Scans point to hidden chamber in King Tut’s tomb

Exploration of Tutankhamun’s tomb suggests “90 percent” chance of hidden chamber, possibly Queen Nefertiti’s mausoleum.

TUTANKHAMUN
Archaeologist Nicholas Reeves says Queen Nefertiti may be buried in a secret room adjoining Tutankhamun's tomb [Getty]

Scans in King Tutankhamun’s tomb in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings point to a hidden chamber, the country’s antiquities minister said, possibly heralding the discovery of Queen Nefertiti’s last resting place.

“We can now say that we have to find behind the burial chamber of King Tutankhamun another chamber, another tomb,” Mamduh al-Damati said at a press conference on Saturday.

Speaking in English, he said experts were “approximately 90 percent” sure.

The exploration inside King Tutankhamun’s tomb in the valley near Luxor – the pharaonic capital in ancient times – began on Thursday.

The tests were spurred by a study by renowned British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, who said Nefertiti’s lost tomb may be hidden in an adjoining chamber.

Reeves, who toured the tomb with Damati in September, theorised that Tutankhamun, who died at the age of 19, may have been rushed into an outer chamber of what was originally Nefertiti’s tomb.

Damati, in September, said he was convinced a hidden chamber may lie hidden behind King Tut’s final resting place.

Nefertiti was known for her beauty and the subject of a famous 3,300-year-old bust.

Source: News Agencies