CAIRO: The Permanent Committee of Egyptian Antiquities approved the use of non-invasive radar to prove a theory that Queen Nefertiti’s crypt may be hidden behind King Tutankhamen’s, Antiquities Minister Mamdouh al-Damaty stated Thursday.
“The approval came after comprehensive study made by the committee to ensure the devices will not harm the inner walls, carvings of the tomb. The archaeology team now have the green light and can begin the first stages of exploratory work after the completion of the required security permission,” Damaty said.
If the scholars were able to prove their theory, “this would be a new step that could lead us to a most significant archeological discovery in the 21st Century,” he added.
“The construction of Tutankhamen’s tomb was not completed when the young Pharaoh unexpectedly died at the age of 19, thus the tomb of Nefertiti who had died 10 years earlier, was partially adopted for Tutankhamen’s royal burial,” British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves said briefing his theory to reporters in a press conference held at the Egyptian State Information Service (SIS) last month.
During the conference, Reeves had passionately defended his theory saying that his careful examination of the ceiling of the tomb has revealed a “line that extends along the ceiling from the antechamber to the edge of what he believes is the false door leading to Nefertiti’s undisturbed tomb.”
This supports my theory; “Tutankhamen’s burial chamber was a part of the corridor leading to the false wall behind which Nefertiti’s tomb lies. After the sudden death of the boy king, the area before the wall was extended to accommodate his sarcophagus and the four huge shrines.”
During the conference, Damaty announced the ministry’s next step was to carry out radar and thermal imaging that would help establish whether there are secret rooms hidden behind the burial chamber of Tutankhamen. He added that a conclusion on Reeve’s theory is to be announced by the end of this year.
Reeves’s theory was developed after he examined ultra-high resolution images published by Factume Arte; an art replication establishment that created a facsimile of Tutankhamen’s burial chamber in 2014.
In the images, Reeves noted some cracks in the northern and eastern walls of the tomb. He suggested they mark two passages, leading to Nefertiti’s tomb that were blocked, plastered and painted.
Among the other clues is that neither the tomb nor the mummy of Nefertiti has been found yet.
Tutankhamen’s tomb was the most intact ever discovered in Egypt. Close to 2,000 objects were found inside.