Hidden chamber could hold Tut’s step-mummy
A new radar survey of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings has revived theories that it could conceal the burial place of ancient Egypt’s mysterious Queen Nefertiti.
The theory, first proposed by the British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, was rejected two years ago after an initial survey of the tomb found no sign of the hidden chamber that he thought would be found behind its walls.
However, a second, fuller survey whose results have now been revealed by the journal Nature, found indications of a hollow area set a few metres back, parallel to the entrance tunnel.
The study said the corridor-like space had now been reported to the Egyptian supreme council of antiquities for further investigation.
The find was described by one archaeologist as ‘‘tremendously exciting’’.
The tomb of Nefertiti, a queen from one of ancient Egypt’s most renowned royal families, has never been discovered, an abiding mystery that has set archaeologists’ hearts racing ever since Tutankhamun’s burial place was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922.
He is thought to have been Nefertiti’s stepson, and reigned from around 1334-1325BC.
His father Akhenaten, Nefertiti’s husband, established the first monotheistic religion in Egypt, overthrowing the pantheon of gods, a revolution that came to an end after he died and the priestly caste reasserted itself.
Tutankhamun’s death at the age of just 19, from causes that have never been nailed down, have only deepened the historical speculation about a key period of ancient history.
The fact that this relatively short-lived and minor pharaoh’s tomb, once opened, was found to contain such a wealth of riches makes archaeologists suspect that if his stepmother’s were ever found, and it remained unlooted, its contents would be even more spectacular.
The theory of the ‘‘hidden chamber’’ has divided archaeologists in Egypt and beyond for years. Reeves postulated in 2015 that lines and cracks in Tutankhamun’s tomb walls indicated there was another chamber, but early radar readings were inconclusive. The latest survey suggests a chamber 1.8 metres high and 9.1m long, parallel to Tutankhamun’s entrance chamber.
Reeves’ theory was backed by Mamdouh Eldamaty, a former minister of antiquities, who oversaw the latest survey and told Nature he would ‘‘not give up easily’’ in his quest to find the tomb. However, Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s most celebrated archaeologist, said radar surveys had a poor record of detecting tombs and that his own searches had never found any potential entrance.
The fact that only a single chamber has been found so far, if at all, lends some weight to a compromise theory: that the tomb is real, but instead of Nefertiti contains the remains of Tutankhamun’s princess bride and half-sister, Ankhesenamun. – The Times