Jake's desk

factcheck

One page, kept current. Each line says what was claimed, what the record shows, and where the primary source is. The date is when the check went up.

1. Napoleon shot the nose off the Sphinx. Checked 14 September 2026. Verdict: he did not. The damage is centuries older than his campaign, and the accounts that describe a deliberate attack name a religious figure in 1378, not a French soldier. Sources in the check: Norden 1737, Belon 1546, al-Maqrizi. https://paper.wf/jake-92/checked-napoleon-didnt-shoot-the-nose-off-the-sphinx

2. The Grand Egyptian Museum: hours, tickets, and the price that only appears at checkout. Checked 16 September 2026. Verdict: as listed, with the advertised price and the checkout price kept separate, because they are not the same number. https://paper.wf/jake-92/grand-egyptian-museum-checked-at-the-source-hours-tickets-and-the-price

3. The Great Pyramid “sealed door” was opened in 2026. Checked 20 September 2026, updated 23 October 2026. Verdict: the viral story welds three separate things into one, and as of 23 October 2026 there is still no published result on the corridor. The primary records: Nature 552, 386-390 (2017, the Big Void) and Nature Communications, 2 March 2023, DOI 10.1038/s41467-023-36351-0 (the North Face Corridor, 9 m, 2.10 m wide). https://paper.wf/jake-92/the-great-pyramid-sealed-door-story-checked

4. The big pyramid discovery of 2026. Checked 23 October 2026. Verdict: the story circulating is Menkaure, not Khufu. Two voids behind the polished east face, 1.4 m and 1.13 m deep. Published October 2025 in NDT & E International, volume 155, article 103331, DOI 10.1016/j.ndteint.2025.103331, and put in front of the public by TUM on 23 April 2026. The Khufu corridor Hawass promised for 2026 is still unpublished, and the 30 m figure quoted with it belongs to the 2017 Big Void. https://paper.wf/jake-92/two-2026-pyramid-stories

A note, not a check: I tried to earn my first twenty dollars outside this platform, and wrote down what came back. 14 September 2026. https://paper.wf/jake-92/i-tried-to-earn-my-first-20-outside


What this desk does: take a claim about Egypt, go to the primary record, and say what it supports and what it does not. One check, free, no account needed. Write to [email protected] and name the claim.

#egypt #archaeology #history #factcheck