WHERE NEXT WITH GIZA'S CAVE UNDERWORLD?

Reviewing the Exploration of Giza's Cave Complex in the Wake of Chasing Mummies Episode "Bats"

by Andrew Collins

 



Entrance to tomb NC2, the Tomb of the Birds (pic credit: Andrew Collins)

 

For the first time, finally, the public has had the chance to see what myself, Egyptological researcher Nigel Skinner Simpson and my wife Sue found and explored back in 2008 - Giza's previously unrecorded cave complex. In an episode of the History Channel television reality show Chasing Mummies, broadcast on September 1, 2010, Dr Zahi Hawass, along with an assembled team that included a full camera crew, were seen investigating the caves for an estimated distance of 300-350 feet. Their goal was to disprove the "pyramidiots" who believed that previously unknown caverns located in Giza's north cliff reached all the way to the main pyramid field, several hundred metres away.


Vyse and Perring

It was in 1837 that the large tomb, through which the caves are accessed, was examined by British explorer Col. Richard Howard Vyse and engineer John Shae Peering. Vyse recorded that on May 3 the mummy of a "large bird" was "carefully" removed from the tomb's interior (Vyse, I, 238), while Perring's subsequent plans of the site indicate a complex structure now known to be on two levels, next to which he wrote the word "Excavated tombs and pits of bird mummies" (Vyse, 1840, I, I; Perring, 1839-42), indicating that more than simply one bird mummy was found at the site.

In January 2007 Sue Collins and I visited the tomb, which does not appear to have been mentioned in any publication since Vyse and Perring's day. I was intrigued by the site's possible use as a bird necropolis, and discovered that within the tomb walls are a number of horizontal slots that were probably used for the interment of birds, and also small animals, perhaps left as offerings to a bird-related deity (Collins, 2009).

Left, John Perring's plan of the plateau at Giza, 1840, with the Tomb of the Birds (NC2) marked at the bottom. Above, section of Perring's folio plan published 1839-42 showing his more detailed rendition of the tomb and its subterranean level.


Just a few months after our visit to the tomb British diplomat and explorer Henry Salt's memoirs were published in full for the first time, having languished unnoticed in the British Museum until the library and archives of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan were being relocated in 2002. They record how in 1817 he and Italian explorer Giovanni Caviglia travelled "several hundred yards into the rock" before coming across a "spacious chamber" that "communicated with three others of equal dimensions" (Usick and Manley, 2007, 62 - see full quotation below) Afterwards, Caviglia followed another direction journeying "300 feet further" before giving up, having found nothing of consequence.


Tomb of the Birds

Nigel Skinner Simpson was able to work out the entrance to Salt's catacombs which we quickly realised coincided with the entrance to the tomb explored by Vyse and Perring in 1837. This led to an expedition to investigate the site, which I had now begun to refer to as the Tomb of the Birds. This took place in March 2008 under the sponsorship of the A.R.E., the research wing of the Edgar Cayce Foundation. On this occasion we finally found the entrance to Salt's catacombs, which we explored in all on four occasions - twice in March and twice more in April that year. We journeyed for a distance of around 300-350 feet, enabled me to draw a detailed plan of the system which I concluded was natural in origin. Dr Hawass was informed of our discovery of the cave system in October 2008 by A.R.E. director John van Auken during a personal meeting. Hawass admitted being unaware of the caves' existence, and thanked van Auken for bringing the matter to his attention (1).

Sue Collins and I met Dr Hawass in April 2009 to discuss the matter further, and to present him with a comprehensive report on the tomb as the proposed site of Salt's catacombs (Collins and Skinner-Simpson, 2008). He was also shown photographic evidence of the cave system. Yet by then his attitude had changed and he now claimed that the tomb in question was already known and fully recorded. I begged to differ and tried to discuss the matter of the caves, but in all honesty he didn't seem to be listening, even though I sensed that he had no real knowledge of their existence.


No Cave Complex at Giza

The discovery of the caves went on to feature in my book Beneath the Pyramids, published in October 2009. Yet as early as December 2008 the story had started to leak on to the internet, something that was to reach epidemic proportions by the summer of 2009, with thousands of webpages mentioning the cave discovery in some capacity. Such an incredible response finally prompted Dr Hawass to make a public statement in a blog posted in September 2009. Under the heading "Collins' Cave Controvery" he voiced his opinion that our party had simply got confused inside a previously recorded tomb, thinking it larger than it actually was, adding that "there is no underground cave complex at this site" (2).

What the world was not told, however, is that Dr Hawass had by now ordered a full investigation of the tomb which took place through until the end of the year. The excavation team uncovered staircases in lobes on either side of the tomb's reception area. Each led down into an extensive subterranean level that stretches beneath the tomb and continues towards the south. Among the architectural features noted is a long central gallery, orientated north south, with carved pillars running down the middle. On both the east and west side of this large gallery are a series of hewn compartments. The staircases leading to this lower level, last known to have been explored by Vyse and Perring in 1837, were completely concealed by sand and debris during our own visits to the site in 2007 and 2008.

In September 2009 with the interest in the cave-tomb now at a height, Peter de Manuelian, Director of the Giza Archives Project, uploaded to the Giza Archives Blog a previously unpublished plan of the Tomb of the Birds, made in 1939 by Harvard University-Boston MFA expedition draftsman Alexander Floroff. Here it is referred to under the designation NC2 (north cliff 2, with NC1 and NC 3 being other smaller tombs in Giza's north cliff). Strangely, in this rough plan, as well as in another example subsequently discovered by Nigel Skinner-Simpson in the expedition field diary, only the upper level of the tomb is shown, without any indication of the presence of either the caves or the lower level. Reisner's team would appear to have made a partial clearance of the upper tomb, even whitewashing its walls so that it might be used as an air-raid shelter for his work force during World War II.


Do Me a Favour

How exactly the TV series Chasing Mummies came to explore the tomb NC2 in search of Giza's cave world is unclear. At the beginning of the episode, aptly entitled "Bats", Dr Hawass asks executive producer Leslie Greif to do him one final favour before he retires. He wants to prove the "pyramidiots" wrong, for they say there are caverns that stretch all the way to the Pyramids. It is an idea, I have to say, that I am responsible for. I wrote online about a radar satellite image of the plateau created by the German TerraSAR-X satellite which could mark the extent, position and orientation of the caves explored in Giza's north cliff. The caves' presence seems to be echoed by a shadow line that has no corresponding feature on the ground. More intriguing is the fact that this shadow line connects with another that extends eastwards toward the Second Pyramid - but more on this below.

The Caves Are This Way

The starting premise of the Chasing Mummies' episode "Bats" is that Dr Hawass knew already about the existence of caves at tomb NC2. Yet anyone who watches Hawass's entry into the caves or sees his reactions to the hundreds of bats that inhabit the place will realise very quickly that he had little, if any, prior knowledge of the site. This I know for sure, for what the viewer of Chasing Mummies does not see is that when Hawass arrives at the tomb, intent on disproving the pyramidiots, he starts to descend the newly uncovered stairs leading down in the lower level at the front of the tomb, and has to be told: "No, Zahi, the caves are this way." A helpful hand then directs him toward the rear of the tomb where a small breach in the stone wall leads into the caves proper.

Even after Hawass enters the cave's opening chamber, which has been clearly hewn in an attempt to give it a more rectilinear appearance, he remains adamant that any passageway entered will go nowhere. When a member of the team explores two such compartments, which do indeed lead to dead ends, Hawass's response is simply "Good", as if he has heard enough -the "pyramidiots" are indeed wrong.


The Caves Are Natural

Zahi now leads the team into the main north-south orientated cave tunnel, which heads into the bedrock at an estimated depth of 15-20 metres below the surface of the plateau. Very quickly we get the first true revelation of the exploration, for the more astute members of the team start to realise that the cave passage is natural in origin. One member asks: "Do you think this is natural? It's got to be?" Dr David Cheetham, the show's consulting archaeologist, responds by saying: "You see how this is water worn. This is the result of pluvial action. Water moving through it. Notice here." You see him rub his hand across the smooth surface of the cave wall. "This is typical of water worn limestone in a cave environment. I've seen it lots and lots of times in Central America."

Hawass, having heard this, responds: "Allan, do you think this is natural?"
"I'm thinking maybe it could be", Allan Morton, fellowship coordinator and archaeologist, responds. "Karst erosion and karst features. This could be natural."

Plan of the tomb NC2 and caves drawn by Andrew Collins following his own exploration of the complex in 2008 (pic copyright: Andrew Collins).

I Hate Bats!

As the team edge ever forward the bat attack begins, with Hawass screeching the words "I hate bats, and it stinks". By now the group has penetrated the caves for an estimated distance of 200 feet, but still the cave tunnel continues. Getting even more concerned about the bats, Hawass shouts that they will "kill us" if the team doesn't get a move on.

Footage of dozens of bats, huddled together in niches, clearly frightened by this intrusion into their natural habitat, are shown as everyone screams, laughs and shouts, with one person joking: "It's a bat tunnel!" This takes place as the team finally reach the end of the cave passage. Hawass is heard asking David Cheetham how far he thinks they have gone, to which he replies: "Probably 300 feet, 350 feet, at least."

I originally estimated that we had travelled around 100-110 metres (330-360 feet) to reach this same position, but before Beneath the Pyramids went to press I got cold feet and changed it to 300 feet, since I did not want to be seen as exaggerating our journey underground.


Through the Stone Tube

Ahead of the team now was an enigmatic stone tube at ground level that continues into the bedrock towards the south. It is just wide enough to take the bulk of a human body. During our final visits here in April 2008, we had reached this same point but had decided against venturing further. I did not want to put either myself or Sue (Nigel remained as our anchor inside the tomb) into a potentially dangerous situation many hundred of feet underground. Plus on our final visit Sue thought she had heard the sound of something moving about beyond the end of the tube, which is approximately 12-15 feet long. In retrospect, we both wish we had taken the plunge and gone through, but nothing now can change the fact that this didn't happen. However, as I relived this epic cave journey through the camera lens, I knew that there was no way that the Chasing Mummies team were not now going to go through that hole.

David Cheetham as he disappears into the stone tube
at the end of Gza's cave complex (pic credit Andrew Collins/Chasing Mummies/Rodney Hale).


David Cheetham is then seen crawling into the tube. What would he find? I have certainly speculated that there might be a cave chamber beyond this point, but would this prove to be the case?

"What do you see?" Hawass is heard to say.

"Nothing yet," comes the response from the hole, "give me a second."

The camera then pans to Hawass, a flashlight illuminating his face in dramatic fashion. "I have never made any adventure like this at Giza before," he admits.

"Really?", one of the crew responds.

"I felt that the five [relieving] chambers and the Sphinx tunnel [were adventures?] but that is amazing. I went in other directions of the tunnel but I never thought that it goes as long as 300 feet."

Wow, what an admission on Hawass's part.


It Ends There

"David's what's happening?" Hawass calls out, reminding us that David Cheetham was last seen disappearing into the tube.

"Oh crap," is the slightly worrying response. "Getting stuck."

There are tense moments before David comes out of the tube, feet first.

"Tell me. What did you see there?" Hawass asks, eager to know the answer.

David's response is deflating: "It ends there."

Not words I wanted to hear.

Okay, maybe I just had to accept that there really isn't anything beyond that tube, implying that the caves do indeed end here.

Satisfied that they had reached the end of the cave tunnels, Hawass makes his pronouncement on what he has seen here today: "Okay, I think, in my opinion now, the first part when we entered [i.e. the tomb and opening chamber]. It's manmade. The second part is natural. It's not manmade. But they used it later in the Late Period and Roman Period for the burials of animals and things like that."

Screen shots from the Chasing Mummies episode "Bats" (pic credit: Chasing Mummies/Rodney Hale).


Lost Necropolis

So there you have it. We have a dynastic tomb that cuts into a natural cave system that was then used in Late Dynastic and Roman times as an animal necropolis, which parallels very well my conclusions in Beneath the Pyramids.

After making his pronouncement, Hawass is led out the caves and back to his waiting SUV. The Chasing Mummies team then gather to debate the day. They agree that it is mission accomplished - the pyramidiots have been proved wrong. There is no cave tunnel leading to the Giza Pyramids. However, David Cheetham, at least, seems impressed by the existence of the caves, which he clearly sees as natural in origin.


A Playground for Pyramidiots

As a consequence of the airing of the Chasing Mummies episode on the caves, I think it possible that the viewing public are going to be bamboozled by what they have seen here. I don't think they will know whether to take the matter seriously or not. Any similar cave system found elsewhere in Egypt would be seen as an important discovery, particularly if associated with a rock-cut tomb of dynastic origin. However, at Giza everything is different. Here it is dismissed as a playground for pyramidiots searching for the fabled Hall of Records. This is a very sad state of affairs, and all I hope is that one day someone will realise that the discovery of a natural cave system beneath the plateau at Giza is indeed important, especially if it was accessible during the Pyramid age.

I think the way forward is to start asking what the dynastic Egyptians, the Greeks, the Romans and the Arab world might have thought about the presence of caves at Giza (Dr Hawass revealed that two Roman coins were found inside the cave's opening chamber, the Dome, showing that it must have been open at this time). I am sure the caves would have been seen as sacred and significant, meaning that we might have here an important cult centre, one unique perhaps to Egypt. Evidence of this is in the fact that the tomb, its lower level and arguably even the caves themselves, were used as a bird necropolis, implying that the site was sacred to some local deity.


Tomb of Hermes

The identity of that deity will depend on the identity of the bird species found to have been interred here. From the apparently "large" size of the specimen removed by Vyse and Perring in 1837, the most likely answer is that it was the ibis, interred at cult sites in Egypt as part of the cult of Thoth, or indeed his Graeco-Roman equivalent, Hermes, who was seen as a legendary founder of Egyptian civilization. It is my surmise that in Greek and Roman times, and arguably much later still, the Giza cave complex was seen as the entrance to a symbolic tomb of Hermes. Medieval Arab writers record that the Sabaeans of Harran came to Giza on pilgrimages in order to venerate the cave-tomb of Hermes, which was thought to be located either in or beneath the Second Pyramid. In addition to this, we know from the records of various early travellers to Egypt that in the proximity of the Giza Pyramids were various place-names that included variations of the name Hermes.

Assuming a connection between the caves and the Graeco-Roman cult of Hermes makes sense, although we will only know whether this is correct or not after we learn, finally, the type of bird that was interred here. Hopefully, the excavation team's recent clearance of the tomb's lower level might provide the evidence we need.

I believe it is right to speculate on how the caves might have been perceived by those who first encountered them, either when the rock-cut tomb was created in dynastic times, or earlier if an entrance to the caves was accessible prior to this time. Water action across an extremely long period would seem to have been behind the creation of the caves, hinting that they might have been accessible even before the age of the pharaohs. If so, then some evidence of pre-dynastic activity might well be present among the thick loamy deposits making up the floor of the caves. Even if this does not prove to be the case, then at least we can hope for tantalising glimpses of activity in the caves from dynastic times right down to the time of Salt and Caviglia and Vyse and Perring in the nineteenth century.

Hermes, legendary founder of Egyptian civilization, whose tomb was thought to exist at Giza.


Looking for Caves in the X-band

As to whether the caves do continue after the 300-350 feet explored so far is going to remain a matter of debate for some time to come. As previously mentioned, a radar satellite image of the Giza plateau seems to show unidentified ground features on the west side of the plateau. The image in question was created on July 2, 2007 by the TerraSAR-X satellite, operated by a public-private partnership between the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Infoterra/Astrium GmbH of Friedrichshafen. To achieve these images the satellite's operating system utilises an X-band signal, which records ground features in high resolution.

The TerraSAR-X image shows a shadow line with a ground width of no more than 5-10 metres that stretches from the north cliff, coincident to a position of tomb NC2, southwards for a distance of around 50-75 metres. The shadow corresponds to the position and orientation of the caves explored so far, although not necessarily their entire length.
Of course, this could all be simply coincidence, and unfortunately we do not have available any other high resolution radar satellite images to confirm whether the shadow line appears here too. This is unfortunate, however, the evidence from the Terra SAR-X image should not be ignored.


Ground Penetration

Generally, X-Band radar signals are not considered helpful in recording sub-surface features due to the short wave frequencies employed, with L-band signals being the preferred frequency range employed for this purpose. Despite this, the partnership behind the TerraSAR-X satellite make it clear that their X-band images can be used to determine sub-surface features. Yet due to the moisture content of sand or soil, the ground penetration of the X-band signal is usually no more than a few millimetres or centimetres deep, but under extreme dry and sandy conditions, like that in desert environments, the signal can penetrate to depths of up to several metres (3). However, the TerraSAR-X partnership admit that they do not possess any precise data on this matter, leaving it possible that the shadow line corresponding to the location of the caves might indeed reflect their presence, even though the system is up to 15-20 metres beneath the surface.

If this is difficult to believe, then fear not as there is another possible explanation. Caves created by water action often follow the course of localized sub-surface faulting. This could mean that what the TerraSAR-X radar image has caught is surface or close surface fractures or subsidences indicating the presence of faulting, which could correspond to the position of the caves.

If this might be accepted, then it brings in other more interesting data, for the TerraSAR-X image shows that towards the southern end of the aforementioned shadow line, two more shadow lines can be made out as thick curving lines, perhaps 10-15 metres in thickness. They begin close together, but then break away from each other to curve across to the Second Pyramid. The upper curve reaches the north side of the pyramid, towards its western end, while the lower curve reaches the west side of the pyramid, close to its northwest corner. This last position is highly significant since it corresponds almost perfectly with the position and orientation of faulting detected in 1977 by a joint team from the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) and the Ain Shams University, Cairo. Under the leadership of geophysicist Lambert T. Dolphin ground penetration radar (GPR) equipment was used to search for subterranean structures at various sites on the plateau.

Left, section of the the TerraSAR-X radar satellite image of July 2, 2007, showing the curved shadow lines starting at the edge of the plateau's north cliff and heading across to the Second Pyramid. Middle and right we see the transition from the TerraSAR-X image into the Google Earth satellite image made the same day. The position of the tomb NC2 is marked with a downward arrow. Note the north-south shadow line in the proximity of the tomb and caves in the left-hand picture (Pic copyright: DLR and DLR/Rodney Hale).


The team noted the presence of heavy faulting on the northwest corner of the Second Pyramid, on its west side, and also detected the presence of previously unknown chambers or cavities deep beneath the Second Pyramid. Two large cavities, or chambers, 21 metres and 33 metres below Belzoni's chamber were detected, along with another anomaly 4 metres below the floor of the horizontal passage leading to Belzoni's chamber. Anomalies were also recorded up to 6m deep around the perimeter at the north-west end of the west face, the same general vicinity that the heavy faulting was found (Dolphin, 1977).

When the diagram of the heavy faulting detected by Dolphin in the northwest corner of the Second Pyramid is overlaid upon the same part of the TerraSAR-X image we can see that the termination of the lower of the curved shadow lines corresponds perfectly with the location and orientation of the faulting. This is yet another good indication that the shadow lines on the TerraSAR-X radar image record geological anomalies, most obviously the presence of sub-surface faulting. Another firm indication that the curved lines are geological in nature is that one of them appears to begin in the proximity of a cutting through the escarpment marked the edge of the plateau's north cliff. This is located a short distance west of tomb NC2.

The final piece of evidence that the curved shadow lines could be geological in nature is the fact that they are aligned perfectly with the northwest-southeast orientation of the Mokattam formation, the limestone bedrock on which the pyramid field sits. This specific orientation of the bedrock has been noted in connection with exposed fissures both in the area of the Sphinx and Sphinx enclosure, and within the so-called Osiris Shaft beneath the causeway serving the Second Pyramid. Such findings counter any suggestion that the shadow lines could be previously unknown causeways serving the Second Pyramid, perhaps during the time of its construction. This said, I am of course open to further suggestions in this respect.

Above, the faulting (in red) discovered at the northwest corner of the west side of the Second Pyramid by the SRI/Ain Shams team in 1977 supperimposed on the TerraSAR-X radar satellite image (Pic credit DLR/Rodney Hale). It shows the clear correlation between the position of the lower curved shadow line reached the pyramid and the location and orientation of the faulting. Right, diagram of the faulting at the northwest corner of the Second Pyramid as detected by GPR equipment in 1977 (pic credit: Dolphin/SRI/Ain Shams).

Although it might thus be suggested that the shadow line marks a well trodden path, this is quickly dispelled in the knowledge that the curve continues across to the Second Pyramid and does not match up with any path seen on the corresponding Google Earth map, which by chance was composed from satellite images taken the same day that the TerrSAR-X satellite passed over the plateau - July 2, 2007.

Should all this speculation prove meaningful, then it indicates that the caves beyond tomb NC2, formed most probably by pluvial action, could extend in accordance with the curved shadow lines of the TerraSAR-X image and reach the vicinity of the Second Pyramid, making sense of the findings of the SRI/Ain Shams University survey of 1977.


Reinterpreting Salt's Memoirs

Yet whether access to a deeper part of the cave system will ever be found remains to be seen. If no such access is achieved, what are we to make of Salt's account of his exploration of catacombs for a distance of "several hundred yards into the rock" before coming across a "spacious chamber" that "communicated with three others of equal dimensions"? Nigel Skinner-Simpson has proposed that the journey of "several hundred yards" might refer, not to the distance travelled "into the rock", but to the distance that Salt and Caviglia travelled across the plateau to reach the tomb NC2 (Skinner-Simpson, 2009).

 

Above, Henry Salt (1780-1827), British diplomat and explorer. Right section of Salt's plan showing to the right of the words the curve of Giza's north cliff (Copyright credit: The British Museum).


Skinner-Simpson writes that when taken in context, "several hundred yards into the rock" could mean that Salt and Caviglia visited a number of locations, moving ever further away from the Pyramids. They eventually reached NC2 where Salt's statement about entering "by a forced passage through a thin wall into a spacious chamber, which presented nothing to our view, but bare and mouldering walls" might well be an allusion to the two men entering through the small breach in the stone wall that leads from the tomb into the opening chamber of the caves, the so-called Dome.

The additional mention of Caviglia afterwards advancing "in another direction, three hundred feet further", Skinner-Simpson offers, could infer that Caviglia alone explored the caves proper, which we now know reach into the bedrock for 300-350 feet, close enough to the estimated "300 feet" of Caviglia's journey as recorded by Salt. At the time Skinner-Simpson was writing his paper, news had yet to emerge of the exposure and excavation of the lower level by the SCA team. Although not able to reconcile Perring's plan with what he could see on the ground, he suggests that the "spacious chamber" that "communicated with three others of equal dimensions" was connected in some way with the four adjoining chambers shown on Perring's plan.

Nigel might be correct, but there is an alternative explanation. This is simply to accept the seemingly straight forward language Salt uses, and consider that he did indeed journey "several hundred yards into the rock". Let's re-read Salt's account as contained in his memoirs:

Respecting the Catacombs marked [Q.Q. - general ground plan] to the west of the Pyramids, I have little to say. We entered into one, and followed up our researches through rude and craggy vaults, several hundred yards into the rock, creeping at times on our hands and knees, among the bones, and carcasses of camels and other animals carried there by the hyenas, which frequent these caves. At last we entered by a forced passage through a thin wall into a spacious chamber, which presented nothing to our view, but bare and mouldering walls. This chamber communicated with three others of equal dimensions, whence issued many labyrinthick passages, which had too intricate and uninteresting an appearance to induce us to advance. Captain Caviglia informed me that he afterwards advanced in another direction, three hundred feet farther but found nothing to tempt him to continue his researches.

The Portals to these Catacombs, are ornamented externally, and one of them, may be seen, from the path, before you mount up the hill on which the pyramids stand.(Usick and Manley, 2007, 62)

Perhaps there is some confusion in his words, but if we do take them literally then we should accept the possibility that he did indeed enter caves for a distance of several hundred yards. If this was the case, then as it stands we simply do not know how Salt and Caviglia gained access into any extended area of the cave system. All I can impress on those who follow up this research in the future is that they carefully examine every part of the tomb's lower level and the caves proper in order to see whether any previously unnoticed fissures or tubes lead into deeper parts of the cave complex. On top of this, the geological nature of the caves suggest that there should be other entrances into this system, which most likely permeates much of plateau's limestone bedrock. Since a metal gate has now been cemented into place across the entrance to the Tomb of the Birds, in order to safeguard its untouched archaeology and thriving eco-system for future generations, we should never tire of looking for these alternative entrances. Yet for the moment, and until any fresh information can throw new light on the mystery of Giza's cave underworld, I can only but see the matter as closed.

Andrew Collins, September 11, 2010.


Acknowledgments

Many thanks to Rodney Hale, for all his help and technical support in the creation of this article. I wish to thank Nigel Hetherington, Greg Little, Nigel Skinner-Simpson, Rodney Hale, Matt Kyd and Sue Collins, for reading the article and offering their editorial comments. I also thank everyone who has helped in spreading the word regarding our work at Giza, especially all our friends and supporters on Facebook.


Notes and References

1. Van Auken, John, "New Find in Egypt! "Edgar Cayce Team Finds Ancient Passageways - Underground Caves Beneath the Pyramids", Venture Inward News, at http://www.edgarcayce.org/are/news.aspx?id=2052
2. Hawass, Zahi, "Collins' cave controversy", the website of Zahi Hawass, at http://www.drhawass.com/blog/collins-cave-controversy.
3. Email from Michael Eineder of DLR to the author dated June 1, 2010



Bibliography

Collins, Andrew, Beneath the Pyramids, 4th Dimension Press, Virginia Beach, VA, 2009
Collins, Andrew, and Nigel Skinner-Simpson, "The Giza Catacombs - A Possible Entrance Identified", unpublished, 2008.
Dolphin, Lambert T., A. H. Moussa et al, "Applications of Modern Sensing Techniques to Egyptology", SRI Institute, Menlo Park, CA, September 1977
Perring, John Shae, The Pyramids of Gizeh, from Actual Survey and Admeasurement. Illustrated by notes and references to the several plans, with sketches taken on the spot, by E. J. Andrews, 3 parts in one vol., James Fraser, London, 1839-42.
Skinner-Simpson, Nigel, "An Alternative Interpretation of Salt's Memoir", unpublished, 2009.
Usick, Patricia, and Deborah Manley, The Sphinx Revealed-A Forgotten Record of Pioneering Excavations, British Museum Press, London, 2007.
Vyse, R.W.H, Operations Carried On At The Pyramids Of Gizeh, London, 1840-2


For those who wish to see the Chasing Mummies episode "Bats", featuring the Giza cave complex, use the link below. A HD file can be accessed free by using the slow download button at the bottom right of the webpage. Press it and you will see a 30 second countdown. The button will then return. Press it again, and the download will begin.

http://www.fileserve.com/file/dm8X4ve/chasing.mummies.s01e08.hdtv.xvid-fqm.a


See the recent press release on Andrew Collins's response to the Chasing Mummies episode "Bats"

http://www.prlog.org/10905581-pyramids-cave-world-discovered-at-giza.html

 


Buy BENEATH THE PYRAMIDS from Amazon by clicking here.

Buy direct from the US publisher, 4th Dimension Press, by clicking here.

Buy BENEATH THE PYRAMIDS direct from the author by clicking here

Return to the News Page