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Wednesday 18 September 2002
pyramid

New Obstacle Blocks Robot Probe in Egypt Pyramid
Tue Sep 17, 4:12 AM ET
By Tom Perry

CAIRO (Reuters) - Hopes of unlocking the mysteries of Egypt's biggest pyramid hit a new snag Tuesday when a robot crawling up a narrow shaft to peek through an ancient limestone door found a second stone slab blocking the way.

"Pyramid Rover" climbed about 213 feet up one of two passages stretching from a chamber inside the pyramid of Cheops to peer through a hole in the door which some thought might conceal secret chambers, statues of the pharaoh or ancient scrolls dating back 4,500 years. "We found a space. We found another sealed chamber," the head of Egypt's Supreme Antiquities Council, Zahi Hawass, said during a live television broadcast of the expedition sponsored by National Geographic ( news - web sites) Channels.

During the broadcast, Hawass also lifted the lid of a 4,500-year-old sarcophagus near the site of the Great Pyramids on the Giza plateau near Cairo to reveal the skeleton of a man who he said was the mayor of a village of pyramid builders.