Colloquium: Could New Technologies Reveal a 4500-year Mystery of the Great Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt? The ScanPyramids Project

Abstract

Many theories and hypotheses have been proposed trying to understand how the Great Pyramid of Cheops was built. None of them has proved conclusive so far. Could New Technologies reveal the mystery of one of the Seven World Wonders? This is what the ScanPyramids project is about. The project was launched in October 2015, under the authority of the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, initiated, designed and coordinated by Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University and HIP (Heritage, Innovation and Preservation) Institute, France.

It is a multinational project (Egypt, Japan, France, Germany and Canada), using the most recent non-invasive and non-destructive techniques to “look” through the Pyramids and detect unknown significant voids. Infrared thermography, Muon-Radiography, Ground Penetrating Radar, Ultrasound, Electrical Resistivity and 3D Reconstruction, Modelling and Simulation are used to complement each other.

Two main discoveries have been confirmed and published: an intriguing internal structure by the north entrance of the Pyramid and a large void above the Pyramidʼs Grand Gallery.

Speaker

Hany Helal is a professor at the Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, holder of the UNESCO Chair on ‘Science and Technology for Cultural Heritage”. He is an expert in Higher Education Reform, Science & Technology, Innovation policies and Entrepreneurship. He has a long experience in international cooperation, management and cultural activities. In 2016, he was elected as the President of Senghor University in Alexandria. He is the Secretary General of the Steering Committee of Egypt-Japan Education Partnership (EJEP). He was the chairman of the board of trustees of the French University in Egypt.

He used to be the Minister of Higher Education and State for Scientific Research. In 2005, he was appointed the Secretary General of the Education Development Fund, Egypt. He worked as the Egyptian Cultural and Scientific Counsellor in France, Belgium, Luxemburg and Switzerland. He was the National TEMPUS Coordinator (EU Higher Education Enhancement program). He acted as UNESCO Consultant / Administrative Director, International Centre for Synchrotron-Light for Experimental Sciences and Applications in the Middle East (SESAME), Jordan. He was a Program Specialist and National Professional Officer, Earth Sciences, UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology for Arab States.

Hany Helal graduated from mining engineering department, Faculty of Engineering Cairo University, in 1974. He got his ‘Diplôme de Docteur Ingénieur’, Earth Sciences from ‘Ecole des Mines de Nancy, Institut National Polytechnique de Lorraine’, Nancy, France, 1982. He has received several awards: “The order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Star” award from His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, Nov 2022; Doctor of Philosophy, Honorus Causa, The Cyprus Institute, October 2021; JICA President Award, October 2018; EMUNI (Euro-Mediterranean University) Award, June 2017; the “Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany”, 2008 and, the” Grade d'Officier dans l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques”, Ministère de l'Education National, de l'enseignement Supérieur et de la Recherche, France, 2005.

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