2008
Documentaries
NatGeo-FR2
In February, Philippe Costes, a web surfer interested in the theory, sent Jean-Pierre Houdin an extract from the "Journal of Egyptian Archaeology ", Vol. 30 (Dec., 1944), p. 74, in which ther is talk of storing bales of rice straw in the form of pyramids at the Aboukir cardboard factory. These feature an internal ramp for workers to stack the bales, as with the sandbags filmed in 2005/2006 by Bulle Plexiglass. Further proof of an Egyptian technique that must date back to the dawn of time.
In April and May, Jean-Pierre Houdin travels to Cairo to shoot 2 documentaries on the theory: one in French for France Télévision (FR2/FR5) and another in English for National Geographic and the BBC.
Japan's NHK produces its own version using footage from the French documentary. Bruno Neyret, an entrepreneur based in Cairo, provides much-appreciated assistance to Jean-Pierre Houdin during his stay. During this he enters all the relieving chambers above the King's Chamber, which are inaccessible to tourists. In addition, Dr Bob Brier and a cameraman are allowed to climb the pyramid up to the notch visible on the North/East edge. On checking the general appearance of the latter, they discover a room adjoining the notch, of astonishing dimensions: 3 m by 3 m, 2.50 m high, with a ceiling of limestone blocks forming a vault, like a cupola; very important point: it is not dug out, but built.
Jean-Pierre Houdin quickly produces a sketch reconstructing the area.
This piece had been forgotten by history; it would take another 2 years to find out more about it.
Following this discovery, Dassault Systèmes launches new studies with Jean-Pierre Houdin: a 3D model of the room, created by Jacques Jaworski, to understand its construction, and an infrared thermographic simulation on a digital model of the pyramid. The calculations are based on two virtual Khufu pyramids, one without an internal ramp, the other with.
In addition, following Jean-Pierre Houdin's demonstration that the Egyptians designed the pyramid on the basis of its axes and a grid, Alain Dugousset re-models the entire pyramid according to the Egyptian measurements of the time, i.e. the cubit, the palm and the finger.
Team Khufu continues to present "Khufu Revealed" with great success (The Géode, Chalons-sur-Marne, Le Creusot).
Since mid-February, in addition to the monthly presentations at The Géode by Jean-Pierre Houdin, a short "school" version with commentary by Egyptology students is being offered 4 days a week. This educational program is due to run for at least 2 years.
The end of the year is very active for the dissemination of theory thanks to several events:
On October 14, release in the USA of the book co-written by Bob Brier and Jean-Pierre Houdin, "The Secret of the Great Pyramid ", published by Smithsonian/HarperCollins.
On October 21, as part of the annual Microsoft Innovation Forum, Jean-Pierre Houdin and Dr Bob Brier give a talk at the company's headquarters in Redmond (Seattle). An internal poll names the Khufu presentation as the most outstanding.
On October 21, the same book is published in French by Fayard, with a preface by François de Closets.
On November 16, the documentary "Unlocking the Great Pyramid" is premiered on the National Geographic Channel to open the annual Exploration Week; it is ranked No. 2 among the most viewed documentaries in the Archaeology category!
On December 28, Florence Tran's documentary "Khufu Revealed" is broadcast on France 2 (over 1.8 million viewers that day), and is also shown in other European countries (Switzerland, Belgium, Italy, etc.) to great acclaim.
In the press, following this series of events, numerous articles are published on the theory and on the discovery of the room behind the notch. Gradually, the theory gains widespread acceptance as the one that best explains the construction of Khufu’s Pyramid, and public reaction to it is consistently positive, with the theory's logic and simplicity winning support.
KHEOPS RÉVÉLÉ
2008
Gédéon/FR2/FR5/
Dassault Systèmes
French
UNLOCKING THE GREAT PYRAMID
2008
PSL/National Geographic
English