PYRAMIDS; MEN ENTERING MIDDLE PYRMID; SCIENTISTS WITH X-RAY EQUIPMENT; COMPUTER; UNDERGROUND PASSAGE IN PYRAMID.




Initials PW/VS/JH/SGM



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: AMERICAN AND EGYPTIAN SCIENTISTS ARE USING X-RAYS TO SEARCH OUT THE SECRETS OF THE MIDDLE PYRAMID AT GIZA, TOMB OF THE PHARAOH CHEPHREN.

THEY BELIEVE THAT PYRAMID, BUILT 4,500 YEARS AGO, HOLDS MORE THAN THE ONE BURIAL CHAMBER SO FAR DISCOVERED. FURTHERMORE, THEY ARE CONVINCED THAT THE PRECISED NATURE OF THE PYRAMID'S CONSTRUCTION HAD REAL USES IN THE FILED OF ASTRONOMY AND ASTROLOGY.

AROUND 2650 BC THE PYRAMID WAS BUILT BY CHEOPS AND HE CONSTRUCTED IT WITH SUCH PRECISION THAT IT STILL ASTOUNDS HISTORIANS AND TECHNICIANS.

ITS FOUR SIDES FACE THE FOUR POINTS OF THE COMPASS EXACTLY. ITS 148.2 METRE HEIGHT (494 FEET) REPRESENTS AN EXACT SCALE OF THE DISTANCE FROM EARTH TO THE SUN (148-MILLION KMS) WHICH WAS NEVER AGAIN CALCULATED SO EXACTLY UNTIL 1860.

THE QUESTION WHICH THE SCIENTISTS ARE SEEKING TO ANSWER IS - DID THE EGYPTIANS INCORPORATE ALL THIS KNOWLEDGE MERELY TO PROVIDE A BURIAL PLACE FOR A PHARAOH?
THE X-RAY EXAMINATION OF THE PYRAMID IS THE BIGGEST OF ITS KIND EVER ATTEMPTED.

THE PROJECT IS HEADED DR. LUIS ALVAREZ OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA.