Nefertiti May Be Buried In A Secret Chamber Behind Tutankhamun's Tomb: Experts

By R. Siva Kumar - 17 Mar '16 09:09AM

What happened to that beautiful queen, Nefertiti, who ruled supreme in Egypt? British archaeologist Nicolas Reeves gave a new theory in August---that she was buried in a chamber just at the back of King Tutankhamun's tomb.

A radar scan of the tomb site showed a new aspect Thursday, which gave a solution to the dark mystery. The antiquities minister was firm that they are "90%" sure" they have discovered two new chambers.

Some metallic and organic material was discovered, according to Minister Mamdouh El Damati. There are some plans for more scans by the end of the month so that they can identify the size of the chambers and the thickness of the wall.

However, they will not proceed to dig before ensuring that the chambers exist.

King Tutankhamun, or the boy king, as he is called, was an Egyptian pharaoh who rose to power in 1333 B.C. when he was just 10 years old. His mother was Queen Nefertiti, and his father was Akhenaten.

The debate over what exactly lies behind the boy king's chambers has a lot of people doubting that Nefertiti's chambers are near his.

Tutankhamun's tomb, which is "less than appropriate" as a final tomb for an Egyptian king has also added to the debate. Reeves feels that the strange size and layout, due to its being built on an earlier tomb designed for a queen got "repurposed" when he died at the age of 17.

The team has been harnessing some novel surveying equipment to search for a secret door on the northern wall, in order to find an unknown chamber.

The search for her tomb has been a long, exhausting procedure---largely because of the extra care needed to protect it.

"We must find a way to protect the tomb of Tutankhamun," El Damati said in October. "Does that mean we will dig from above, below or from the side? We don't know."

Still, experts are convinced that it will be monumental to find the queen.

"When we find Nefertiti, I think it will be more important than the discovery of King Tutankhamun himself," said El Damati.