Secret rooms in King Tut’s tomb? What riches loom?

Announcement fuels hopes of royal treasure, mummies

CAIRO— Scans of King Tut’s burial chamber have revealed two hidden rooms, Egypt’s antiquities minister said Thursday — a discovery that could intensify speculation that the chambers contain the remains of the famed Queen Nefertiti.

Mamdouh el-Damaty told reporters the secret chambers may contain metal or organic material, but he declined to comment on whether royal treasure or mummies could be inside. Analysis of the scans made by a Japanese team showed chambers that would be scanned again at the end of the month to get a better idea of what may lie inside, he said.

“It means a rediscovery of Tutankhamun . . . for Egypt it is a very big discovery, it could be the discovery of the century,” el-Damaty said. “It is very important for Egyptian history and for all of the world.”

The discovery could shine new light on one of ancient Egypt’s most turbulent times, and one prominent researcher has theorized that Nefertiti’s remains could be inside. British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves speculates that Tutankhamun, who died at the age of19, may have been rushed into an outer chamber of what was originally Nefertiti’s tomb, which archeologists have yet to find.

Famed for her beauty, Nefertiti was the subject of a famous 3,300-yearold bust. Nefertiti was one of the wives of Tutankhamun’s father, the Pharaoh Akhenaten.

El-Damaty said it was too early to tell what the metal and organic material could be, saying only that he thinks the new chambers could contain the tomb of a member of Tutankhamun’s family.