A team of archaeologists has discovered a secret chamber behind the tomb of King Tutankhamun that could have the remains of the famous Queen Nefertiti.
The finding was made in the Valley of the Kings, where numerous Ancient Egypt’s royal figures were buried. Scans using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) on King Tutankhamun’s tomb have unveiled an uncharted chamber directly behind the burial cavity.
The discoveries were revealed at Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), and the journal Nature is set to publish the report soon.
An Odd Hidden Chamber
Archaeologists have been analyzing the tomb, hoping to find some more chambers and secrets since its opening in 1922 by British explorer Howard Carter. However, to date, many archaeological projects have failed to ultimately discover any new rooms.
The new findings seem to imply there is a cavity directly behind King Tutankhamun’s tomb, measuring approximately 6.5 feet by 32 feet (2 meters by 10 meters). The space is located at about the same depth as the burial room and is parallel to the tomb’s opening.
Egyptologist Ryan Johnson from the University of Chicago, who was not part of the team that discovered the chamber, said that the new information is ‘tremendously exciting.’
“Clearly, there is something on the other side of the north wall of the burial chamber,” he said.
Even so, experts have not yet decided whether the room is indeed a new burial space or part of another tomb. Egyptian officials have also expressed skepticism, more precisely former antiquities minister Zahi Hawass.
Dr. Hawass stated that GPR has “never made any discovery at any site in Egypt.” He is also on a quest to find Queen Nefertiti’s tomb, searching for concealed burial chambers in the Valley of the Kings.
Even though some argue the exact role of Queen Nefertiti, some suggest she was the Pharaoh before Tutankhamun took over at the age of eight. Nefertiti was the wife of Akhenaten, a Pharaoh who governed the country for 17 years before it died.
Queen Nefertiti’s Remains Could Have Already Been Found
The Queen’s tomb has never been found, but Dr. Hawass stated in 2019 that Nefertiti’s body might have already been discovered. The archaeologist conducted research in the Valley of the Kings that unearthed the bodies of two females.
Dr. Hawass suggested that broad DNA testing could show them to be Queen Nefertiti and her daughter Queen Ankhesenamun, Tutankhamun’s wife.
He said: “Using modern DNA techniques, we are exhuming the two female mummies found in KV21 because one of them, the headless one, might possibly be Ankhesenamun due to the preliminary studies. We also suspect that the other KV21 mummy could be of Nefertiti.”
King Tutankhamun’s ruling was allegedly short-lived, but the finding of its remains in 1922 has blown the minds of people all over the world. The boy Pharaoh’s reign started when he was about eight or nine years old, but he died before he reached the age of 20.
Contemporary reconstruction attempts demonstrated that King Tutankhamun suffered from numerous illnesses, has physical disabilities and spinal issues. The Pharaoh’s mummified body is at the moment in the Museum of Cairo but will be transported by 2022 to the recently build Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
