VALLEY OF THE KINGS, Egypt — Egypt on Friday invited archaeologists and experts from around the world to examine new data from new, extensive radar scanning conducted on King Tutankhamun’s tomb to explore a theory that secret chambers could be hidden behind its walls.
The open invitation to a conference in Cairo in May, issued by the antiquities minister at a news conference just outside the tomb, aims to bring broader scientific rigor to what so far have only been tantalizing clues.
The new exploration was prompted by a theory by British Egyptologist Nicolas Reeves that undiscovered chambers lie behind the tomb’s western and northern walls and that they likely contain the tomb of Queen Nefertiti, one of pharaonic Egypt’s most famous figures — whose bust, on display at the Berlin Museum, is a much storied symbol of ancient beauty.
Preliminary scans whose results were announced last month suggested two open spaces with signs of metal and organic matter. Egypt’s archaeologists announced Friday they completed more extensive scanning, sponsored by National Geographic, and the results must now be analyzed.
If chambers — whether containing Nefertiti’s tomb or not — are discovered behind the western and northern walls covered in hieroglyphs and bas-reliefs in Tut’s tomb, it would likely be the biggest discovery in Egyptology since Howard Carter first discovered the king’s 3,300-year-old burial chamber and its treasures in 1922.
Antiquities Minister Khaled el-Anani, who was appointed to his post last week, counselled caution.
He said Egypt’s “scientific credibility” and the preservation of its antiquities were at stake, adding; “We will rely only on science going forward. There are no results to share at the current stage, but only indications.”