–Keith

The loose granite block didn’t disapeared by chance…It was missing in the chamber after the restoration work made by the SCA and Dr Hawass in the late 90′s.

My little idea about its fate: as it was very hard to move out this block from the KC, this block must have been sunk in the hole dug by ancient robbers next to the sarcphagus…It must still be inside, but below the granite floor.

Just my feeling…but, knowing a little the place, I’m quite confident that this block must have ended like that.
Don’t never think that what was imposed to foreign missions was also enforceable to the former “Boss” of the SCA…because he was the “rule”…

Best

Jean-Pierre

The theory that the lower chambers were built in case Khufu passed away before completion, including the “intercom” shafts is very interesting. I wonder if the dead end shaft extending from the subterrainean chamber is somehow the equivalent of the shafts leading from the QC? If such a shaft, whatever it’s purpose, was necessary in the final chamber, that dead end passage from the subterrainean chamber might have been discontinued when it became clear the QC would be available in time.

This is commendable, of course:

“…the Supreme Council of Antiquities was determined that whoever they selected for the next mission would leave no footprints at all”

However, wasn’t under their watch and around the same time when the loose granite block just disappeared from the KC?
Has it ever been located? (Or its rubble, since I understand it couldn’t have been taken off whole)

Rico

Ph.

You both know my admiration for JPH work. Although, the explanations about the QC and the shatfs still does not totally convince me.

My comment here is a question, or a remark.

1 – Let’s agree for a while that the QC shafts were an intercom system, which were needed to coordonate the builting of the KC.

2 – Let’s agree that the QC is a temporary burial room, in case of.

3 – Let’s suppose that… the king die, for example some months after that the QC is build : so he is buried, temporary, in the “Queen” chamber.

First, let’s imagine how “calm” will be the king rest, sourrounded for some years by the noise and shouts of some hundred workers, builting the Great Gallery then the KC some meters near the burial room. But may be that through so much materials of te walls, sound does not reach the KC.

But, it’s unavoilable, he will have to suffer the yelling of orders of workers through the intercom, even amplified by the room itself. Is it acceptable in the Egyptian religion, I really have no idea about that.

I wonder if, in these conditions, this King would not have prefered to be quiet, down below, in the silent underground burial room – but in that case, he wouldn’t have asked for this second temporary burial room.

I agree, what “I wonder” is not an argument neither a proof of anything, but things (the temporary grave theory about the QC) would be easier for me to accept without the .

Philippe.

Thank you so very much for reading

Project Khufu is very much an example of how technology is being used in fields for which it was not originally intended, and with wonderful results. We have already seen where tools from the medical field are being used in Egyptology, such as how an endoscope can be used not just to explore mummies, but to look into hidden spaces during excavations. This is the way archaeology has always been, just look at how many archaeological field tools can be found in a gardener’s shed!

Jean-Pierre Houdin brought an architect’s eye to the problem of how the Great Pyramid was built. This too is not unique, architects and engineers have pondered the Great Pyramid for millennia. What is different this time is having the support of a benefactor like Dassault Systèmes, who not only has the capital needed to fund the project, but the best research and analysis tools in human history for tackling the project. The construction of the Great Pyramid is often referred to as a “Manhattan Project” type of undertaking—unlimited access to the best technology, greatest minds, and all the required resources and capital. The results, 4,500 years later, are still there to be visited.

Understanding how Khufu-s Pyramid was built requires a Manhattan Project, and that is largely what Jean-Pierre has done. He has assembled a worldwide team of professionals and specialists to test and refine his theoretical work, as well as prepare for field work. He has been provided with the technological tools he has needed, as well as the experts required to use them. For a Manhattan Project to emerge, the individual egos have to be kept in check while allowing the individual geniuses to become prominent. Project Khufu accomplished this by not getting snagged up in unnecessary political/individual conflicts and finding the people who could do the work best and who wanted to do it the most, and then turning them loose.

You also nailed an important development in how this methodology is broadening the net with its use of 3D technology. 3D and virtual reality technology can allow a person to communicate in minutes what used to take hours to explain, and allows everyday people to visually interpret some otherwise difficult concepts to visualize. You can also do a minimally-verbal presentation that allows you to communicate your ideas to people who may not even understand your language.

The technology and the people who use it are a very exciting part of the story of Egyptology today. In a field that has been traditionally dominated by larger-than-life personalities who find golden treasures, sometimes by blowing things up, it has been difficult for the diligent analyst and model builder to capture the attention of pop-culture. Thanks to TV shows like CSI, the general audience wants to know more about the team behind the technologies and single-solution heroes. And make no mistake, if Egyptology is going to continue to grow, that connection to pop-culture has to be made. Whether we like it or not, it has a lot of control over the purse strings.

The key, and an area where I think Project Khufu succeeds, is to connect by making the science both entertaining and understandable. In the past, where documentaries thought the audience might gloss over during technical details, the technical details were either left out or misrepresented in a way that made them seem more exciting. But people are even more entertained by figuring things out and being able to say “aha!” for themselves. Where Project Khufu mastered this was by making the difficult concepts easy to understand and critically analyze, so you can then move on to what is next with genuine understanding, rather than an uneasy feeling that something was explained, you just must not have understood properly.

Having the technology to do accurate visual representations helps reduce this potential for miscommunication.

Thanks again, Susan!

–K