Searching for Nefertiti – British archaeologist is on the trail

Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, from the University of Arizona, is on an expedition beneath the sacred sands where, years ago, scientists unearthed the burial chamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb.

The scientists behind this investigation have not yet got around to using radar technology to explore the burial chamber and check whether it really does hide secret doorways and not yet discovered rooms.

Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty is giving Reeves permission to poke around. Researcher Nicholas Reeves thinks the tomb King Tut was laid to rest in was actually built for his mother, but that he was buried in it after he died unexpectedly at the age of 19. Instead, the archeologists will find the remains of Tut’s mom Queen Kiya, he expects.

“What my Egyptian colleagues discovered is that there is a distinct difference in the surface of the surrounding wall and the central part that would be covering the door”, Reeves told National Geographic.

King Tut’s tomb may be hiding a huge secret.

A new examination of King Tut’s tomb gives evidence that there are two hidden rooms beneath the walls, one of which could be Queen Nefertiti’s tomb.

Eldamaty also rejected the suggestion that the second hidden chamber could be an antechamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb or a hidden gallery of his treasured collection, explaining that the collection would not be hidden, as the whole tomb would be sealed off after the funerary rituals.

Earlier this year the archaeologist told the Times of London that he discovered the bricked-up doorways after examining digital scans of the walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of the Kings, across the Nile River from Luxor in southern Egypt.

Egyptian news outlet Ahram Online says a radar scan of the walls – thanks to special technology being brought in for the occasion from Japan – could reveal the answer once and for all. “The surrounding wall is a softer plastering”.

On Monday, the tomb was examined and it was confirmed the evidence found suggests the existence of two undiscovered rooms.

“I am now 70 percent certain that we are going to find something”, Eldamaty said, according to Agence France-Presse.

Instead, these inscriptions include things such as “spells to enable the deceased to reach the lands of the gods”, said Reeves.

“If another wing to this tomb or one that predates it is found, that alone would be a major discovery”, he added. However, Reeves can’t just grab a pickaxe and start hacking away at the walls, as the suspected chambers lie behind priceless mosaics. The results will be announced on November 4, the anniversary of the discovery of King Tut’s tomb.