Renowned for her beauty, the queen was more than just a pretty face. The tomb belongs to the dead Pharaoh depicted in the painting. THE ONE WITH NEFERTITI’S COFFINETTE ON THE COVER. Scientists are investigating whether there are hidden chambers behind the north and west walls of King Tut’s tomb. 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. Egyptologist Marc Gabolde of Paul Valéry University, who has been searching for Nefertiti’s tomb, thinks so. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! ", It’s Official: Tut’s Tomb Has No Hidden Chambers After All, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2018/05/king-tut-tutankhamun-tomb-radar-results-science.html. The location of Nefertiti’s tomb has long been a mystery. The researchers suspect that additional ghost signals may have come from Tut's massive quartzite sarcophagus, which takes up much of the central burial chamber. The Antiquities Museum in the Library of Alexandria The research teams—from the Polytechnic University of Turin, Italy, in partnership with the University of Turin and two private companies, Geostudi Astier and 3DGeoimaging—worked over the course of seven days and collected data equivalent to scanning 1.6 surface miles. (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. Science has killed hopes for any new movies based on the mummy of Queen Nefertiti being released from her secret burial chamber in the tomb of Tutankhamun. 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. May 7, 2018 at 3:57 p.m. UTC. Nefertiti disappeared from the historical record with five years remaining in Akhenaten’s reign. 8 Hour Tour to Nefertari's Tomb, King Tut's Tomb, Valley of the Kings, Queen Hatshepsut Temple, and Karnak Temples (From $300.00) Private Tour Valley of the Kings and Queens and Hatshepsut Temple (From $102.00) Nefertari, Seti I and Ramesses VI. https://www.history.com/news/has-queen-nefertitis-tomb-been-found In a second radar scan in Tut's tomb in 2016, National Geographic technicians Eric Berkenpas and Alan Turchik prepare the radar unit. 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. Valley of the Kings“. This tomb is located on the west bank of the Nile, at the height of the current city of Luxor. After the experts individually interpreted their radar data, they came together to cross-check their results. 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 . "This is the first conclusive GPR project in the Valley of the Kings,” Hiebert says. Nefertiti was believed to … Nefertiti died a queen and would have been buried as one. "The rock itself could have properties that cause this phenomenon," Porcelli explains. Is Nefertiti in Tut’s Tomb? (Nefertiti was King Tut’s stepmother.) The woman who changed Egypt’s history has been missing for more than 3,300 years. Only because of this simple fact of being situated in … “Egyptology’s traditional reading of KV 62 as a small, private tomb subsequently enlarged to four chambers for Tutankhamun’s exclusive use has been very much in error,” Reeves writes in his paper. 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 … “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. A statement was released today on behalf of Mostafa Waziri, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, during the fourth annual International Tutankhamun GEM Conference, held at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza. “The more I looked, the more information I found that I seemed to be looking at something pretty real,” he told the BBC. Published: 14:33 EST, 1 February 2018 | Updated: 09:25 EST, 2 February 2018 . The researchers suspect that the elaborately painted plaster covering the limestone rock of the tomb may have properties that enable it to conduct electricity. Nefertiti, who ruled Egypt 3,300 years ago from 1353 to 1336 BC, was either the mother or stepmother of the boy-pharaoh King Tutankhamun. 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. Egyptologists caution that they can’t know for sure if anything exists beyond the walls of King Tut’s tomb. . The culprit? Recent radar scans of Tutankhamun's tomb conclusively prove that there are no additional chambers or passages behind the walls of the famed pharaoh's burial chamber in the Valley of the Kings, Egyptian officials announced today. But what was its lasting impact? Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Per National Geographic, radar scans inside King Tutankhamun's tomb recently concluded that there are no burial chambers hidden behind the walls. (Credit: Theban Mapping Project). 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 wife of pharaoh Akhenaten, Tutankhamen’s father, was one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful women. DECEMBER 2018-JANUARY 2019. 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. 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. 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. 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. Her mummy has proven the most elusive to archaeologists and the most notable absence from the royals of Egypt’s 18th dynasty. The Ancient Egyptian civilization, famous for its pyramids, pharaohs, mummies, and tombs, flourished for thousands of years. It enables them to detect man-made voids in the earth, such as tombs and passages, without unnecessarily disturbing fragile ancient sites. They discovered several bodies in Kv21 and observed that two mummies could have been queens . “If I’m wrong, I’m wrong,” Reeves told the BBC. All Rights Reserved. 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. 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. 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… View comments. It’s considered the most comprehensive search yet. "It's disappointing, but this is the result. “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.’”. ", SOURCES: THEBAN MAPPING PROJECT, Ministry of State for Antiquities. So, where is her mummy? Two previous tests of Reeves' theory, using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to search for hidden chambers or passages, produced contradictory results. The Neues Museum in Berlin decided to keep its full-color scan of the Nefertiti bust under lock and key. The royal couple displaced Egypt’s chief god Amon in place of the sun god Aten and built a new capital city to worship him at Amarna on the banks of the Nile River. The question is: is it Nefertiti? e-mail; 1.1k shares. 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. Fredik Hiebert, National Geographic's archaeologist-in-residence, agrees. Tut's father was the pharaoh Akhenaten, who was married to Nefertiti. Others theorize that she outlived her husband and ruled alongside Tutankhamen or perhaps served as pharaoh herself before King Tut assumed the throne. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. Nearly a century later, British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves thinks he has solved the mystery. It was July of last year when British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves announced his hypothesis that stunned scholars of the ancient world. 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. 62. 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. The Tomb of Nefertiti. The verdict is in for what’s behind King Tutankhamun’s burial chamber Robin Ngo May 11, 2018 1 Comments 3773 views Share A team headed by Francesco Porcelli of the Polytechnic University of Turin conducted the third investigation into whether Queen Nefertiti’s tomb is located on the other side of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber. © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. 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. 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. This is conclusive in our point of view," he adds. 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. 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. ", "The results may be disappointing, but the science is paramount. But it appears that at some points in Tut's tomb, the radar waves did not penetrate through the walls but rather traveled along the wall surfaces before returning back to the receiver. 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 … All rights reserved. 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. 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. With no tomb yet dug for pharaoh’s sole use, KV62 was reopened and accessed. Porcelli suspects that previous radar anomalies detected in the pharaoh's burial chamber, which raised the exciting possibility that Nefertiti's tomb might lie beyond it, were the result of "ghost signals"—rogue radar reflections originating in front of the walls, not behind them. But where is her mummy now? "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. Relief showing Akhenaten and Nefertiti under the rays of the sun-god Aten. 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. High-frequency radar can provide detailed results up to distances of about seven feet; lower frequencies penetrate deeper but provide coarser results. Some Egyptologists believe she died. (Nefertiti was likely King Tut’s stepmother, although some Egyptologists believe she was the boy-king’s biological mother.) 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 … “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. The next step for researchers is to use seismic X-ray technology and ground-penetrating radar to determine if there are any gaps in the bedrock that would indicate the presence of additional rooms. 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. A British archaeologist believes ancient Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti may be buried behind a secret door inside of King Tut’s tomb. The scientific report submitted on Saturday by Porcelli to Waziri and Khaled El Enany, Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities, ends with the statement: "We conclude, with a very high level of confidence, that the hypothesis concerning the existence of hidden chambers adjacent [to] Tutankhamun’s tomb is not supported by the GPR data. Reeves spent months poring over the ultra-high-resolution images of King Tut’s tomb taken in 2009 by Factum Arte, a European specialist in art replication, as part of its construction of an exact replica of the pharaoh’s tomb now open to tourists to protect the original from damage by visitors. December 2018-January 2019. from 4.90. That thought would not occur until the king’s early and unexpected death a decade later. 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. 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. However, in 2018, the Ministry of Antiquities announced that the investigation, which continued for 3 years and included a radar survey of the cemetery, proved conclusively that there were no secret rooms. “But if I’m right, the prospects are frankly staggering. Been queens ’ visit to Egypt draws closer, the prospects are frankly staggering the prospects frankly. Such as tombs and passages, without unnecessarily disturbing fragile ancient sites | Updated 09:25... 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