SUBTERRANEAN CHAMBER. On this day in 1991, I bribed a guard at the Great Pyramid of Giza to gain access to the off-limits Descending Passage, and thereby visited the Subterranean Chamber. (I dont know whether bribes are necessary today, nearly a quarter-century later. Have any of my Facebook friends visited the Subterranean Chamber in recent years?) The Descending Passage is a narrow corridor that was anciently cut into the solid bedrock beneath the Great Pyramid, sloping downward at an angle of 36 degrees for nearly 300 feet, and terminating at the Subterranean Chamber (click on the diagram). The Descending Passage was a mere 3 feet 11 inches high, necessitating an exhausting duckwalk (walking with the body in a squatting posture) for the entire length. I was fatigued beyond measure after duckwalking down--and later back to the surface. (Ive heard that the floor of the Descending Passage has been chiseled out deeply in recent years so that it is now possible to walk erect down the length of the passageway.) The Descending Passage ends at the Subterranean Chamber--a cave-like room (shown) measuring 46 feet by 27 feet, with a height of about 11 feet. It was never finished. The purpose of the chamber is unclear. Some think it was an abandoned tomb chamber, or possibly a decoy tomb chamber. It may also have been the symbolic cavern of the god Sokar (Seker), a death god closely linked with (and sometimes equated with) Osiris. The chamber lies nearly 600 feet directly below the apex of the pyramid. I would be interested to hear whether access is still forbidden to the general public. If so, take note that the guard accepted my modest bribe to open the locked grill sealing the Descending Passage after only a minute or two of haggling. :D
Posted on: Mon, 28 Apr 2014 11:08:33 +0000
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