NILE Magazine

Because You Love Ancient Egypt
  • Home
  • DIGITAL EDITION
  • Subscribe
  • Past Issues
  • Free Samples
  • About NILE
  • Home
  • DIGITAL EDITION
  • Subscribe
  • Past Issues
  • Free Samples
  • About NILE

2015 March

Khafre Graffiti 1B.png

Khafre's Burial Chamber REVEALED

Jeff Burzacott March 3, 2015

In 1818 no-one knew what lay inside the second great pyramid at Giza; that of the pharaoh Khafre.  The entrance on the northern face lay under sand and rubble.

Then along came Giovanni Belzoni, an Italian adventurer who had turned to archaeology for a living. He decided that he was right man for the job and that failure was not an option:

“I was confident that a failure in such an attempt would have drawn on the laughter of all the world for my presumption in such a task.” – Giovanni Belzoni.

Belzoni needn’t have worried.  He found the entrance that had eluded other explorers, and two weeks later, March 2, 1818, was able to make his way into the pyramid’s burial chamber. Unfortunately others had been there too – and on more than one occasion.  Long before, robbers had burrowed their own entrance through the pyramid and emptied it of its contents.

At the west end of the burial chamber Belzoni discovered an empty sarcophagus and Arabic writing which said that the pyramid had been opened in the time of King Ali Muhammad, approximately 1200 A.D.

As was popular with early explorers, Belzoni prominently recorded his name in the Burial Chamber, where they can still be seen today: “Scoperta da (Discovered by) G. Belzoni. 2. Mar. 1818.”

Photo: Jeffrey Ross Burzacott

Enjoy More Nile Time. Click Here To Subscribe.
 
  • 2015 March
  • Older
  • Newer
Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.NILE Magazine June-July 2017 is out now. Inside:- The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse.- Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered.- World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery.- Art and Archaeol…

Satisfy your passion for ancient Egypt.
NILE Magazine June-July 2017 is out now. Inside:
- The Tomb-1000 years of robbery and reuse.
- Egypt's first ever funerary garden discovered.
- World Museum's new ancient Egypt gallery.
- Art and Archaeology meet: the two worlds of Susan Osgood.
- The Royal Tombs of Ancient Egypt.
- Aswan's powerful governors.
- On This Day in Egyptology history.
- Plus much more.

Click on the cover to subscribe.

Featured
Mar 25, 2017
Dark, isn't it? Happy Earth Hour!
Mar 25, 2017

I love that we know the Great Sphinx so well, we can pick it from just the silhouette.

Read More →
Mar 25, 2017
Mar 24, 2017
Intact Middle Kingdom tomb discovered in Aswan
Mar 24, 2017

Shemai was the younger brother of Sarenput II, the powerful governor of Elephantine.

Read More →
Mar 24, 2017
Mar 4, 2017
The Dream Stela restored
Mar 4, 2017

The Ministry of Antiquities is working to preserve Thutmose IV's fanciful story.

Read More →
Mar 4, 2017
  • Contact NILE
  • Index
  • Write for Nile
  • Join The Team
  • FAQs
  • Societies & Clubs

All rights reserved © Nile Magazine 2024

NILE Magazine

Because You Love Ancient Egypt