Editing Great Pyramid of Giza (section)

=== Relieving chambers ===
[[File:Piazzi-plate_13.jpg|thumb|Relieving chambers above the King's Chamber, [[Charles Piazzi Smyth|Smyth]] 1877]]
Above the roof of the King's Chamber are five compartments, named (from lowest upwards) "[[Nathaniel Davison|Davison]]'s Chamber", "[[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Wellington]]'s Chamber", "[[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Nelson]]'s Chamber", "[[Arbuthnot baronets|Lady Arbuthnot]]'s Chamber", and "[[Patrick Campbell (1779–1857)|Campbell]]'s Chamber".

They were presumably intended to safeguard the King's Chamber from the possibility of the roof collapsing under the weight of stone above, hence they are referred to as "relieving chambers".

The granite blocks that divide the chambers have flat bottom sides but roughly shaped top sides, giving all five chambers an irregular floor, but a flat ceiling, with the exception of the uppermost chamber, which has a pointed limestone roof.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=24}}

Nathaniel Davison is credited with the discovery of the lowest of these chambers in 1763, although a French merchant named Maynard informed him of its existence.{{sfn|Vyse|1840b|p=180}} It can be reached through an ancient passage that originates from the top of the south wall of the Grand Gallery.{{sfn|Maragioglio|Rinaldi|1965a|p=24}} The upper four chambers were discovered in 1837 by [[Howard Vyse]] after discovering a crack in the ceiling of the first chamber. This allowed the insertion of a long reed, which, with the employment of gunpowder and boring rods, opened a tunnel upwards through the masonry.{{sfn|Vyse|1840a|p=155, 203pp}} As no access shafts existed for the upper four chambers – unlike Davison's Chamber – they were completely inaccessible until this point.

Numerous graffiti of red [[ochre]] paint were found covering the limestone walls of all four newly discovered chambers. Apart from levelling lines and indication marks for masons, multiple hieroglyphic inscriptions spell out the names of work-gangs. Those names, which were also found in other Egyptian pyramids like that of [[Pyramid of Menkaure|Menkaure]] and [[Pyramid of Sahure|Sahure]], usually included the name of the pharaoh for whom they were working.<ref>{{Cite web|title=How Ancient Egyptians Organized their Labor Force|url=http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aeragram7_1.pdf|pages=11–13|access-date=27 March 2021|archive-date=22 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422084726/http://www.aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/aeragram7_1.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Reisner1931" /> The blocks must have received the inscriptions before the chambers became inaccessible during construction. Their orientation, often sideways or upside down, and their sometimes being partially covered by blocks, seems to indicate that the stones were inscribed before being laid.{{sfn|Perring|1839|loc=Plates V–VII}}

The inscriptions, correctly deciphered only decades after discovery, read as follows:<ref name="Reisner1931" />

* "The gang, The Horus Mededuw-is-the-purifier-of-the-two-lands". Found once in relieving chamber 3. (Mededuw being Khufu's Horus name.)
* "The gang, The Horus Mededuw-is-pure" Found seven times in chamber 4.
* "The gang, Khufu-excites-love" Found once in chamber 5 (top chamber).
* "The gang, The-white-crown-of Khnumkhuwfuw-is-powerful" Found once in chambers 2 and 3, ten times in chamber 4 and twice in chamber 5. (Khnum-Khufu being Khufu's full birth name.)