The morning of Enlightenment

Travel to the Giza plateau became a dangerous undertaking in the eighteenth century. Though Egypt was still nominally under the suzerainty of the Ottoman Turks, the traveler was likely to be robbed or killed by gangs of bandit or Arabs.

Not until the time of the American Revolution was any further discover of importance made at the Pyramid. In 1765, Nathaniel Davison was able to spend a vacation in Egypt in the company of Edward Wortley Montagu, and carefully explored the Pyramid.

The adventuresome Davison lowered a lamp into the "well," tied a rope around his waist, and had himself carefully lowered into its ominous darkness, well over a hundred feet, only to find the bottom blocked with sand and rubbish.

To Davidson it seemed stranged that anyone would go through such an enormous amount of effort to dig a shaft almost 200 feet deep into the heart of the Pyramid only to come to a dead end.

Not finding any reasonable answer Davison abandoned his quest and began to search for other secret features. As a result of his scrutiny today the Davison chamber bears his very name.

About the Author

Author: Ken Klein is a documentary film producer and investigator. His examinations have illuminated secrets surrounding the Great Pyramid. For a free tour of the Great Pyramid get his free Great Pyramid walk though video.