By Nevine El-Aref MANY others have had a go before, but can the Djedi team unravel the secrets of the Great Pyramid? Nevine El-Aref has been looking at the progress made by Djedi, a joint international-Egyptian team so named after the magician whom King Khufu consulted when he planned the layout of his pyramid. Djedi recently began making a study of the world's most famous monument in an attempt to uncover some of its mysteries. Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), told Al-Ahram Weekly that the purpose of the project was to send a robotic tunnel explorer inside the two air shafts of the Great Pyramid in an attempt to gather evidence to determine the original purpose of the shafts. Hawass continued that he selected the Djedi team by means of a competition to find the best possible robot to explore the shafts. The team is sponsored by Leeds University in the United Kingdom and supported by Dassault Systems in France, in addition to independent researchers in space robotics. The international team is experienced in the development and deployment of systems to meet real world challenges, including systems for space, search and rescue and medical devices, as well as inspection of stone structures. "With the help of the Djedi team, we hope to uncover the meaning of these airshafts by drilling through the doors that are blocking them," Hawass said. Djedi made preliminary examinations of the airshafts in July and December of 2009. "The team is hoping to gather as much evidence as possible to try to piece together the purpose of the air shafts, while at the same time ensuring that the Great Pyramid is not damaged in any way," Hawass said. He added that he was looking forward to sharing more results about the Djedi project in the future. Two similar drillings were carried out in 2002 and 2004, but archaeologists were even more perplexed than before since when they moved forward through the shafts they were halted by a sealed door with two iron handles.
