Radar scans of King Tut’s tomb have revealed two hidden rooms behind a burial chamber that experts believe may contain the long-lost remains of Queen Nefertiti, Egyptian officials said Thursday.
“Yes, we have some empty space, but not [entirely] empty, including some organic and metal material,” said Egypt’s antiquities minister Mamdouh el-Damaty — adding that he was “90 percent” sure of the intriguing find, which he said could represent “the discovery of the century.”
“It means a rediscovery of Tutankhamun … for Egypt, it is a very big discovery — it is very important for Egyptian history and for all of the world,” he said.
El-Damaty said the hidden chambers were behind the northern and western walls of Tut’s tomb.
When asked if the organic material could be a mummy, he said: “I cannot say. I can only say we have here some organic materials.”
More testing will be performed on March 31, he said.
“Another radar, more improved, will check and measure for the dimensions of the wall behind and the thickness of the walls,” he said.
Archaeologists have hinted that Nefertiti’s lost remains could be in a secret chamber near Tutankhamun’s tomb in the Valley of Kings in Luxor in southern Egypt.
Tut, who died unexpectedly, was buried in a chamber likely not meant for him because his mausoleum had not yet been built, according to University of Arizona Professor Nicholas Reeves, who believes one door of Tut’s tomb could indeed conceal Nefertiti’s burial place.
Nefertiti, the legendary wife of Tutankhamun’s father, Pharaoh Akhenaten, played major political and religious roles in the 14th century BC.
Akhenaten unsuccessfully tried to switch Egypt to an early form of monotheism. He was succeeded by a pharaoh referred to as Smenkhare and then Tut, who was proven by genetic testing to have been Akhenaten’s son.
Tut died at age 19 in 1324 BC after just nine years on the throne. His tomb was discovered by British Egyptologist Howard Carter in 1922.
The discovery of Nefertiti, who was immortalized in a 3,300-year-old bust on display in a Berlin museum, would shed new light on a mysterious period of Egyptian history.
With Post wires