36.16 - MU Podcast - Beneath the Pyramids

Summary

Hosts Joe Hodgkin and Brandon Thomas recount Andrew Collins' 2009 book 'Beneath the Pyramids', which describes his search for a forgotten cave system beneath the Giza plateau first entered by Henry Salt and Giovanni Caviglia in 1817. Collins, his wife Sue and researcher Nigel Skinner-Simpson repeatedly entered the Tomb of the Birds and found natural caverns with apparent chisel marks, while dodging guards, bats and toxic guano dust. The story ends with a local legend of a giant guardian serpent protecting a Hall of Records, and with Zahi Hawass promising documentation that never arrived.

Key takeaways

• 1In 1817, British consul general Henry Salt and Genoese sea captain Giovanni Caviglia reportedly crawled several hundred yards through caves west of the Great Pyramid and found a large chamber connected to three others.
• 2Andrew Collins' book 'Beneath the Pyramids' (2009) claims this expedition was largely forgotten by mainstream Egyptology.
• 3Collins located Salt's account in an unpublished British Museum manuscript, 'The Sphinx Revealed', and realized that a map marking read as '22' was actually 'QQ', pointing to tomb entrances about 800 yards west of the Great Pyramid.
• 4In 1926, local worker Mohamed Fayed showed Emile Baraize a hidden passage near the rear of the Sphinx. It was later reopened around 1980 with Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner.
• 5Local guards described El Hanash, a roughly 30-foot cobra said to guard a hidden chamber of knowledge (the Hall of Records). A shopkeeper said the serpent carries a glowing jewel and spits blinding poison.
• 6John Van Auken of the Edgar Cayce-linked Association for Research and Enlightenment showed Collins' findings to Zahi Hawass, who later said the tomb was already explored, promised a report by email that never came, and said the tomb would be closed.
• 7The hosts note that Khufu's restaurant was built over the Tomb of the Birds area in 2022.

Glossary terms

Source

Transcript excerpt

Running a small business means I wear lots of hats. When I put on my hiring hat, I can count on LinkedIn Hiring Pro to make it easy. LinkedIn Hiring Pro helps manage my hiring workflow, puts my job post in front of a unique network of professionals, and matches me with the best candidates for my business. I can also share my job with my network. No other job site lets me do that. No wonder most small businesses say they'd use LinkedIn Hiring Pro again. Hire right the first time. Post your job for free on LinkedIn today at linkedin.com slash quality. Welcome back to Mysterious Universe, season 36, episode 16. Today on the show, we're going to be talking about a little bit of pyramid action. Again, only from a different angle. This isn't the same as Scott Crichton that we covered on the last couple. But it's still in the vein of this underground world, this labyrinth system that seems to be everywhere. Of course, the most interesting seems to be under the pyramids just because it's so high profile. And this is Andrew Collins from 2009. So technically, the book came out before Crichton's book, but it was around the same time they were both kind of digging around in there. I'm Joe Hodgkin. Joining me is Brandon Thomas. What's up, dude? How's everything? Great. How's your week so far? Fucking outstanding, dude. I'm telling you, this weather just will not stop. It's gorgeous. We're loving it out here. Just enjoying it. The kittens are running around everywhere. Just life is harmonized, and it feels great. We're enjoying our week or two's worth of actual fall weather before we get into the pouring rain and 35 degrees, but I'll take it for now. Yes. ...

Excerpt from Mysterious Universe, Oct 23, 2026. Rights remain with the original creators. Hear the full episode at the source.