CAIRO (AP) – An international team of researchers will soon begin analyzing cosmic particles collected inside Egypt’s Bent Pyramid to search for clues as to how it was built.
Mehdi Tayoubi, president of the Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute, said Sunday that plates planted inside the pyramid last month have collected data on radiographic particles known as muons that rain down from the earth’s atmosphere.
The particles pass through empty spaces but can be absorbed or deflected by harder surfaces. By studying particle accumulations, scientists may learn more about the construction of the 4,600-year-old pyramid, built by the Pharaoh Snefru.
The Bent Pyramid in Dahshur, just outside of Cairo, is distinguished by the bent slope of its sides. It is believed to have been ancient Egypt’s first attempt to build a smooth-sided pyramid.