Lost artefact from Great Pyramid of Giza found in cigar box

December 17, 2020

A lost artefact from the Great Pyramid of Giza, one of only three objects ever recovered from inside the last remaining wonder of the ancient world, has been found in a chance discovery at the University of Aberdeen.

Curatorial assistant Abeer Eladany, originally from Egypt, was reviewing items in the university’s Asia collection when she came across a cigar box marked with her country’s former flag. Inside she found several wooden splinters which she then identified as a fragment of wood from the Great Pyramid which has been missing for more than a century.

The discovery of the relic has raised new questions, as carbon dating has shown that the wood can be dated to the period 3341-3094BC – some 500 years earlier than historical records which date the Great Pyramid to the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu in 2580-2560BC.

“It may be just a small fragment of wood, which is now in several pieces, but it is hugely significant given that it is one of only three items ever to be recovered from inside the Great Pyramid.”