Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Eldamaty said Thursday the results of radar scans conducted in November within the tomb indicate two previously undiscovered chambers exist adjacent to Tut’s tomb and may contain funeral-related artifacts.
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Preliminary scans of Tutankhamun’s tomb reveal “two hidden rooms behind the burial chamber” of the boy king, Antiquities Minister Mamduh al-Damati told reporters.
King Tutankhamun, often dubbed the boy king, was an Egyptian pharaoh who rose to power in 1333 B.C., at the tender age of 10.
El-Damaty said he thought the new chambers could contain the tomb of a member of Tutankhamun’s family, but wouldn’t speculate on Nefertiti.
“(The scans point to) different things behind the walls, different material that could be metal, could be organic”, he said.
“Yes, we have some empty space, but not [entirely] empty, including some organic and metal material”, Egypt’s antiquities minister Mamdouh el-Damaty – adding that he was “90 percent” sure of the intriguing find, which he said could represent “the discovery of the century”.
Reeves, who came to Egypt last September to start investigating the tomb after his theory made waves around the world, believes the most famous tomb in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings originally belonged to Nefertiti.
More testing will be performed on March 31, he said.
The tomb lies in Luxor, in southern Egypt, which served as the Pharaonic capital in ancient times, and is home to sprawling temples and several highly decorated ancient tombs in the Valley of the Kings.
Archaeologists have long theorized about Nefertiti’s demise and burial place, and some have suggested she could be buried within the walls of Tut’s 3,300-year-old mausoleum.
She actively supported her husband Akhenaten – Tutankhamun’s father – who temporarily converted ancient Egypt to monotheism by imposing the cult of sun god Aton.
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The linen-wrapped mummy of King Tut on display in a glass case in the Valley of the Kings. The discovery of King Tut’s nearly-intact tomb by Howard Carter in 1922 sparked a renewed interest in Egyptology and yielded unprecedented Pharaonic treasures, including the boy king’s sarcophagus and iconic golden burial mask.
