Egypt’s antiquities minister, Dr Mamdouh Eldamaty has declared that radar scans using modified ground penetrating radar has revealed the likelihood of additional chambers within the tomb of Pharaoh Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings, Aswan.
Tutankhamun was an Egyptian pharaoh of the 18th dynasty (ruled c. 1332–1323 BC in the conventional chronology), during the period of Egyptian history known as the New Kingdom or sometimes the New Empire Period.
The scans performed by Japanese radar specialist Hirokatsu Watanabe after a theory proposed in October by the British Egyptologist, Dr Nicholas Reeves suggest the presence of two empty cavities beyond the decorated North and West walls of the Burial Chamber.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Eldamaty said “We can say more than 90% that the chambers are there. But I never start the next step until I’m 100%. Maybe it could be the lady of the family. But I think we could find Kiya, or Ankhesenamun,” referring to the young pharaoh’s mother and his half-sister.
Analysis of the coloured radar scans show anomalies in the tomb walls, indicating a possible hidden door and the chambers, which lay behind walls that were covered up and painted over with hieroglyphics. Within those cavities, added Eldamaty, analysed data suggest the presence of metallic and organic substances.
The 1922 discovery by Howard Carter and George Herbert of Tutankhamun’s nearly intact tomb received worldwide press coverage. It sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun’s mask, now in the Egyptian Museum, remains the popular symbol.
Eldamaty said that the coming period will reveal more about the secrets of King Tut, describing this event as a rediscovery of the Golden Pharaoh’s Tomb that might lead us to the “Discovery of the century”.
Ministry of Antiquities
