Tea at Trianon: Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Friday, March 10, 2023

Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza

From Informeri:

Officials stated that the corridor near the Pyramid of Khufu’s main entrance, which is directly behind the chevron zone on the north side, could lead to additional discoveries. The corridor’s function was not immediately known. Researchers from the international Scan Pyramid project made the discovery. Since 2015, the mission has used cutting-edge techniques like radiographic muons, infrared thermography, and 3D reconstruction to investigate the pyramid’s internal structure. Mostafa Waziri, the head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, told reporters at the pyramid site that the secret tunnel’s gabled ceiling suggests that it was constructed to lighten the structure.

However, the question of whether this corridor was designed to lighten the load on a space that has yet to be discovered or the [main] entrance is a big one. The scanning work will continue to uncover additional structures’ secrets. The last remaining ancient wonder is the Great Pyramid, the largest of the Great Pyramids of Giza. Approximately 4,500 years ago, during the time of Pharaoh Khufu, it was constructed as a royal tomb. The pyramid was constructed using a chevron method to protect internal structures from collapse. The ancient monument’s construction process could be better understood if any previously unknown internal structures are found, according to scientists.

Through cosmic-ray muon radiography, the same group of researchers made the 2017 discovery of a large void, which they claimed was the first significant inner structure found in the Great Pyramid since the 19th century. The year before, they discovered yet another unidentified cavity on the Pyramid’s north eastern edge. Egypt, which has been severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and political instability following the 2011 revolution, plans to capitalize on brand-new ancient discoveries in order to attract tourists, a significant source of foreign currency, and employment. (Read more.)