Egyptian officials said Saturday there is a 90 percent chance there is a hidden chamber inside King Tutankhamen’s tomb, a find that could be one of the biggest Egyptian archaeological discoveries in decades.
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He said experts were “approximately 90 per cent” sure.
The archaeologist also believes Tutankhamun’s tomb and death mask were originally made for Nefertiti, who is strongly believed to be his stepmother.
“The radar, behind the north wall (of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber) seems pretty clear”.
“If I’m right, this is simply part of the entrance to the tomb of Nefertiti”, Reeves said.
Name within a name…
The tomb of Tutankhamun, who may have been Nefertiti’s son, was found in 1922. “I think it is Nefertiti and all the evidence points in that direction”. The results are expected to be announced in a month. While the faceplace has been replaced with his image, the rest may have been taken from the heretic queen’s burial.
Thus, he was entombed in what was initially the tomb of Nefertiti, who’d died 10 years before in a hurry.
King Tut, as he is affectionately known, died around 1323 BC.
Nicholas Reeves, a British archeologist at the University of Arizona, said during the news conference that data would be sent to Japan for further study.
Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty added: “We said earlier there was a 60 percent chance there is something behind the walls. Her full story has remained a mystery, involving experts around the world in an ongoing search for her tomb”. Others believe it could the resting place of Kiya, another of Akhenaten’s wives. Some scholars have long speculated that Nefertiti was the mother of King Tut. “The lady was worshipping Aton with Akhenaten for years”.
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The scans were then used to produce a facsimile of the 3,300-year-old tomb near the site of the original Valley of the Kings in Luxor. Since Tut died at such a young age, at 19, it’s possible that his burial was rushed and that his tomb merely represents the outer chamber of a much more extensive mausoleum.
