JTB Photo via Getty Images
世界最大として知られる「クフ王のピラミッド」の謎が、日本の技術で解明されるかもしれない。
エジプト考古省は10月25日、地球に降り注ぐ宇宙線を利用し、国内のピラミッド内部を調査すると発表した。日本の最新デジタル技術を活用して、破壊せずに内部の構造を把握する試みで、未知の部屋が見つかれば、世紀の大発見につながる可能性がある。産経ニュースなどが報じた。
NHKニュースによると、今回の調査には、エジプトと日本、それに、フランスとカナダの計4カ国の研究チームが参加。日本チームは、宇宙から降り注ぐ「宇宙線」と呼ばれる粒子が大気と衝突した際にできる、「ミューオン」という素粒子の一種を利用するという。
ミューオンには、岩などの物質を通り抜ける性質があり、ピラミッドを通り抜けたミューオンを観測することで、レントゲン写真のように内部の構造を透視できる。この技術は、日本ではこれまでに、火山の観測や、東京電力福島第一原子力発電所の建屋の調査に活用済みだ。
カイロで開かれた会見で、名古屋大学の森島邦博（もりしま・くにひろ）特任助教は「素粒子実験で開発した技術を別の分野でも利用できるのは有意義なことだと思う」と話したという。
時事ドットコムによると、調査対象となるのは、首都カイロ近郊ギザにあるクフ王のピラミッドのほか、ダハシュールの「屈折ピラミッド」。約4500年前にクフ王の父、スネフェル王が建造して言われており、上半分と下半分で傾斜角が異なる特異な外観が特徴だ。クフ王のピラミッドと並んで世界遺産に指定されている。
世界のピラミッド
ダハシュールの「屈折ピラミッド」(01 of26)
(AP Photo/Coralie Carlson) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
EGYPT MODEL PYRAMID(02 of26)
An Egyptian security officer passes by King Senefru\'s Red Pyramid, nearly 4,500 years-old Pyramid, which was open to the public for the first time on Saturday, Sept. 28, 1996. Senefru\'s pyramid is located in the midst of a desert area some 25 km (15 miles) south of the Giza plateau. (AP Photo/Mohamed el-Dakhakhny) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Khufu's Pyramid Complex (III)(03 of26)
AWIB-ISAW: Khufu\'s Pyramid Complex (III)\nThe pyramid tomb built for Khufu who ruled during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt\'s Old Kingdom. Khufu was the second pharaoh of the Fourth Dynasty but built the first and the largest of the three major pyramids at Giza. This pyramid is known as the Great Pyramid of Giza and is one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. This photo shows the entrance into the pyramid a little ways up and you can see its immense size in comparison to the people walking around it. by Iris Fernandez (2009)\ncopyright: 2009 Iris Fernandez (used with permission)\nphotographed place: (Giza) [pleiades.stoa.org/places/442962448/]\n\nPublished by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World as part of the Ancient World Image Bank (AWIB). Further information: [www.nyu.edu/isaw/awib.htm]. (credit:isawnyu/Flickr)
Mideast Egypt Morgan Freeman(04 of26)
Actor Morgan Freeman, center, visits the historical site of Giza Pyramids, just outside Cairo, Egypt, Friday, Oct. 23, 2015. Freeman is in Egypt to work on a National Geographic documentary titled, \"The Story of God.\" (AP Photo/Amr Nabil) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Cairo pyramids, Dec 2008 - 69(05 of26)
The Sphinx in the foreground, and one of the main Giza pyramids in the background. Nothing particularly unique about this photo; I included it only because I wanted to provide some indication of the scale and location of the two famous objects.\n\nNote: this photo was published in a French Terra Nova blog titled "LâEgypte sous lâAncien Empire." It was also published in an Apr 5, 2010 blog titled "Top 10 Family Vacation Spots." It was also published in an Apr 19, 2010 blog titled "Travel Monday - Cairo, Egypt." And it was published in a Jun 11, 2010 blog titled "f [ããªã¼ç»å] 建ç¯ã»å»ºé ç©, éºè·¡, ãã©ããã, ã¨ã¸ãã, ã¹ãã£ã³ã¯ã¹." It was also published in an Aug 27, 2010 blog titled Egypt\'s Solution to Cairo\'s Congestion: Build More Cairos." And it was published in an Oct 18, 2010 blog titled "10. Stick to what made the company successful in the past."\n\nMoving into 2011, the photo was published in an undated (early Aug 2011) Best Flights blog about flights to/from Cairo. And it was published in a Nov 19, 2011 blog titled "Pictures of Egypt Pyramids."\n\nMoving into 2012, the photo was published in a Mar 30, 2012 blog titled "åãã¦ããã¢ããä»æ§." It was also published in a Sep 4, 2012 blog titled "Cairo â A jóia do Nilo." And it was published in a Nov 3, 2012 blog titled "Free Educational Technology: Exploring Giza 3D."\n\nMoving into 2014, the photo was published in a May 22, 2014 blog titled "Cosa fare in Egitto."\n\n************************************************\n\nThese photographs were taken on Dec 18, 2008 during a tour that included the Sphinx, the 4,500-year old Cheops pyramid, and the two nearby, smaller pyramids known as Chephren and Mycerinus on the Giza Plateau -- as well as a visit to the Solar Boat Museum on the north side of Cheops to see the 141-foot reassembled funerary boat for Pharoah Cheops. (credit:Ed Yourdon/Flickr)
Pyramids(06 of26)
Pyramids, Cairo Egypt, April 2006 (credit:Mathew Knott/Flickr)
Pyramids(07 of26)
Pyramids, Cairo Egypt, April 2006 (credit:Mathew Knott/Flickr)
Step Pyramid, Saqqara(08 of26)
The Step Pyramid was built by Imhotep 2650 BC for Zoser. The Step Pyramid is Egypt\'s and the world\'s earliest stone monument.\n\nDietmar Temps\nwww.dietmartemps.de (credit:Dietmar Temps/Flickr)
Egypt Excavation Sakkara(09 of26)
A newly discovered tomb, presently being excavated at a historic Sakkara desert town site, in the shadow of the Step Pyramid in February 1986. Dutch archeologist Jacobus Van Djick, of Leiden Museum, and the expeditionâs field leader, British archeologist Geoffrey Martin, claim to have found an ante room of the tomb of Maya, an official of Pharaoh Tutankhamunâs government. The burial place of Maya is an estimated 3,300-years-old and controversy has developed over the significance of the find, which has been described as the most important since Tutankhamunâs tomb was opened in 1922. (AP Photo/Paola Crociani) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Karima Pyramids(10 of26)
Some of the pyramids near Karima in Northern Sudan. These pyramids were built in the 8th Century BCE near the temple known as Jebel Barkal that was built in the 15th Centruy BC by the Egyptian and dedicated to the god Amun. (credit:Mark Fischer/Flickr)
Pyramid of Ellinikon 3(11 of26)
This modest pyramid in Argolis is the best preserved of the few visible in Greece. With its internal chamber and entrance passage, it\'s hard to avoid the obvious interpretation of it as a tomb. It is mentioned by the traveller and writer Pausanias (2nd century AD) as being associated with legends of some 3000 years previously. However, many modern scholars date it to merely 4th century BC. \n\nTo my untutored eye the masonry is in the same "cyclopean" style as the bronze age Mycenean era sites that we also visited. This is the best preserved face. It shows one horizontal joint that seems to be level all round the structure (here just above the top of the grass), above which the masonry gets more erratic. One half of this face shows blocks laid in roughly horizontal courses; the other half has blocks dressed into irregular shapes in an apparent jumble. The blocks also get smaller towards the top, which no doubt contributes to the top of the structure being missing.\n\nOff the tourist trail but not hard to find. One other solitary photographer turned up just after me and we did a sort of dance round it, keeping out of each other\'s shots. (credit:electropod/Flickr)
Pyramid of the Sun - Teotihuacan, from the South-East corner(12 of26)
Pyramid is 234 feet high, 734 feet on each side, started about 100 AD and built by peopel called Teotihuacanos - The \'Sun\' and \'Moon\' labels were added by the Spanish, no evidence to explain their original meanings or names. (credit:jay galvin/Flickr)
Mexico Mayan Calendar 2012(13 of26)
People gather in front of the Kukulkan Pyramid in Chichen Itza, Mexico, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. American seer Star Johnsen-Moser led a whooping, dancing, drum-beating ceremony Thursday in the heart of Mayan territory to consult several of the life-sized crystal skulls, which adherents claim were passed down by the ancient Maya. (AP Photo/Israel Leal) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Chichen Itza Pyramid in Riviera Maya, Mexico(14 of26)
Chichen Itza The main pyramid El Castillo is also called Temple of Kukulcan. The Maya name means "At the mouth of the well of the Itza" Located in the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico. And also see more things when you stay at Grand Velas All Suites & SPA Resort (rivieramaya.grandvelas.com) in Riviera Maya - Quintana Roo (MX). (credit:Grand Velas Riviera Maya/Flickr)
Mexico Mayan Calendar 2012(15 of26)
People gather in front of the Kukulkan Pyramid in Chichen Itza, Mexico, Thursday, Dec. 20, 2012. American seer Star Johnsen-Moser led a whooping, dancing, drum-beating ceremony Thursday in the heart of Mayan territory to consult several of the life-sized crystal skulls, which adherents claim were passed down by the ancient Maya. (AP Photo/Israel Leal) (credit:ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Structure II(16 of26)
MEXICO - MARCH 01: Structure II, Becan, Campeche, Mexico. Mayan civilisation, 3rd-10th century. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) (credit:DEA / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE via Getty Images)
Pyramid of Magician(17 of26)
MEXICO - MARCH 01: Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal (Unesco World Heritage List, 1996), Yucatan, Mexico. Mayan civilisation, 6th-10th century. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) (credit:DEA / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE via Getty Images)
Pyramid of Magician(18 of26)
MEXICO - MARCH 01: Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal (Unesco World Heritage List, 1996), Yucatan, Mexico. Mayan civilisation, 6th-10th century. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) (credit:DEA / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE via Getty Images)
Xunantunich pyramid "El Castillo"(19 of26)
Xunantunich (pronounced /ÊunantunitÍ¡Ê/) is an Ancient Maya archaeological site in western Belize, about 80 miles (130 km) west of Belize City, in the Cayo District. Xunantunich is located atop a ridge above the Mopan River, well within sight of the Guatemala border â which is a mere 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) to the west.[1] It served as a Maya civic ceremonial center in the Late and Terminal Classic periods to the Belize Valley region.[2] At this time, when the region was at its peak, nearly 200,000 people lived in Belize. From Wikipedia (credit:rpphotos/Flickr)
The Palace(20 of26)
MEXICO - MARCH 01: The Palace, on the left, and the Temple of the Inscriptions, ca 675, Palenque (Unesco World Heritage List, 1987), Chiapas, Mexico. Mayan civilisation, 7th-8th century. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) (credit:DEA / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE via Getty Images)
Temple of Cross(21 of26)
MEXICO - MARCH 01: Temple of the Cross, Palenque (Unesco World Heritage List, 1987), Chiapas, Mexico. Mayan civilisation, 7th-8th century. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) (credit:DEA / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE via Getty Images)
Louvre and its pyramid(22 of26)
After passing through from the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel you can find a great view of the building ahead, with the I M Pei, or better known as the Louvre Pyramid, in the courtyard of the building.\n\nSee more www.eutouring.com (credit:eutouring/Flickr)
The pyramid known as Castle(23 of26)
MEXICO - MARCH 01: The pyramid known as The Castle, Nohoch Mul Group or Group C, Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Mayan civilisation. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) (credit:DEA / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE via Getty Images)
The pyramid known as La Iglesia(24 of26)
MEXICO - MARCH 01: The pyramid known as La Iglesia (The Church), Coba Group or Group B, Coba, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Mayan civilisation, 6th-10th century. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) (credit:DEA / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE via Getty Images)
The Five-tier pyramid(25 of26)
MEXICO - MARCH 01: The Five-tier pyramid, Great Acropolis, Edzna, Campeche, Mexico. Mayan civilisation, 7th-9th century. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) (credit:DEA / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE via Getty Images)
The Great Pyramid, Muyil, Quintana Roo(26 of26)
MEXICO - MARCH 01: The Great Pyramid, Muyil, Quintana Roo, Mexico. Mayan civilisation. (Photo by DeAgostini/Getty Images) (credit:DEA / ARCHIVIO J. LANGE via Getty Images)
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