Everyone thinks that the Great Guiza Pyramid in Egypt has four sides. From space you look very different

A team of Japan researchers scanned under the sand surface in a “blank area” of Giza’s western cemetery next to the Great Keops pyramid. Had found something surprising: an old Egyptian structure in underground. That finding is still involved in the mystery, because it was dwarfed with Another study that he had discovered something fascinating: the great Guiza pyramid does not have four sides, and that explained His longevity.

A wonder with trick. For millennia, the Great Guiza Pyramid It has been celebrated as the epitome of the perfect geometry: four imposing triangular faces converging in a majestic apex. However, an unsuspected structural detail had remained hidden with the naked eye: the pyramid It does not have four sides, but eight.

Chronology. We are not crazy. The revelationconfirmed by air observations and Modern researchpoints to a concavity in the center of each face, one that is invisible from land, but detectable low certain conditions of lighting or from the sky/space. The first to realize something was the British pilot P. Groves In 1926, when captured an image Air that revealed a subtle but decisive geometric truth. Each of the four apparent sides of the pyramid has a central cleft from the base to the cusp, which turns its plant into a figure eight sidesNot in a home run.

Already in 1940, the Egyptologist Flinders Petrieby analyzing historical illustrations, he noticed A hollow line along each face of the pyramid. Decades later, experts like IES Edwards And more recently the Mathematician Akio Kato They supported this hypothesis in their work, noting that the stone blocks were arranged with a Mild inclination towards the center, creating a subtle and almost imperceptible longitudinal depression. Kato described the great pyramid not as a square pyramid, but as a Concava octagonal pyramid.

One of the first images where depression was appreciated (taken by groves)

An engineering feat. The curious thing about history is that, far from being an aesthetic anomaly, these clefts aim to fulfill a Structural function vital. According to Kato’s study, the inclined layers next to a reinforced base allow the pyramid nucleus to Compacte and strengthen Over time, thus resisting gravitational compression, earthquakes and storms, even after having faced more than 500 episodes of heavy rains in 4,500 years.

In other words: this characteristic would have been key to ensuring the long -term stability of a colossal size structure exposed to extreme conditions, and possibly was not a mere side effect of construction, but a sophisticated architectural strategy.

Between intention and accident. However, not everything in the Great Pyramid responds to the master plan of an infallible civilization. Throughout their runners and sealed cameras, abandoned spaces have been found that could Unstable result During construction, which leaves open the possibility that the unique concavity has been, in part, the result of improvised adjustments rather than a completely premeditated design.

No doubt, ambiguity does not remain merit to the ancient builders, but underline their pragmatism: modify the course when the conditions demanded it, and incorporate the accidental as part of the lasting structure.

What the geometry hides. In short, that its mathematical truth has remained hidden with the naked eye for millennia highlights an essential lesson on The great pyramid: Secrets continues to reveal despite his universal fame.

What seemed to be an elementary geometric figure becomes, under a new look from the air, a sample of invisible complexity, and technical decisions so advanced that today they still baffle us. The revelation of your Concava octagonal form Not only challenges our preconceived notions, but reaffirms the fascination that always accompanies Guiza, a pyramid that, as far as we know (and we do not rule out new surprises), is a unique geometric rarity in its species.

Image | Douwe C. van der Zee

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