The Antiquities Minister believes there ARE hidden chambers behind the walls of Tutankhamun's tomb. But it's not Nefertiti buried there. It's another queen.
(Click on each image to enlarge)
This week saw British Egyptologist, Nicholas Reeves, along with officials from the Ministry of Antiquities, examine Tutankhamun's burial chamber to investigate Reeves' theory. Dr. Reeves is convinced that the final resting place of Queen Nefertiti lies hidden behind a false wall in Tutankhamun's tomb, however the Antiquities Minister, Mamdouh el-Damaty, thinks it may be the boy king's mother, Kiya.
The story so far:
High-resolution laser scans were made a few years ago by Factum Arte, a team of conservators who built a replica of Tutankhamun's tomb near the entrance of the Valley of the Kings. Generously, they posted all of their data online.
Because they scanned the walls in 3-D, they also produced versions without the tomb decorations. For the first time, the bare burial chamber's walls could be examined in great detail. It was in these scans that Dr. Reeves noticed traces of what could be the outlines of concealed doors.
Nicholas Reeves believes that stylistically, the scenes painted on the northern wall of the tomb actually represents Tutankhamun completing the funerary ritual for Queen Nefertiti, his predecessor.
Conventional thinking says that the painting shows King Ay doing the rituals for Tutankhamun.
Comparing images of 'Tutankhamun', Reeves noticed how the jawline, brow, nose, chin and the distinctive 'oromental groove' running down from the corner of her mouth, unique to Nefertiti, all point to this pharaoh actually being the famous queen.
The theory goes that construction of Tutankhamun's tomb wasn't far enough advanced when the young king died unexpectedly at the age of 19. Another tomb needed to be adapted for the royal burial, and the prime candidate was that of Queen Nefertiti; Tutankhamun's Step-mother, who had died ten years earlier.
Dr. Reeves believes that beyond the tomb's northern wall (on the right in this picture), lies the undisturbed burial of Nefertiti. Photo: Kenneth Garrett.
The Valley of the Kings.
This was the royal burial ground for around 500 years, before being systematically dismantled by the Theban priesthood who effectively controlled Upper Egypt during the 21st Dynasty, ca. 1,000 B.C. Tutankhamun's tomb escaped their greedy fingers until being discovered in 1922 by British archaeologist, Howard Carter.
A false wall is a well-known ruse to try and deflect tomb robbers.
Nicholas Reeves' tour on Monday started with the tomb of Horembeb (TT 57), the general who took the throne after the short-lived reign of Tutankhamun's successor, Ay.
On the opposite side of a decorated well shaft was constructed a decorated false wall, designed to give the impression that the tomb corridor stopped there. The thieve weren't that easily fooled of course, and they cut through the decoration to help themselves to the king's riches.
Pictured is Nicholas Reeves entering the descending corridor of Horemheb's tomb. Photo: Nariman El-Mofty.
"I agree with him [Dr. Reeves] that there's probably something behind the walls," el-Damaty says. But he believes that if anyone is buried there it is likely Kia, believed by some Egyptologists to be Tutankhamun's mother.
His reasoning is that when Tutankhamun abandoned his childhood home at Amarna for Thebes, he would have had the burial of his mother transferred to Thebes for safekeeping and installed in her own tomb in the Valley of the Kings. It was this tomb, el-Damaty believes, that was repurposed for Tutankhamun's burial, a decade later.
Interestingly though, this canopic jar lid of Kiya's was found in the Valley of the Kings tomb KV 55. It begs the question, if Kiya is in KV62 (Tutankhamun's tomb), why would her canopic equipment, which is crucial for her well-being in the afterlife, be left behind in another tomb. My money is still on Nefertiti.
Nicholas Reeves believes that the original owner of Tutankhamun's tomb was Queen Nefertiti, famed for the 3,300-year-old bust, discovered in 1912 and now in Berlin.
She was the primary wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten; a true individual who pursued a personal vendetta against the state god, Amun, in favour a previously little-mentioned deity, the Aten, symbolised by the sun-disc.
The change back to a normal state of affairs began after Akhenaten's death, with his successor, Smenkhare. Reeves believes that this pharaoh is actually Nefertiti, who had changed her name upon succession.
Pictured is a portrait of Nefertiti wearing her distinctive flat-topped, tall crown. Photo: Kenneth Garrett.
So what did they discover this week?
The physical examination of the tomb allowed Reeves and el-Damaty to look for features not present in the digital photos he had been using. The main findings were:
- A distinct line that extends along the ceiling from the antechamber to the edge of what he believes is the false door. This supports his theory that originally, Tutankhamun's burial chamber was part of the corridor leading to the false wall hiding Nefertiti's burial. When Tutankhamun died, the space before the wall was extended westward to accommodate the boy king's sarcophagus and golden shrines.
- A marked contrast in the materials that cover different parts of the same wall. There is a distinct difference between the area that was cut westward to expand the room for Tutankhamun's burial, and the area that originally comprised the false wall concealing Nefertiti's burial.
Examination of the burial chamber of King Tutankhamun by Nicholas Reeves (centre) and Antiquities Minister, Mamdouh el-Damaty (in the yellow shirt). Photo: Nevine El-Aref.
What happens now?
A press conference is being tomorrow to announce formally this week's findings and the proposed next step.
Ground penetrating radar equipment is being summoned from Japan to test for the presence of cavities behind the northern and western walls of the tomb. That should be happening during November sometime. And if there IS evidence of hidden rooms? Well, that's when it gets really challenging because the proposed northern doorway is covered by a priceless wall painting.
The last word goes to the man who started this latest wave of "Tutmania", Nicholas Reeves: "I'm pretty sure that a very important discovery is to be made soon inside Tutankhamun's tomb."
It's unlikely that Tutankhamun knew that he was going to spend eternity in a hand-me-down tomb. His intended tomb, very likely one that his successor, Ay, appropriated for himself (WV 23), is in a quiet, western branch of the Valley of the Kings.
In this image, Tutankhamun's golden outer sarcophagus watches serenely from under glass in the burial chamber of his famous tomb. Photo: Nariman El-Mofty.