Investigation of the lower block rows in the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid using ultrasonic testing with shear wave arrays
Benedikt Maier, Amr G. Hamza, Alejandro Ramirez-Pinero, Khaled Taie, Thomas Schumacher, Olga Popovych, Mohamed Elkarmoty, Mehdi Tayoubi, Hany Helal, Christian U. Grosse · 2026
Read Investigation of the lower block rows in the King’s Chamber of the Great Pyramid using ultrasonic testing with shear wave arrays by Benedikt Maier, Amr G. Hamza, Alejandro Ramirez-Pinero, Khaled Taie, Thomas Schumacher, Olga Popovych, Mohamed Elkarmoty, Mehdi Tayoubi, Hany Helal, Christian U. Grosse (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13279776.txt.
Description
Benedikt Maier and colleagues report a 2026 study of granite blocks in the Kings Chamber of the Great Pyramid of Giza. The ScanPyramids project used ultrasound shear wave arrays, a sound echo tool, to probe block insides without harm. Campaigns in 2022 covered the lower two block rows of all four walls. First, fast scans with an eight channel tool flagged zones of interest.
High detail scans then ran at those zones, most on the north wall, with a paired tool set for sixteen channels. A math method called FT-SAFT turned echoes in two dimensional cross section images. Images reveal internal reflectors, which are echoes from cracks, joints or gaps in the stone. Block thickness and joint shape data can refine stress models of the chamber. Such maps aid long term preservation of the monument and teach how it was built.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Benedikt Maier, Amr G. Hamza, Alejandro Ramirez-Pinero, Khaled Taie, Thomas Schumacher, Olga Popovych, Mohamed Elkarmoty, Mehdi Tayoubi, Hany Helal, Christian U. Grosse |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 64481 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |