Robert Bauval - Secret Chamber Revisited: The Quest for the Lost Knowledge of Ancient Egypt

SECRET
CHAMBER
Revisited

Once again Robert Bauval proves his credentials as a first-class researcher and dogged investigator. The revelations in this new, revised edition of Secret Chamber expose the quite astonishing goings-on at Giza since former Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass began his rise to power within the Egyptian Antiquities Service. This book is an incredible read, uncovering clandestine operations at the Sphinx and inside the Great Pyramida story of potential corruption and ongoing international scandal on a massive scale. You couldnt make it up it is so bizarre, yet the evidence is laid out in every detail for all to see!

DAVID ROHL, ENGLISH EGYPTOLOGIST, FORMER DIRECTOR OF THE INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF INTERDISCIPLINARY SCIENCES, AND AUTHOR OF PHARAOHS AND KINGS AND THE LOST TESTAMENTFROM EDEN TO EXILE

Secret Chamber Revisited is a true inspiration offering real clues in the search for Gizas lost Hall of Records.

ANDREW COLLINS, AUTHOR OF GBEKLI TEPE: GENESIS OF THE GODS, FROM THE ASHES OF ANGELS, AND GODS OF EDEN

Search for a hidden secret chamber in the Great Pyramid started in the 19th century, but nothing was found. However, hope was revived when on March 22, 1993, a German team sent a robot into a shaft of the Queens Chamber, which revealed a mysterious door embossed with two copper handles. Robert Bauval, in his fascinating book, is reviving interest in the secret chamber, which could contain the Holy Grail of Egyptian civilization.

AHMED OSMAN, SCHOLAR, HISTORIAN, AND AUTHOR OF THE LOST CITY OF EXODUS AND MOSES AND AKHENATEN AND COAUTHOR OF BREAKING THE MIRROR OF HEAVEN

Todays paradigm shift began more than twenty years ago. A small group of scholars and researchers pointed out compelling evidence of a lost civilization great in antiquity. Robert Bauval was one of those researchers, and in Secret Chamber Revisited he tells a fascinating behind-the-scenes story of politics and intrigue in the quest to discover Atlantiss Great Hall of Records that legend claims to be located beneath the paws of the Sphinx. With nothing held back, Bauval captures history in the making and shines light on the struggle between traditional Egyptology and the new Egyptologists. Robert Bauval deserves a literary standing ovation!

EDWARD F. MALKOWSKI, AUTHOR OF RETURN OF THE GOLDEN AGE, ANCIENT EGYPT 39,000 BCE, BEFORE THE PHARAOHS, AND THE SPIRITUAL TECHNOLOGY OF ANCIENT EGYPT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As always, I want to express my gratitude to Michele, my wife, life companion, friend, and the foundation upon which our happy family stands. It is not an easy thing to be sharing a life with an author who is perpetually endeavoring to solve the mysteries of the Egyptian pyramids and (why not?) along with them the mystery of life, the universe, and much more. But Michele has shown true grit and endless patience and, thanks to her deep love of and proficiency with crosswords, has given me the necessary space and time to hatch, so far, a dozen books. My two children, as well, have done their bit by giving me their love and respect, yet thankfully ignoring me most of the time, which, as all fellow authors will surely agree, is a great boon to be truly welcomed. The truth is that an authors work is a solitary venture inward his own mind and soul, and one can can sometimes get lost in this vast microcosm without the occasional reality check from a supporting family, such as not to forget to eat or that working forty-eight hours straight is not such a good idea after all.

There are, too, other family members and the many great friends I have had the good fortune to be blessed with, and the following list is by no means exhaustive: my inimitable brother Jean-Paul Bauval; my twin-sister Thrse Gauci; my gentle and endlessly tolerant sister-inlaw Pauline Bauval; Juliano Fernandez; my ever-smiling guardian angel Mildred Curiel; my companion-at-arms David Rohl; my diligent and tireless webmaster Richard (a.k.a. Fuzzy) Fusniak; Hesham el Haddad; Sherif el Sebai; Osama Karrar; my new friend, the intrepid explorer Dr. Dominique Gorlitz (whose great love for science and insatiable thirst for knowledge sometimes unwittingly causes him to throw himself into a global controversy!); Sandro Zicari; Dr. Maria Pia Tocco; Peter and Eva Hakart; Princess Chiara Dainelli-Hohenzollern; Laura Salvucci; and Gary Evans, my dedicated public-relations-cum-agent-cum-organizer, colleague, and friend.

I wish to thank Gemma Smith, Neil Curtis, A. Nibbi, Mary Bruck, and the staff at the Griffith Institute library in Oxford. Special thanks to Rudolf Gantenbrink for the kind permission to use photographs of inside the northern shaft of the Queens Chamber in the Great Pyramid. Also to Mrs. Ann Colville, the great-granddaughter of Waynman Dixon for use of the photograph of Waynman Dixon with his two sisters.

I also have special thanks to John Hays, Jeanie Levitan, Mindy Branstetter, superoperator Cindy Marcotte, and all the good folks at Inner Traditions in Vermont. Last but definitely not least, thanks to all my Facebook friends and readers around the world, for without you what would life be, I ask you in all honesty (yes, you got it: ABBA)?

ROBERT BAUVAL
TORREMOLINOS, SPAIN

INTRODUCTION

to the New Edition

I am the king of the Pyramids!

ZAHI HAWASS IN THE
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNELS ZAHI HAWASS: KING OF THE PYRAMIDS, AIRED IN 2002

Its a form of madness hes got! And hes becoming more and more mad!

OMAR SHARIF ON ZAHI HAWASS, IN
NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC CHANNELS
ZAHI HAWASS: KING OF THE PYRAMIDS, AIRED IN 2002

A STAR IS BORN

This book is a complete update and partial rewrite of Secret Chamber: The Quest for the Hall of Records, published in 1999 by Random House, Century. As the new title implies, it is a revisit of the history of the search in Egypt for a secret chamber hidden beneath the Great Sphinx or within the bowels of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Now, with fifteen years of hindsight, deeper research, and amazing developments, it reviews this story of stories that spans five millennia and three continents. Part one investigates the historical and archaeological evidence and examines the legends and traditions of a hidden secret chamber at Giza reputed to contain the books of the lost knowledge of pyramid builders or, as many believe, the records of a lost civilization. We will delve into ancient and not-so-ancient texts and examine the two great monuments as never before: that giant recumbent lion and colossal pyramid that fascinated, enchanted, and drove many to devote their lives to solve their mystery or seek the hidden chambers they may conceal. Part two investigates the many on-location searches at Giza, starting in the seventh century after the Arab conquerors and up to the present, and especially during the twenty-year reign of Zahi Hawass, the all-powerful keeper of the Giza Plateau. This time no stone is left unturned and no punches are spared.

When I wrote the first version of Secret Chamber back in 1998 and 1999, that was twelve years before the Tahrir Square Revolution of January 25, 2011, and things in Egypt were very different at that time. President Hosni Mubarak was at the height of his power, and all his cronies were still in authority, running the country as if it was their own property. This was especially the case with Zahi Hawass, who was then the director of the Giza pyramids for the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA),