A new analysis of ultra-high resolution images of Tutankhamen’s tomb has revealed cracks and fissures in two places on a wall, possibly indicating the presence of two passages that were, at some point, sealed off with plaster and painted over. They also may hide a massive secret.
According to BBC News and Archaeology, the researcher behind the analysis, Nicholas Reeves of the University of Arizona, believes one of the hidden passages leads to a storeroom. The other, however, could open to a corridor and a queen’s burial chamber. In other words: By studying these images, Reeves may have just uncovered the hidden final resting place of Queen Nefertiti.
As Reeves explained to The Economist, there are several unusual characteristics to King Tut’s tomb. For one thing, it is small in comparison to other tombs in the same region, and the objects that it contains appear to be primarily second-hand and hurriedly placed. The young monarch’s funeral mask features pierced ears, and the main axis of the tomb was angled to the right of the entrance shaft – something usually found in the tombs of queens, but not kings.
One of the two hidden passages he found, however, aligns perfectly with both sides of the tomb’s entrance chamber, he explained, meaning that it could hide a corridor continuing along the same axis. This would be along the same shape and scale as other royal tombs in the same vicinity, he noted, and considering that the decoration and construction were completed in multiple stages, it appears as though the corridor could lead to the burial chamber of a queen.
But is it Nefertiti?
Reeves told BBC News that he believes Nefertiti could lie within the hidden chamber, but some other Egyptologists are not yet convinced. US archaeologist Kent Weeks told The Economist that it was “a fascinating argument and an impressive first step,” and that a radar scan could be used to easily and noninvasively examine the structure and find any hidden chambers.
“I think there are certainly some signs that there might have been some activity around those doorways,” Joyce Tyldesley, an Egyptologist at the University of Manchester, told BBC News. “Whether we can deduct from that that we actually the burial site of Nefertiti might be a step too far. But if it was true, it would be absolutely brilliant.”
If Reeves is correct, it would indicate that the tomb used to store Tutankhamen might not have actually been built for him, and that Nefertiti, the wife of Tutankhamun’s father Akhenaten and the boy king’s stepmother, might have been the one who was supposed to wear the burial mask with the pierced ears that wound up being used for her stepson, The Economist said.
“Each piece of evidence on its own is not conclusive, but put it all together and it’s hard to avoid my conclusion,” Reeves said. “If I’m wrong I’m wrong, but if I’m right this is potentially the biggest archaeological discovery ever made” – and, as he told the BBC, “if I’m right… the world will have become a much more interesting place – at least for Egyptologists.”
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Feature Image: Thinkstock
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