But what was its lasting impact? January 22, 2018 Nefertiti was no pharaoh, says renowned Egyptologist by Mike Addelman, University of Manchester All Giza Pyramids in one shot. Others theorize that she outlived her husband and ruled alongside Tutankhamen or perhaps served as pharaoh herself before King Tut assumed the throne. Grave (day trip) (From $384.62) See all Tomb of Queen Nefertari experiences on Tripadvisor “At the time of Nefertiti’s burial within KV62 there had surely been no intention that Tutankhamun would in due course occupy this same tomb. https://www.history.com/news/has-queen-nefertitis-tomb-been-found Howard Carter’s discovery of King Tutankhamen’s nearly intact tomb in the Valley of Kings outside Luxor not only stunned the world, it puzzled archaeologists who noted that the burial chamber wasn’t exactly fit for a king. In 2015, radar specialist Hirokatsu Watanabe conducted a GPR scan of Tut’s tomb and announced startling results: evidence for hidden doorways on the north and west walls of the burial chamber. "The finding is that there is no evidence of doors or empty spaces beyond the funeral chamber up to four meters [13 feet]," Porcelli tells National Geographic. In 2015 British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, an archaeologist with years of experience working in the Valley of the Kings, carefully examined electronic scans by Factum Arte of the walls of the ancient Eg… Ground-penetrating radar, a remote-sensing technique commonly used in prospecting for oil and gas and other minerals, is an increasingly critical tool for archaeologists. December 2018-January 2019. from 4.90. However, a second radar scan of the tomb, performed by National Geographic Society engineers in 2016, did not replicate Watanabe's results. Tantalising radar shadows have revived hopes that one of history’s most beautiful, and controversial, women — Queen Nefertiti — may indeed be buried in secret chambers within King Tut’s famous tomb. Following a contentious discussion over the discrepancy between the results of the two scans at the 2016 International Tutankhamun GEM Conference, Minister El Enany commissioned a comprehensive "tie-breaker" radar analysis. A comprehensive series of ground-penetrating radar scans found no hidden chambers, hallways or secret passages that could contain the remains of King Tut’s stepmother. View comments. (Credit: Theban Mapping Project). NILE #17. Hidden doorways in the ancient Egyptian tomb of King Tutankhamun may lead to the long-lost resting place of Queen Nefertiti, a scientist has claimed. The Ancient Egyptian civilization, famous for its pyramids, pharaohs, mummies, and tombs, flourished for thousands of years. After nearly a year of silence, the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the Kings is once again back in focus thanks to the Ministry of Antiquities granting permission to a team of Italian experts to conduct radar tests—that are currently underway. All rights reserved. © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- . Ever since archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the treasure-packed tomb in Luxor's Valley of the Kings in 1922, experts have believed the space to be strangely small for a pharaoh. High-frequency radar can provide detailed results up to distances of about seven feet; lower frequencies penetrate deeper but provide coarser results. Two previous tests of Reeves' theory, using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to search for hidden chambers or passages, produced contradictory results. The Antiquities Museum in the Library of Alexandria Her mummy has proven the most elusive to archaeologists and the most notable absence from the royals of Egypt’s 18th dynasty. “I will never relinquish the head of the queen,” German dictator Adolf Hitler said of the artifact, which was hidden in a salt mine during World War II before it was recovered by the Allies’ Monuments Men in 1945. e-mail; 1.1k shares. It was July of last year when British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves announced his hypothesis that stunned scholars of the ancient world. 62. "It may be more efficient than traditional archaeology and less destructive," he adds. Egyptologists caution that they can’t know for sure if anything exists beyond the walls of King Tut’s tomb. So, where is her mummy? Finding Nefertiti What if we told you that Nefertiti WAS buried in Tutankhamun's tomb after all? The announcement brings to a disappointing end an investigation that began three years ago, when Egyptologist and National Geographic grantee Nicholas Reeves theorized that the tomb … Relief showing Akhenaten and Nefertiti under the rays of the sun-god Aten. To read about previous searches for Nefertiti's tomb, go to "Lost Tombs: In Search of History's Lost Rulers." The badly damaged mummy of the woman nicknamed the "Younger Lady" was uncovered in a tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in 1898. Reeves’s astonishing hypothesis was that Queen Nefertiti’s tomb—long sought after but never found—is hidden within King Tutankhamun’s tomb, concealed for more than 3,000 years in a secret room behind a wall of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber. If the body of Nefertiti, who died around 1340 B.C., rests behind the plaster walls of King Tut’s tomb, it would solve one of Egyptology’s greatest mysteries. Nicolas Reeves believes Nefertiti, an Egyptian queen who reigned for 12 years before vanishing without a trace 3,000 years ago, is buried in a hidden chamber inside the tomb … In a second radar scan in Tut's tomb in 2016, National Geographic technicians Eric Berkenpas and Alan Turchik prepare the radar unit. Diagram showing possible location of storeroom behind west wall of King Tut’s tomb. It’s considered the most comprehensive search yet. Any excavation would take years of planning so that it could be done without damaging King Tut’s tomb. A New Tomb From 10,000 BC Discovered in turkey – Amazing connection with queen Nefertiti. Queen Nefertari—not to be confused with Nefertiti, the powerful queen who ruled alongside her husband, King Akhenaten, in the mid-14th century B.C.—was the first and favored wife of … The woman who changed Egypt’s history has been missing for more than 3,300 years. ", "The results may be disappointing, but the science is paramount. The tomb was smaller than that of other Egyptian pharaohs and oriented to the right of the entrance—a layout typical of Egyptian queens, not kings. "It's disappointing, but this is the result. The tomb belongs to the dead Pharaoh depicted in the painting. Nefertiti was believed to … It was believed that Queen Nefertiti, who died in 1331 BC, was buried in a large room behind a hidden door in the tomb of King Tutankhamen. They discovered several bodies in Kv21 and observed that two mummies could have been queens . While the results from this most recent radar scan do not support the initial "hidden Nefertiti tomb" theory that instigated the research, Porcelli believes that the project demonstrates that GPR can provide conclusive answers. Per National Geographic, radar scans inside King Tutankhamun's tomb recently concluded that there are no burial chambers hidden behind the walls. This is conclusive in our point of view," he adds. After studying the detailed scans that revealed the texture of the tomb’s walls beneath the layers of paint, Reeves spotted what he believed to be the outlines of two doorways that had been blocked and plastered over to hide them from view. Updated 1059 GMT (1859 HKT) May 7, 2018 The burial mask of Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamun, whose tomb does not contain the hidden chambers theorized about, according to experts. As Reeves’ visit to Egypt draws closer, the suspense crescendoes. This is especially important when many in the Egyptian archaeological community still regard the technology with skepticism, despite its proven track record at ancient sites around the world. Nefertiti's mummy was uncovered in a tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in 1898, but it wasn't until 2010, via DNA evidence, that she was proven to be King Tut's biological mother. But where is her mummy now? Tut's father was the pharaoh Akhenaten, who was married to Nefertiti. Only because of this simple fact of being situated in … FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. The culprit? But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! The Younger Lady is the informal name given to a mummy discovered within tomb KV35 in the Valley of the Kings by archaeologist Victor Loret in 1898. The world will have become a much more interesting place—at least for Egyptologists.”. The report submitted to Egyptian officials today includes the results of three new GPR scans, conducted in February 2018 by three independent teams and each using a different frequency—high, medium, and low. A British archaeologist believes ancient Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti may be buried behind a secret door inside of King Tut’s tomb. Before we get too excited about the possibility of a hidden chamber and what it may mean for the search for the lost burial of Nefertiti, we should examine the muddy history of searching for a hidden chamber at King Tut’s tomb . The announcement brings to a disappointing end an investigation that began three years ago, when Egyptologist and National Geographic grantee Nicholas Reeves theorized that the tomb of legendary 18th-Dynasty queen Nefertiti may be hidden behind the walls of Tut's 3,300-year-old tomb. The third and most recent radar investigation, conducted earlier this year with support from the National Geographic Society, is a joint scientific mission coordinated by Franco Porcelli of the Polytechnic University of Turin. Nearly a century later, British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves thinks he has solved the mystery. The Neues Museum in Berlin decided to keep its full-color scan of the Nefertiti bust under lock and key. In a recently released paper, the University of Arizona Egyptologist claims that King Tut may not have been the tomb’s original resident and that the undisturbed resting place of the legendary Queen Nefertiti could be on the other side of the walls of the boy-king’s burial chamber. More than 3,000 years after her death, Nefertiti became a sensation again when German archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt discovered a painted limestone bust of her in Amarna in 1912. If her remains were discovered, it would be a significant scientific breakthrough, according to Nicholas Reeves, the British scientist who first proposed that the queen is buried near King Tut’s tomb. Under normal conditions, a GPR antenna sends radar waves straight through a wall, and they bounce right back to the receiver, providing a very clear signal. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. It enables them to detect man-made voids in the earth, such as tombs and passages, without unnecessarily disturbing fragile ancient sites. “Rather, the indications are that what we now know as KV 62 represents merely the outermost portion of an extended, corridor-style ‘tomb-within-a-tomb.’”. “It proves the technique, and it is proof of concept for great work that can be done in Egypt. “The more I looked, the more information I found that I seemed to be looking at something pretty real,” he told the BBC. DECEMBER 2018-JANUARY 2019. "This is the first conclusive GPR project in the Valley of the Kings,” Hiebert says. The sculpture of the Egyptian beauty wearing a distinctive flat-topped blue crown attracted worldwide attention and is now on display in a Berlin museum. Renowned for her beauty, the queen was more than just a pretty face. Published: 14:33 EST, 1 February 2018 | Updated: 09:25 EST, 2 February 2018 . “If I’m wrong, I’m wrong,” Reeves told the BBC. In addition, the burial chamber appeared to have been built and decorated in stages, and most of the nearly 2,000 artifacts found inside seemed to have been hastily placed and intended for earlier royals. Egyptologist Marc Gabolde of Paul Valéry University, who has been searching for Nefertiti’s tomb, thinks so. (Credit: CM DIxon/Print Collector/Getty Images), Reeves believes a hidden storeroom lurks behind the western wall of King Tut’s tomb, also known as “KV 62,” and that “the undisturbed burial of the tomb’s original owner—Nefertiti” lies behind the north wall, which is covered in religious frescoes. The badly damaged mummy of the Younger Lady was uncovered in a tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in 1898, and shown through DNA evidence in 2010, to be King Tut's biological mother. Scientists are investigating whether there are hidden chambers behind the north and west walls of King Tut’s tomb. All Rights Reserved. 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