by LiveScience, also evokes a poorly documented architectural phenomenon. That of the use of blocks with very high resistivity in certain strategic areas. The famous trapezoidal block which covers one of the anomalies has very different physical properties from the rest of the facade. Such an arrangement could have been designed to conceal the entrance while protecting it. At this stage, researchers remain cautious. The real extension of these cavities is not yet determined, and complementary techniques such as muography or thermography may be necessary.

The international collaboration around this project, involving Dassault Systèmes, the Heritage Institute, the University of Portland and the Egyptian Antiquities Authority, gives hope for a new wave of revelations. Because even if the blocks have not moved for millennia, technologies have never been so precise. In this silent face-to-face between the stone and the wave, the pyramid of Mykerinos seems on the verge of finally revealing part of its secret plan.