The nine-meter-long and 2.1-meter-wide corridor was imaged with endoscopic cameras.

Officials said the corridor could lead to another yet unexplored chamber of the pyramid, or it could have been built to relieve pressure on the pyramid's entrance.

The corridor was first detected in 2016 using an imaging technique called muography.

A team of scientists from the ScanPyramids Project observed density changes inside the pyramid by analyzing how muon particles, a type of cosmic ray that stones can partially absorb, enter the pyramid.

With this technique, which did not detract from the stone's properties, an empty space was found behind the north face of the Great Pyramid and approximately 7 meters above the main entrance, in an area with a strip of stone structure.

The resulting images were shared with the public at the press conference held next to the pyramid on Thursday. According to the images, the corridor had walls made of roughly hewn stone blocks and a vaulted stone ceiling.

The 146-metre-high Great Pyramid was built on the Giza plateau by the pharaoh Khufu or Cheops, who ruled from 2609 BC to 2584 BC during the fourth dynasty.

Despite being one of the largest and oldest structures in the world, there is still no consensus on how the pyramid was built.

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said the corridor was a "great discovery" and emphasized that it is also important to understand whether Cheops' burial chamber still exists inside the pyramid.