Tutankhamun’s mother – Queen Nefertiti – played a major political and religious role in the 14th century BC, making her tomb and mummy one of the most sought after prize in Egyptology.
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Mapping the interiors of Egypt’s pyramids is part of an ongoing project that will scan ancient sites with a range of non-invasive technologies such as infrared thermography, 3D laser scans, drones, and muon radiography (which uses cosmic particle detectors to image the interiors of dense objects).
While the first door likely leads to a storage room which has already been discovered, the other passageway situated at the north wall of the burial chamber is speculated to lead to a bigger room which may be Nefertiti’s tomb.
Researchers have said there is a 90 percent chance that there are hidden chambers in Tut’s tomb, which means there’s nearly certainly more to this story than originally believed. “If I am right it is a continuation – corridor continuation – of the tomb, which will end in another burial chamber”, he said.
Damati himself believes the hidden chamber may contain the mummy of Kiya, a wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten.
The announcement was made Saturday after a radar scan of a wall in Tut’s tomb showed there could be another hidden chamber on the other side.
While progress has been rapid since Dr Reeves revealed his theory, the next phase could take years of planning, including an global conference to decide the best way to protect fragile remains that may have lain undisturbed in a hermetically sealed chamber.
The sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun is pictured in his tomb in the Valley of the Kings, close to Luxor, 500 kilometers south of Cairo, Nov 4, 2007.
Some experts think any hidden chamber could belong to Queen Nefertiti. Tutankhamun tomb was discovered by British Egyptologist, Howard Carter, in 1922. 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. The name-stamp on King Tut’s famous golden mask, and the traces of Queen Nefertiti’s hidden beneath.
Akhenaten is known for having temporarily converted ancient Egypt to monotheism by imposing the cult of sun god Aton. The religion they created was labeled heresy by subsequent pharaohs, and some experts have said that would have precluded her burial in the Valley of the Kings.
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“My strong feeling is that Nefertiti may well be buried somewhere in the Valley of the Kings”, Reeves told PBS.
