If you tuned into last week’s blog posts, you’ll know that we spent some time hanging with the mummies of ancient Egypt and checking out their toes! Today, more on the mysteries science has uncovered in Egypt…

Archaeologists (scientists that study objects and buildings made by ancient humans) have been studying ancient Egyptians (they lived thousands of years ago) and the amazing pyramids they built for hundreds of years. One pyramid that has always fascinated scientists is the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is both the oldest pyramid in Egypt and the largest. It is over 4500 years old and is about 140 meters high! That is almost as high as the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. For thousands of years the great pyramid was the tallest building on the planet. It took about 20 years for the Egyptians (about 100 000 workers) to build it, with no machinery at all. It is pretty amazing that the pyramid is still standing after all this time!

For years, scientists thought that there were three main rooms, or chambers, in the great pyramid. These were the King’s Chamber, the Queen’s Chamber, and the Grand Gallery. But in 2004, a new chamber was discovered under the Queen’s chamber. Scientists think this may be the home of the bones of the king of Egypt at that time, King Khufu. What a discovery! But there was a problem—they couldn’t enter it! But finally technology has provided an answer. A mini-robot, foot long robot was sent into the small opening and up a shaft that may lead into the chamber. This pint-sized Indiana Jones of robotics was able to send back video images of what it was seeing!  It has gone where no robot has gone before! What did it find? A mysterious burial chamber, a room full of treasure, or nothing at all? We’ll leave the answer a mystery for now, but you can find it yourself by doing a little archaeological research on the World Wide Web. Hint: Try searching “video Egypt pyramid robot.”