Probably not a rumpus room or breakfast nook. Here are the latest results from the Scan Pyramids Project.
In 1839, when British engineer John Shae Perring first opened the northern entrance to Sneferu's Bent Pyramid at Dahshur, he faced an immediate problem; there was a rush of wind which blew so strongly that "the lights would with difficulty be kept in". He concluded that there must have been another opening.
He was right: there was, on the western side of the pyramid. However in 1839 the western entrance was totally walled-up.
Recent visitors inside the Bent Pyramid have also encountered a breeze, leaving them to wonder how the draft was vented. The theory is that there are other chambers inside the pyramid that remain undiscovered.
And here is our chance to finally find out.
"The primary results tell us that we have some good news." This month, the Egyptian Minister for Antiquities, Dr. Mamdouh el-Damaty announced the results of phase two of the Scan Pyramids Project. Or rather, hinted at results. El-Damaty teased us with, "Although no discoveries have yet been made, scans have revealed several anomalies which indicate that a discovery could be made in the pyramids by the end of 2016."
Recently, an international team of researchers have been scanning four of Egypt's largest pyramids: those of Khufu (the Great Pyramid) and Khafre at Giza, and King Sneferu's Bent and Red Pyramids at Dahshur.
It says a lot about the ingenuity of the ancient Egyptians that, 4,500 years after they were built, we need to employ some of the most advanced technology available to try and figure out how they did it.
Using infrared thermography, "hot spots", or, more officially, "points of interest", were observed on the northern facade of the Great Pyramid, and on the west face of Red pyramid in Dahshur. These spots were several degrees warmer than the surrounding stones, which could indicate empty areas behind the stones. Could they be passages or chambers? These scans are being repeated to confirm the initial results.
The project's next step was to investigate the pyramids with technology that utilises particle physics!
Think of it kind of like a giant x-ray using cosmic particles called muons. Metal plates were placed inside Sneferu's Dahshur pyramids to capture the muons that continually shower the earth's surface.
Muons detection plates being set up in the Lower Chamber of Sneferu's Bent Pyramid at Dahshur.
Muons are created from collisions between cosmic rays and the nuclei of atoms in our atmosphere. Just like x-rays pass through our bodies, muon particles can very easily pass through any structure: even pyramids.
The plate detectors allow the researchers to identify voids inside the pyramid where muons cross without any hindrance, compared with denser areas where some muons are absorbed or deflected.
The Muon detection scans have been completed on the Bent Pyramid and are now being analysed. Here's hoping that the source of Perring's bothersome breeze will be discovered.
In a month, the muon detection team will move onto Khufu's Great Pyramid at Giza to further investigate the source of those hot-spots, and search for hidden chambers that have long been rumoured to be within the massive bulk of the pyramid.
The results are likely to be announced in March. The Scan Pyramids Project, together with the examination into Nefertiti's hidden chambers in Tutankhamun's tomb, could see 2016 being a very big year in Egyptology!
The fun image above is from "Cvltvre Made Stvpid" by Tom Weller.