On the Giza Plateau and below the stone causeway of the so called Khafre’s pyramid complex lies an unusual tomb structure. It’s known today as the Tomb of Osiris or, more commonly, the Osiris Shaft. The latter was named by Zahi Hawass, former secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. The existence of the shaft tomb has been known for many years, but it was only until relatively recently that it was properly excavated and reported.

A thorough excavation was conducted by a team led by Hawass in 1999. Subsequently Hawass wrote an article called “The Discovery of the Osiris Shaft at Giza.” Although Hawass certainly didn’t “discover” this subterranean shaft complex, his team was the first to excavate it all the way to the bottom.

The earliest mention for the shaft complex was Selim Hassan’s 1933-34 excavations report for Giza. Hassan and his men were able to get part way down the shaft complex, but found the remainder flooded. Efforts at pumping were unsuccessful. Hassan was not the only person to find the water in the shaft pleasing because for many years hence it was, in fact, a source of drinking water on the Giza Plateau. In other times Giza guides and nearby village children would swim in the shaft, when the rising water table flooded the complex still further.

Zahi Hawass and his team performed the first full scale excavation of the Osiris Shaft in 1999. By this point the water table on the Plateau had lowered to the point that a thorough excavation was possible, although groundwater still flooded the lowest areas. Constant pumping operations were required to reach the very bottom chamber of the complex. Hawass’s team revealed three different shafts comprising three different levels.

A number of artifacts were excavated from these side chambers, including pottery shards, ceramic beads, and ushabtis (small servant figurines). Additionally, basalt “sarcophagi” were found in Chambers C, D, and G; badly decomposed skeletal remains were found in the sarcophagi in Chambers C and G. Based on stylistic grounds the artifacts, sarcophagi included, were dated to the 26th dynasty.

An important find in Level 3 was red polished pottery with traces of white paint, which stylistically can be dated to the 6th dynasty, from the end of the Old Kingdom. Therefore, this pottery represents the oldest possible datable material found in the entire complex. But the bigger question is: how were the shafts made?

To cut such a massive network deep into the bedrock of Giza would be an astonishingly difficult task, and hardly the work of laborers with bronze tools during the 6th dynasty, which lasted from 2345 to 2181 BC. Iron in any quantity did not show up until the 8th century BC.

Although Dr. Hawass, and especially his crew that must have done the physical work of excavating must be applauded for their efforts, finding 6th dynasty pottery at the lowest levels can not definitively date when the actual construction was done, nor the original purpose of the tunnels and shafts. Also, the locking of the entrances to these sites impedes any further research.

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