Archaeology & History

Over 100 years on, Egypt's 'Area 51' still remains a mystery

By T.K. Randall
October 23, 2025 ·  11 comments

Image: The Mortuary Complex of Menkaura, Egypt (illustrative)
Credit: Noureddin Abdulbari / CC BY-SA 4.0 (adapted) Situated just three miles from the Pyramids of Giza, the site - known officially as Zawyet El Aryan (but also unofficially as Egypt's Area 51) - is home to a huge T-Shaped pit lined with granite blocks.

First excavated by archaeologist Alessandro Barsanti in the early 1900s, this curious feature has been the subject of debate and speculation for over a century, with the prevailing theory being that it was the early foundations of a new pyramid, though no associated structure exists on the surface.

Others, meanwhile, believe that it may have been a ceremonial chamber that was never finished.

An inscription on one of the walls found during the excavation translates to "star" and "life force".

This had lead to speculation that the pit may have also had something to do with astronomy.Perhaps the strangest thing of all about it, however, is the fact that the Egyptian military took control of the site in the 1960s and blocked all further tourism and archaeological excavation.

This means that Barsanti's original photographs of it remain the only visual record in existence.

Exactly why the site was sealed off and what the Egyptian military has been using it for all these years continues to remain a complete mystery.

Did the powers that be find something down there that they wanted to keep a secret ?

We may never know for sure.

Source: Mail Online | Comments (11)

Tags: Egypt