Osiris Shaft (Giza)
Three-level vertical shaft cut into the bedrock beneath the Khafre causeway on the Giza Plateau. The upper opening was investigated by Selim Hassan in 1934; the deepest chamber, 30 meters below the surface, was fully excavated by Zahi Hawass in 1999. The lowest level contains a black basalt sarcophagus mounted at the center of a rock-cut platform, surrounded by a moat of standing groundwater fed by the aquifer beneath the plateau — the famous 'Tomb of Osiris' chamber. The shaft is conventionally dated to the Late Period (c. 600 BCE) on the basis of the sarcophagus and associated pottery, but the depth of the cut, the precision of the chambers, and the integration with the rest of the subterranean Giza system have led independent investigators to propose a substantially earlier origin date. Currently closed to the public.
Walkthrough videos (2)
Giza Underground: The Osiris Shaft and the Plateau's Forgotten Architecture (Proto Civilization, ru/en dub)Proto Civilization
Osiris Shaft with UnchartedX | Fieldwork Walkthrough · EgyptAncient Atlas