More Evidence Supports Claim Hidden Chamber in Tutankhamun Tomb Contains Another Burial
Last month, the Tourism Minister of Egypt Hisham Zaazou appeared to have slipped up during a visit to Spain when he said the hidden chamber being investigated in Tutankhamun’s tomb is “full of treasures”, ahead of official press announcements due to take place in April. While some questioned the motives and accuracy of such sensational claims, a new press conference in Egypt has announced that new scans show that metal and/or organic material lie within the hidden chamber, providing support for Zaazou’s claim and evidence of another burial within the tomb.
"We do not know if the burial chamber is Nefertiti or another woman, but it is full of treasures," Zaazou had said [ABC] … “It will be a ‘Big Bang’, the discovery of the 21st Century".
According to Discovery News, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty told a press conference that in latest studies, doors were detected, which can be seen as entrances to the cavities identified in Tutankhamun’s tomb, and that metal and organic material revealed by scans strongly suggests the presence of another burial.
Investigations in Tutankhamun’s Tomb
The Ministry of Antiquities in Egypt launched high-tech analyses within the boy king’s tomb on November 4 after initial infrared scans of the walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb detected an area of greater heat, pointing to the presence of a hidden chamber.
The scans were designed to test out the theory by archaeologist Nicholas Reeves that the tomb of Tutankhamun contains two hidden chambers and that one of them is the final resting place of Queen Nefertiti. According to the Minister, the scans showed a 90 per cent likelihood that there was something behind the walls.
Nicholas Reeves first suspected hidden chambers in Tutankhamun’s tomb following a detailed examination of the Factum Arte scans of the artistic works on the walls of the tomb. Reeves noticed fissures that he thought indicated the presence of two sealed doors in the tomb’s north and west walls.
- Press Announcement: Radar Scans Reveal Hidden Chamber in Tutankhamun Tomb with 90 Percent Certainty
- Excitement Mounts as New Infrared Scan in Tomb of Tutankhamun Suggests Hidden Chamber
Scans of the north wall of King Tutankhamun's burial chamber have revealed features beneath the intricately decorated plaster (highlighted) a researcher believes may be a hidden door, possibly to the burial chamber of Nefertiti. Credit: Factum Arte.
What lies within the secret chamber?
According to Reeves, King Tutankhamun’s tomb was unfinished when he died unexpectedly as a teenager in 1332 BC. Consequently, he was hastily buried in the tomb of Queen Nefertiti, the principal wife of Akhenaten, who is believed to have fathered Tutankhamun with another wife. Reeves believes that Tutankhamun’s tomb displaced part of Nefertiti's tomb and assumed some of her burial goods and space.
However, Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities al-Damati believes otherwise. According to Agence France Press, Damati believes that any mummy buried in Tutankhamun’s tomb would be more likely to be Kiya, a wife of the pharaoh Akhenaten.
During his visit, Zaazou said there was also a theory that the chamber would be completely empty. However, he asserted that this has now been proven false. “It is not empty. It is full of treasures,” the minister said [via ABC]. “It will be an historic moment.”
- Kiya - The Most Mysterious Woman of Amarna
- The Mysterious Disappearance of Nefertiti, Ruler of the Nile
- The Elusive Tomb of Queen Nefertiti may lie behind the walls of Tutankhamun's Burial Chamber
Image showing the location of the two chambers from Dr. Reeves report. The upcoming radar scan will search for their existence. (Daily Mail)
Discovery News reports that additional scans will be carried out later this month to reconstruct the exact size of the chambers.
The Minister of Antiquities has said that multiple steps are planned in the ongoing investigations into Tutankhamun’s tomb.
"It's a rediscovery that might lead us to the discovery of the century," al-Damaty said.
Featured image: The stone sarcophagus containing the mummy of King Tut is seen in his underground tomb. Credit: Nasser Nuri.
Comments
What exciting news! After thousands of years, King Tut still didn’t gave away all of his secrets yet. The boy king, King Tut was very famous and his region was one of the most documented regions on the walls of Luxor temples and tombs. Not only because he is the only one who ruled Egypt when he was 9 years old but there are much more facts confirms the doubts that there are more to be coming from his tomb. Here are some more facts about King Tut: His father, King Akhenaten had a major issue with the priests of Thebes (Luxor) during his life. King Akhenaten is the first and only king who rebelled against the main god during the New Kingdom, god Amun Ra. When Akhenaton (King Tut’s father and Nefertit’s husband) had his religious revolution against God Amun Ra, the priests kicked him out of Thebes and he had to leave to a new capital, Tell Al Amaran, which is located about 300 miles north of Luxor. When King Akhenaten had to leave, his wife Nefertiti left with him and they both lived there worshipping the new god Aton and there he got King Tut from his second wife Kiya.When he was born, he was called “Tut Ankh Aton” (after his father’s new God Aton). When king Akhenaten died, King Tut who changed his name to be “Tut Ankh Amun” (after the God Amun Ra’s name” returned to Luxor and returned the Glory back to Amun Ra and changed his name to be more related to him. King Tut was 9 years old when he took over because he was the only son for his father so the priests played a major role in the political life then. The Ancient Egyptian documented his region to show his loyalty to God Amun Ra and tried to fix what his father ruined. Finally, the tomb of King Tut is the only one that wasn’t robbed because it is located underneath of another tomb, tomb of King Ramses VI. The tomb robbers didn't look there, they never expected there is a tomb underneath of another tomb. That's why King Tut's tomb waited until Carter found it in 1922.
This is great news! I will be watching with anticipation when the grand opening day ceremonies are held. If it was me, I probably wouldn’t be wasting time and have already ‘busted in’ (grin). I have been reading one of the books written by Howard Carter who discovered Tut, and he was a genius IMHO!
Carol Ann1
Wow this will be amazing to see what is in these chambers, and it seems unlikely that they have been looted, so might contain many treasures and informative artefacts