For decades, a hidden marvel lay beneath the Giza Plateau. Discovered by chance in the 1940s by local guides, an underground shaft and its connected chambers have captivated the imaginations of explorers and scholars alike. However, rising water levels and the shaft’s subsequent use as a swimming hole and water source hampered any serious investigation.
The Discovery of the Osiris Shaft
In the summer of 1999, the decision was made to excavate the shaft to determine its function. Three distinct shafts were discovered. The first led to a single chamber, the second to a large chamber surrounded by six smaller ones, and the third to a single large chamber containing a sarcophagus.
The excavation was proven to be highly challenging primarily due to the dangerous conditions caused by the elevated water table. The chamber situated at the shaft’s lowest level was filled with water, with only the lid of a large granite sarcophagus visible. It was necessary to drain this water before excavation could proceed.
Machines were provided by Esmail Osman, formerly the head of Osman Contractors, to accomplish this task. Pipes were lowered into the shaft to transport the water from the lowest level to the plateau. The noise generated by the pumping process created extremely difficult working conditions.
Concern was raised regarding the potential increase in the size of cracks within the shaft’s walls due to water drainage. To stabilize the cracks and serve as warning indicators of any potential shifting, plaster was applied.
With the aim of determining the shaft’s date, a decision was made to dispatch young divers into the shaft’s water prior to drainage to collect any existing artifacts. These divers were securely fastened to safety ropes to prevent injuries.
Numerous intriguing discoveries were made during the excavation process. Consequently, the shaft complex has been linked to the god Osiris, leading to its designation as the Osiris Shaft.
Read more: The Discovery and Excavation of the Osiris Shaft at GizaLocation and Description of the Shaft Complex
The entrance to the Osiris Shaft lies in the floor of a shallow tunnel that runs from north to south under the causeway of Khafre, approximately halfway between the Great Sphinx and Khafre’s funerary temple.
Access is through Shaft A near the western wall of the tunnel. The complex consists of three vertical shafts (Shafts A, B, and C) leading to three levels (Levels 1,2, and 3). There are additional chambers on Levels 2 and 3.
The Architectural Components of the Tomb
The architectural components of the complex can be outlined as follows:
1- Shaft A
The first vertical shaft (Shaft A) is the main entrance to the Osiris Complex. It lies directly below Khafre’s causeway, descending vertically from an opening 10.30 m from the south entrance and 0.60 m from the western wall of the tunnel that runs from north to south beneath the causeway.
The shaft adjoins the floor of the tunnel for a distance of c. 1.90 m from north to south and c. 0.60 m from east to west. Shaft A, which is approximately square in cross-section, descends for 9.62 m, ending in a rectangular chamber (Chamber A) at level I (Fig. 3). The walls of Shaft A are roughly hewn.
2- level 1 and Chamber A
Level I consists of a rectangular chamber (Chamber A) extending north from the floor of Shaft A.
The entrance measures 2.35 x 2.50 m, and the chamber itself varies in height and width due to the uneven wall surfaces.
The roof slopes upward from its meeting with ,the shaft; the chamber measures c. 2.65 m high at the southern end and 2.62 m at the northern end, with a maximum height of 2.70 m. No artifacts were found at this level.
3- Shaft B
Shaft B descends from a point c. 1.10 m from the northern wall, 0.80 m from the western wall, and 1.75 m from the eastern wall of Chamber A.
It descends for 13.25 m before ending at Level 2. The walls of the shaft are roughly hewn. At a depth of approximately 8.33 m, a niche, 1.10 m high, J.80 m. wide, and 0.70 m deep, opens from the northern wall of the shaft.
Read more: The Discovery and Excavation of the Osiris Shaft at Giza4- Level 2 with Chambers B-H
Chambers B to H.
Chamber B extends north from a level 0.28 m lower than the floor of Shaft B. Six chambers (Chambers C to H) were carved off of Chamber B:
Three to the west (C, D, and E), one to the north (F), and two to the east (G and H). Four of these chambers contained sarcophagi and artifacts dating primarily to the 26th Dynasty.
Description of the Side Chambers:
Western Chambers
Chamber C:
Chamber C is located 0.40 m northwest of the exit from the second shaft. The floor of this chamber was excavated from the south side. An anthropoid sarcophagus of granite was discovered, set into a pit that had been cut into the floor.
The badly-decayed remains of a skeleton were discovered inside the sarcophagus, along with the remains of shabtis and pottery sherds from the 26th Dynasty. The shape of the sarcophagus dates it to the 26th Dynasty.
Chamber D:
Chamber D is located c. 1 m north of Chamber C and had not been explored prior to our expedition. A basalt sarcophagus in the style of the 26th Dynasty was discovered inside this chamber.
A large number of 26th Dynasty shabtis and pottery sherds were discovered on the south side of the sarcophagus.
Chamber E:
Chamber E is located c. 0.85 m north of Chamber D. On the north side of the floor, 0.80 m from the northern wall, is a small rectangular pit carved into the living rock.
Northern Chamber
Chamber F:
Chamber F was cut directly from the north wall of Chamber B, with its western wall c. 1.20 m from the western wall of Chamber B.
Eastern Chambers
Chamber G:
Chamber G is cut into the east wall of Chamber B. This chamber has a niche, 1.75 m in width, 1.38 m in depth, and 1.41 m in height, cut into the eastern wall. This contains a basalt sarcophagus, rectangular in shape with a curved front, which fills it completely and extends into the chamber.
The remains of human bones, shabtis of blue faience, and pottery sherds, all dating to the Late Period, were found near the sarcophagus.
Chamber H:
Chamber H is located c. 1 m south of Chamber G.
Read more: The Discovery and Excavation of the Osiris Shaft at Giza5- Shaft C
The entrance to the third level is from the floor of a rectangular niche cut into the rock, similar in size and shape to the burial chambers, on the second level.
This niche is located c. 0.90 m south of Chamber H and is oriented southeast to northwest.
Into the walls of this niche were carved seven rectangular niches: four large ones, two each in the northeast and southwest walls; and three small, one in the northeast and two in the southeast walls.
These holes might have been used for lowering a large basalt sarcophagus down the shaft by using wooden beams.
6- Level 3 with Chamber I
The main level of the complex consists of a large square chamber that extends to the west of Shaft C. A large basalt sarcophagus stands in a water-filled emplacement in the center of this chamber.
Chamber I is a squarish chamber extending to the west of the floor of Shaft C. A narrow ledge runs partially around the interior of the walls of the chamber.
In the center of the chamber is a rectangular emplacement, carved from the living rock, with the remains of square pillars at each of its four corners.
This emplacement is at a distance of approximately 1.5 m from the walls of the chamber, with the maximum distance almost 2 meters and the minimum distance about 1.3 meters; the presence of this emplacement creates the effect of a trench running between it and the chamber walls.
The walls of the emplacement are approximately 2 meters thick, and the remnants of the pillars or pillar bases, also carved into the living rock, are approximately 1.5 meters square. The walls of the emplacement are uneven.
The floor at the entrance to the chamber, stretching from the exit of the pit to the central emplacement, has been left at the level of the emplacement.
Thus the trench created by the emplacement, takes the shape of a house plan, the hieroglyph “pr”.
This trench is generally filled with water. The burial chamber is thus similar to an island with the sarcophagus in the middle surrounded by water in the shape of the “pr” sign. In the center of the emplacement is a rectangular pit.
Inside this pit lies a pseudo-anthropoid sarcophagus of black basalt. Its lid was discovered on the floor of Shaft C; The excavation team moved it to a place over the sarcophagus, supported with wooden beams.
The remains of a skeleton were discovered in the sarcophagus. Two schist amulets in the form of Osiris were also found in the tomb. Scarabs, primarily heart scarabs, and amulets in the shape of djed pillars date the tomb to the Late Period.
The amulets and scarabs were discovered on the north side of the chamber. An unusual find was red polished pottery with traces of white paint, which can be dated stylistically to the Old Kingdom, specifically to the 6th Dynasty.
The Osiris Shaft: A Gateway to the Underworld
The Osiris Shaft, according to Zahi Hawass, can be identified with the underground tomb surrounded by water brought by a canal that was mentioned by the Greek historian Herodotus, who visited Egypt in the 5th century BCE.
Herodotus believed that this was the tomb of Khufu. His description of this structure is not very clear, and it is probable that he did not enter the shaft himself, but instead depended on the information given to him by the local guides.
The earliest artifacts from the Osiris Shaft are 6th Dynasty potsherds, discovered in Shaft C. This suggests that the shaft was first constructed at that time.
The additional chambers at Level 2 may have been added in the Late Period, when Giza received renewed interest.
The sarcophagus that is currently in the burial chamber at the lowest level also can be dated stylistically to the 26th Dynasty.
The tunnel beneath the causeway of Khafre, like the similar tunnel beneath the causeway of Khufu, had most likely been dug by this time, as it would have made construction and servicing of the elite tombs from this era on the Giza Plateau possible.
According to Hawass, this shaft complex is a dummy tomb for the god Osiris. The reasons for identifying this tomb with Osiris are as follows:
The Osiris myth became important during the late Old Kingdom, as attested by the frequent references to this god in the Pyramid Texts.
Thus the rise in the Osiris cult can be linked chronologically to the construction of the shaft complex in the 6th Dynasty: by digging deep beneath the plateau, the Egyptians of this era were descending into the realm of Osiris.
Support for this theory can be found in New Kingdom texts, which suggest that underground shafts and chambers were closely linked with the Netherworld, the realm of the god Osiris.
The large sarcophagus in the Chamber I is surrounded by water and four pillars. This is similar to the layout of the Osireion at Abydos, also identified as a tomb for Osiris.
The water ,around the burial is mostly likely linked to Osiris’s role as god of vegetation and resurrection, and his identification as creator god, appearing on the primeval mound surrounded by the Nun.
The submersion of the sarcophagus under water also provides evidence that the complex is linked with Osiris, because his kingdom can be located under the water.
According to Hawass, the four pillars, of which only the lower parts now remain, may represent the four sacred legs of the god, another important concept seen in later funerary texts linked with the Netherworld.
The Giza Plateau was known in the New Kingdom as pr Wsir nb, which means the “house of Osiris, Lord of Rostau” or “Lord of the Underground Tunnels”.
Rostau can be translated as cemetery or underground tunnels, and usually refers specifically to Giza. For this reason, it is logical that there should be a tomb at Giza for Osiris.
The water-filled trench around the burial emplacement, which is in the shape of the hieroglyph for house “pr”, reinforces this identification.
Symbolically, Osiris would have been buried inside the shaft to give power to the kings who were buried under the nearby pyramids.
In this respect, the kings who were buried in their own “underground tunnels” would gain power like Osiris.
Further support for the identification of this shaft complex as the tomb/house of Osiris comes from the “Inventory Stele,” found in the chapel of queen’s pyramid G I-c, which was converted into a temple to Isis in the 21st Dynasty and enlarged in the 26th Dynasty.
The relevant portion of this text, which dates to the 26th Dynasty, says:
Khufu … found the house of Isis, Mistress of the Pyramid, … on the northwest of the house of Osiris, Lord of Rostau…
The Osiris Shaft is directly south of queen’s pyramid G l-c. Graffiti on the surface of this pyramid, originally built for a queen of Khufu’s named Henutsen, refer to it as the burial place of Isis.
Then, in the Late Period, pyramid GI-c was changed to the symbolic burial of Isis, which faced south towards the symbolic burial of Osiris.
South of the Giza Pyramids and north of the proposed ring road (which the Egyptian Ministry of Construction wanted to build but was stopped in order to protect the pyramids) is a cemetery of Osiris united with Sokar as Sokar-Osiris, dating from the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.
The cemetery consists of a series of small pits in the ground. A statue of a mummified Sokar-Osiris with an erection was discovered in a wooden box in one of these pits.
The erection is a direct reference to resurrection in the afterlife. Faience and symbolic vessels were also found near the tombs. This also attests to the importance of Osiris during the Late Period at Giza.
The Egyptians also used the area north of the Osiris Shaft for burial, where we have discovered many tombs that date to the Late Period.
One tomb has a second level located c. 8 m underground where 6 rooms were cut into the rock. In one of these rooms, a wooden box with 400 shabtis was discovered.
In conclusion, the Osiris Shaft was first cut in the Old Kingdom and then used again in the New Kingdom when Osiris became important at Giza, as evidenced by the use of the name pr Wsir nb R’s-t3w for the site.
The shaft was also used for burial in the 26th Dynasty, especially its second level.
Source: ZAHI A. HAWASS, The Discovery of the Osiris Shaft at Giza PDF
[…] The Osiris Shaft is a labyrinthine tomb located near the Giza pyramids. It descends deep underground through a series of chambers and tunnels. Here’s what we know about the shaft: […]