For centuries, the Giza Plateau has stood as one of the most intensively studied archaeological landscapes on Earth, yet it continues to inspire speculation that much of its story remains hidden underground.

While the pyramids and the Sphinx dominate the surface, ancient texts, early explorers’ accounts, and modern investigations have repeatedly suggested the presence of subterranean structures beneath the plateau.

In recent decades, this idea gained renewed attention following claims by British researcher Andrew Collins and his colleagues, who argued that a forgotten cave system existed beneath a little-known structure now referred to as the Tomb of the Birds.

Historical references to underground passages at Giza are not new.

Roman-era writers described fissures and winding tunnels beneath the plateau, while medieval Arab historians recorded traditions claiming that subterranean chambers were built before a great flood to preserve ancient knowledge.

In the twentieth century, psychic Edgar Cayce popularized the idea of a “Hall of Records,” said to be hidden near the Sphinx and sealed thousands of years ago.

Although repeated drilling and radar surveys around the Sphinx failed to uncover definitive proof of such a chamber, belief in hidden structures persisted.

Andrew Collins approached the mystery from a different angle.

Rather than focusing on the Sphinx, he turned his attention to the western and northwestern areas of the plateau—regions largely overlooked by modern archaeological surveys.

His interest was partly inspired by ancient Egyptian texts describing the Duat, a sacred underworld through which the soul of the pharaoh traveled, and partly by astronomical symbolism.

Collins and engineer Rodney Hale examined the relationship between the Giza monuments and the constellation Cygnus, long associated across cultures with birds, the Milky Way, and passage to the afterlife.

Their research suggested that the three pyramids align closely with the wing stars of Cygnus, while the constellation’s brightest star, Deneb, appeared to correspond not to a visible monument but to an area on the northwest edge of the plateau.

This location coincided with an obscure rock-cut tomb marked on nineteenth-century survey maps by British engineer John Perring.

The map identified the area as containing “excavated tombs and pits of bird mummies,” a detail that intrigued Collins due to Cygnus’s association with birds and with Egyptian deities such as Horus and Thoth.

Further investigation revealed that early explorers Colonel Howard Vyse and John Perring had entered this tomb in 1837, carefully removing the remains of a large bird, yet leaving little documentation of what lay beyond.

The site appeared to have vanished from later academic literature.

Collins and his wife Sue visited the tomb in 2007 and found extensive evidence of a bird cult, including niches likely used to store mummified animals.

However, they initially found no obvious entrance to deeper chambers, leading them to believe that part of the structure had been overlooked or concealed.

Additional clues emerged from the rediscovery of the memoirs of Henry Salt, a British diplomat active in Egypt in the early nineteenth century.

Salt described exploring extensive catacombs west of the pyramids with Giovanni Caviglia, penetrating hundreds of feet into the rock through narrow, labyrinthine passages.

These accounts referred to entrances hidden from view and chambers connected by complex tunnels, yet their precise location had long remained uncertain.

Research by Nigel Skinner-Simpson suggested that Salt’s “catacombs” matched the location of the Tomb of the Birds.

In March 2008, Collins, Sue Collins, and Skinner-Simpson returned to the site for a more thorough examination.

Inside the tomb, they noticed a narrow crack in a rear wall that had previously gone unnoticed.

Behind it lay a large cavern filled with bats and thick layers of guano.

This initial chamber, later called “the Dome,” led into passages extending deep into the plateau.

Despite extreme conditions—darkness, heat, low oxygen, and swarming bats—the team explored several hundred feet into the system, documenting branching tunnels and narrowing corridors.

On subsequent visits, better equipped with lights and masks, they reached a distance of approximately 350 feet from the entrance.

At the far end, the cave narrowed into a low, tube-like passage barely two feet in diameter.

Concerned about safety hazards, including low oxygen and the presence of animals, the explorers chose not to proceed further.

Even so, the extent of the caves confirmed that the structure was far more significant than previously acknowledged.

Following the discovery, Collins reported the findings to Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, headed at the time by Dr.

Zahi Hawass.

Initially, Hawass publicly denied that any cave system existed, stating that the explorers had mistaken parts of a known tomb for natural caves.

This denial sparked widespread debate, particularly as Collins’s claims aligned closely with historical descriptions by Salt and others.

The controversy intensified when Egyptian authorities conducted their own clearing of the tomb.

During this process, previously blocked stairways were uncovered, leading to a substantial lower-level complex consisting of a long subterranean gallery and multiple side chambers.

These features closely matched Perring’s nineteenth-century survey but had been omitted from later plans.

Despite this, access to the site was soon restricted, with metal gates installed over the entrances.

In a surprising turn, a 2010 episode of the History Channel series Chasing Mummies documented Hawass and a film crew entering the very cave system he had previously denied.

The episode showed the team navigating bat-filled tunnels for roughly the same distance described by Collins, including reaching the narrow stone tube at the end.

Although the program framed the exploration as disproving alternative theories, it effectively confirmed the existence and extent of the caves.

The episode’s broadcast vindicated claims that a significant cave system exists beneath the northwest Giza Plateau.

However, it did little to resolve questions about the caves’ purpose, origin, or full extent.

Collins and his colleagues argued that geological evidence and satellite-based ground-penetrating radar imagery suggest the tunnels may extend further, possibly toward the second pyramid.

Two faint linear anomalies detected by radar appear to connect the cave area with central regions of the plateau, though these findings remain unverified through excavation.

Speculation regarding the function of the caves ranges from natural formations adapted for ritual use to purpose-built sacred spaces associated with Thoth, the god of wisdom and records.

The presence of bird mummies, particularly ibis remains, supports a symbolic link to Thoth and to Hermes, his Greek counterpart.

Ancient traditions claimed that Hermes was buried at Giza with a legendary emerald tablet containing primordial knowledge.

While such accounts are mythological, Collins has suggested that references to a “green tablet” may symbolize an underground chamber rather than a literal object.

Egyptian creation texts, particularly those preserved at the Temple of Edfu, describe a sacred underground realm accessed from a primeval mound, where the essence of creation was stored.

These narratives lend cultural context to the idea that subterranean chambers at Giza held profound religious significance, even if they were not repositories of lost technology or forgotten civilizations.

Despite the importance of the discovery, comprehensive archaeological investigation of the cave system has yet to take place.

Political sensitivities, conservation concerns, and institutional resistance have limited access.

As a result, the caves remain largely unmapped, and their full scale is unknown.

Whether they connect to other underground features near the pyramids or the Sphinx remains an open question.

What is clear is that the Giza Plateau continues to challenge assumptions about ancient Egypt.

The rediscovery of the Tomb of the Birds cave system demonstrates that even in one of the world’s most studied archaeological sites, significant features can remain hidden in plain sight for centuries.

As with many discoveries at Giza, the caves raise more questions than they answer, reinforcing the sense that the plateau still guards secrets beneath its timeless stone monuments.

For now, the caves lie sealed and silent, awaiting future exploration.

Like the Sphinx itself, they stand as a reminder that the story of Giza is far from complete, and that beneath the sands of history, new chapters may still be waiting to be uncovered.