Bent Pyramid, Dahshur. Photo: lienyuan lee / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0

16 May 2024 · Western desert edge, Giza–Lisht, Egypt

Buried Nile branch explains the line of pyramids

Radar satellite imagery and sediment cores traced a 64 km dried branch of the Nile, named Ahramat (“pyramids”), next to 31 pyramids.

Why it matters: It explains why the pyramids were built where they are: the river was a transport route for stone.

remote sensing pyramids

Site guide: Giza & Saqqara · Source: Ghoneim et al. 2024, Communications Earth & Environment ↗

The Valley of the Kings on the west bank at Luxor, Egypt — Photo: Félix Bonfils · CC0

17 Sept 2026 · Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt

New geophysical data revive the hidden-chambers idea at Tutankhamun’s tomb

Nature reported new geophysical survey results, published by Eldamaty, Abbas, Ballard and Reeves in the Amarna Royal Tombs Project’s occasional papers, that they say point to hidden chambers beyond the walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb, possibly the burial of Nefertiti.

remote sensing controversy

Source: Nature news, 17 Sep 2026 ↗

The Great Pyramid of Khufu at Giza, Egypt — Photo: kallerna · CC BY-SA 3.0

10 Aug 2026 · Great Pyramid, Giza, Egypt

Journal retracts Great Pyramid satellite-radar paper

Remote Sensing retracted Filippo Biondi and Corrado Malanga’s 2022 paper, which claimed SAR Doppler tomography revealed undiscovered internal structures in the Great Pyramid. The journal says an investigation after a reader’s concerns confirmed serious methodological flaws and statistical errors that undermine the conclusions.

remote sensing controversy pyramids

Site guide: Giza & Saqqara · Source: Retraction notice, Remote Sensing 2026 ↗; Original paper (retracted), Remote Sensing 2022 ↗

The Red Pyramid of Snefru at Dahshur, Egypt — Photo: Ivrienen at English Wikipedia · CC BY 3.0

20 Jul 2026 · Dahshur, Egypt

Two possible Old Kingdom dams found near the Red Pyramid

Xavier Landreau, Guillaume Piton and Sayed Hemeda used satellite imagery, 19th-century maps and watershed mapping. They argue that two 600–700 m structures across Wadi Dahshur, west of the Red Pyramid, long read as stone-transport ramps, are dams, one with a duckbill-shaped spillway, linked to a roughly 1 km diversion channel passing close to the pyramid.

ancient technology pyramids remote sensing

Site guide: Giza & Saqqara · Source: Landreau, Piton & Hemeda 2026, npj Heritage Science ↗

The granite King’s Chamber inside the Great Pyramid of Giza — Photo: Andrew Currie · CC BY 2.0

18 Jun 2026 · Great Pyramid, Giza, Egypt

Ultrasound scans look inside the King’s Chamber walls

A ScanPyramids team from TU Munich and Cairo University published ultrasonic shear-wave scans, made in 2022, of the 45 accessible granite blocks in the two lower rows of the King’s Chamber walls. They built a 3D model of block thicknesses and joints and found internal reflectors up to about 3 m deep, including an anomaly about 2 m behind block NW9 on the north wall.