New analysis lends weight to 'Google Earth' pyramids discovery

Mysterious, pyramid-like structures spotted in the Egyptian desert by an amateur satellite archaeologist may indeed be long-lost pyramids, a new investigation has found.
Angela Micol, from North Carolina, made the discovery of the possible pyramid complexes using Google Earth, last year.
One site in Upper Egypt, just 19 km from the city of Abu Sidhum along the Nile, featured four mounds. The two larger mounds at this site are approximately 76.2 metres in width.
Some 144 km north near the Fayum oasis, the second possible pyramid complex revealed a four-sided, truncated mound approximately 150 feet wide and three smaller mounds in a diagonal alignment.

Micol told 'Discovery News' that peculiar features have been uncovered around the structures during a preliminary ground proofing expedition, revealing cavities and shafts.
"Those mounds are definitely hiding an ancient site below them," said Mohamed Aly Soliman, who led a preliminary on-the-ground expedition near Abu Sidhum.

"What made us sure those mounds are hiding pyramids was a special cavity and metal detector we used over the mounds," said Soliman.
"The detector we used showed an underground tunnel heading north on both the big mound. It also signalled metal was present in the mounds," he said.
"Most Egyptian pyramids have north facing entrance tunnels, so this is another promising piece of evidence we have found," he added.

According to Micol, the Egyptian team believes they have identified a temple or habitation site near the site and a row of what may be mastaba tombs adjacent to the mounds.
Moreover, it has also emerged that the structures discovered by Micol are labelled as pyramids on several old and rare maps.
Micol said that after the buzz of the discovery simmered down, she was contacted by an Egyptian couple who claimed to have important historical references for both sites.
The couple, Medhat Kamal El-Kady, former ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, and his wife Haidy Farouk Abdel-Hamid, a lawyer, former counsellor at the Egyptian presidency and adviser of border issues and international issues of sovereignty, are collectors of maps, old documents, books and rare political and historical manuscripts.

According to the couple, the formations spotted by Micol in the Fayum and near Abu Sidhum were both labelled as pyramid complex sites in several old maps and documents.