Scientists who revealed an underground 'hidden city' in Egypt have announced the discovery of a second city they say 'proves' the existence of a massive subterranean complex linking the Giza pyramids 2,000 feet beneath the surface.

The newly-discovered shafts and chambers could rewrite history if confirmed to be true.  

The team of Italian researchers first claimed to have uncovered vast underground structures below the Khafre pyramid in March, igniting fierce backlash from mainstream archaeologists who called the findings 'false' and lacking scientific basis.

Famed archaeologist Dr Zahi Hawass is the team's biggest critic, saying it is impossible for the ground-penetrating radar to see thousands of feet below the surface.

Undeterred by the scrutiny, the team has now reportedly detected similar shafts beneath the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three main pyramids at Giza, months after their initial findings below Khafre. 

The Giza complex, west of Cairo, includes the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre, and Menkaure, along with the Great Sphinx. All shrouded in mystery due to their unclear construction methods, precise astronomical alignment, and still-debated purpose. 

Filippo Biondi, a radar expert from University of Strathclyde in Scotland and co-author of the research, told the Daily Mail that their data shows a 90 percent probability that the Menkaure shares the same pillars as Khafre. 

The team arrived at the probability 'through objective analysis of the tomography data, which, as experimental measurements, strongly indicate that the structures we identified beneath Khafre are also present under Menkaure.'

'We firmly believe that the Giza structures are interconnected, reinforcing our view that the pyramids are merely the tip of the iceberg of a colossal underground infrastructural complex,' Biondi said. 

'This network likely consists of a dense system of tunnels linking the main subterranean structures.' 

The controversial research, not yet peer-reviewed or published in a scientific journal, captivated the world when it was revealed, even mesmerizing podcast star Joe Rogan who called it 'fascinating.' 

However, famed archaeologist Dr Zahi Hawass deemed the discovery 'bulls***' due to his scientists saying it is not possible for the technology to see that deep in the ground.

While the Italian researchers' findings have yet to be proven, or disproven, the team is still moving forward with their work.  

Images of the pillars below Menkaure appear to be identical to those beneath Khafre, Biondi said. 

'The measurements reveal pillar-like structures with consistent characteristics,' he added.

'Given that Menkaure is smaller than Khafre, we believe the number of pillars is likely even but fewer than those under Khafre.'

Those under Khafre were estimated to measure more than 2,000 feet long and feature what looked like spiral-like structures wrapping around each of the eight. 

The pillars beneath Menkaure further support the team's theory that a 'megastucture' sits below the sands of the Giza plateau. 

When asked about the purpose of the hidden structures, Biondi said: 'At this stage, we’re still gathering information to thoroughly study the matter, but we can confidently say that the operation of this structure likely involves the natural elements: air, water, fire and earth.

'Discoveries like these under Menkaure challenge us to rethink our understanding of ancient Egyptian history and humanity’s past, opening new perspectives on our origins and capabilities.'

Biondi and his team proposed that the structures were built by a lost ancient civilization around 38,000 years old.

However, archaeologists have estimated the three pyramids to be only around 4,500 years old. 

The Italian researchers' timeline is based on a theory that a highly advanced prehistoric society was wiped out by a global cataclysm, possibly caused by a comet impact, around 12,800 years ago.

According to this theory, the resulting floods and chaos erased most traces of this civilization, whose survivors passed down knowledge of astronomy, engineering, and sacred architecture to later cultures, including the ancient Egyptians.

Dr James Kennett, a geologist at the University of California Santa Barbara and a major proponent of the comet-impact hypothesis, told the Daily Mail that a highly advanced Stone Age culture in North America — the Clovis people — mysteriously vanished at the same time the comet is believed to have struck Earth.

'There is evidence of a major population decline in North America beginning at 12,800 years ago,' he said.

'That lasted a few hundred years, and then they started to come back — but as a different culture.'

While Kennett can't confirm the same impact effects occurred in Egypt, he points to impact evidence found at Abu Hureyra in Syria, which is around 1,000 miles from Giza, as compelling.

If debris struck that region, he said, it could have triggered massive flooding from the Mediterranean Sea and Nile River, potentially engulfing parts of ancient Egypt.

The flood narrative echoes surprisingly well with ancient Egyptian mythology.

Andrew Collins, a researcher of prehistoric civilizations, notes that hieroglyphs on the walls of the Temple of Edfu — some 780 miles south of Giza — reference a devastating flood that wiped out a mysterious civilization referred to as the 'Eldest Ones.'

According to Collins, the temple's inscriptions (known as the Edfu Building Texts) describe a 'sacred domain' in the Giza region that was destroyed by an 'enemy serpent' plunging the world into darkness and submerging the land under a great flood.

Collins believes the enemy serpent could be a metaphor for a comet due to ancient cultures using the creature to symbolize celestial events.

The serpent in the Edfu Texts is described as a destructive force disrupting the primeval island, sometimes linked to a 'Great Leap' or a sudden, chaotic event like.

'[The text describes] them storing sacred objects in an underground structure called the Underworld of the Soul,' Collins told the Daily Mail.

'This I am sure relates to Giza's cave system and any structures it may contain.'

Though Collins' interpretations are widely rejected by mainstream Egyptologists, he  argues that the mythical 'Island of Creation' mentioned in the texts may symbolize a long-lost civilization at Giza, a sacred homeland destroyed in a cataclysm and later memorialized in myth.

However, mainstream scholars counter that the Edfu inscriptions are symbolic and that there's no direct reference to Giza itself.

They interpret the texts as mythological, with the surviving gods migrating to Egypt after the flood, not originating there.

Still, Collins insists that the sophistication of ancient cultures like the Gravettian peoples of Russia, who built rectilinear dwellings, wore tailored clothing, and possibly tracked lunar movements as early as 30,000 years ago, suggests that the official timeline of human history may be missing some vital chapters.

'Just look at the immense sophistication of the Gravettian peoples of Sungir and Kostenki in Russia,' he said.

'As much as 30,000 years ago, they were building rectilinear structures that might well have been aligned to the moon, experimenting with agriculture and wearing tailored clothing. They looked and acted like people living in medieval times.'