Official says Egypt approves radar for Nefertiti tomb quest
CAIRO (AP) — The
Egyptian Antiquities Ministry granted preliminary approval for the use
of a non-invasive radar to verify a theory that Queen Nefertiti's crypt
may be hidden behind King Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old tomb in the
famous Valley of the Kings, a ministry official said Tuesday.
A security
clearance for the radar's use will probably be obtained within a month,
said Mouchira Moussa, media consultant to Antiquities Minister Mamdouh
el-Damaty.
"It's not going to cause any damage to the monument," Moussa said.
Egyptologist
Nicholas Reeves recently published his theory, but it has yet to be
peer-reviewed. He believes that Tutankhamun, who died at the age of 19,
may have been rushed into an outer chamber of what was originally the
tomb of Nefertiti, which has never been found.British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered Tut's tomb in Luxor's Valley of the Kings in 1922 — intact and packed with antiquities including Tut's world-famous golden mask.
In
his paper, Reeves claims high-resolution images of King Tut's tomb
include lines underneath plastered surfaces of painted walls, showing
there could be two unexplored doorways, one of which could potentially
lead to Nefertiti's tomb. He also argues that the design of King Tut's
tomb suggests it was built for a queen, rather than a king.
The Japanese radar, which
will be operated by an expert who will accompany the equipment from
Japan for the inspection once the final approval is granted, will look
beyond the walls that Reeves says may be leading into the suspected tomb
and the other chamber, Moussa said.
Reeves,
who has been in contact with the minister, arrives in Cairo Saturday,
Moussa said, and he and el-Damaty will travel to Luxor to inspect the
tomb.
"We're very excited...
It may not be a tomb belonging to Nefertiti, but it could be a tomb
belonging to one of the nobles," said Moussa. "If it is Nefertiti's,
this would be very massive."
Already,
there's a mummy at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo that has strong DNA
evidence of being Tut's mother. DNA testing also has provided strong
evidence suggesting that Tut's father likely was the Pharaoh Akhenaten,
the first pharaoh to try switching Egypt to monotheism. The DNA testing
also brought a new discovery: that Tut's mother was Akhenaten's sister.
Still,
some archaeologists believe the two were probably cousins and that this
DNA result could be the product of three generations of marriages
between first cousins — and that Nefertiti, Akhenaten's chief wife, may
in fact have been Tut's mother.
Many
Egyptologists believe there were probably one or two co-pharaohs
between Akhenaten and Tutankhamun. Some, including Reeves, believe at
least one of them may have been Nefertiti, who may have even ruled Egypt
by herself even for just a few months. Finding her tomb could provide
further insight into a period still largely obscured, despite intense
worldwide interest in ancient Egypt.
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