Search for Hidden Chambers on the Giza Plateau

Known Sphinx Passages

There are several holes and passages in the Great Sphinx at Giza. Some are of known origin but others are not.

There is a hole on the back of the Sphinx, about 4 feet behind the head. It was made by Howard Vyse in the 1840s and has been dubbed Perring's Hole after his engineer. Seeking chambers, Vyse bored a hole 27 feet deep but the drill rod became stuck. He tried using gunpowder to remove the rod, but gave up so as not to do further damage to the Sphinx. The cavity Vyse created was cleared in 1978 by Zahi Hawass, and inside it he found a part of the Sphinx's headdress.

Later, in the 1850s, August Mariette cleared out a shaft on the Sphinx's back, which he realized was nothing more than a widening in a natural fissure. (He also found the peculiar masonry "boxes" against the body of the monument).

In 1923, Department of Antiquities director Lacau and engineer Emile Baraize began an 11 year excavation of the Sphinx area. In December 1925 a photograph was made by the team showing the area of the large masonry box on the south side of the Sphinx. Loose stones can be seen, stones cut for repairs, but in the side of the Sphinx body a large gaping entrance, or perhaps grotto is visible. It was covered up in the restoration. Further conservation included lining the largest fissure on the Sphinx's back (some 6 feet wide) with limestone blocks and covering the resulting shaft with an iron trap door.

Baraize also paved with cement a deep hole on the top of the Sphinx's head. The hole measures approximately 5 feet square and nearly 6 feet deep. An iron trap door was fitted to the mouth of the hole. It has been theorized that the hole, began as a means for affixing a headdress to the sphinx in the manner of the New Kingdom (see photo below), was later deepened in search of hidden chambers.

http://www.catchpenny.org/passages.html