Face that launched a thousand quests ... A new search for the tomb of Nefertiti will be launched on September 28. Source: Supplied
THE search for the tomb of Egypt’s beautiful heretic queen Nefertiti will launch on Monday with sensitive surveying equipment being moved into the burial chamber of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.
Egyptian news service Ahram Online reports a team of experts, dignitaries and British archeologist Nicholas Reeves will enter Tutankhamun’s famous tomb on September 28.
Once inside they will inspect the northern wall of the famous boy-king’s burial chamber for evidence of a secret door.
Reeves last month published a study detailing what he described as evidence that Tut’s tomb had originally belonged to his stepmother, Nefertiti, and that her remains may still be hidden there.
“Reeve’s work shows a different side of archeology — the application of high-resolution digital imaging methods to see below the surface,” says Professor Claire Smith of the Department of Archaeology at Flinders University. “Reeves makes a very good case that behind these doorways lies the burial of the celebrated Nefertiti.”
Hidden chambers ... Archaeologist Nicholas Reeves believes there are two hidden chambers inside King Tutankhamun’s tomb. One of them may be Queen Nefertiti’s burial place.Source:Supplied
The final resting place of Queen Nefertiti, the powerful wife of Pharoah Akhenaten, has long been lost. Her 14th century BC enemies had gone to great lengths to erase any trace of her and her husband after the royal couple overthrew the old gods and imposed the monotheistic worship of the Aten — a sun god.
The old religious powerbase regained control during the reign Akhenaten’s son, Tutankhamun.
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“This is an unprecedented opportunity to learn more about a prominent female leader of the ancient world,” Professor Smith says.
“If Nicholas Reeves is right, then an intact burial chamber can bring new understandings about this period which fascinates so many people.”
The idea was met with international interest, and Egypt’s Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamatry invited Reeves to visit the tomb to test the theory.
With them will be “the best Egyptologists in the ministry to examine the interior of the tomb”, a statement from the minister overnight reads.
Ghosts in the walls ... The 3D scans of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber which prompted archeologist Nicholas Reeves to believe there may be hidden chambers.Source:Supplied
The results of the official investigation will not be made public until a press conference is held in Cairo after the survey is conducted.
“Tutankhamun’s tomb is significant because it is associated with the archetypal archaeological story — the chance discovery of great treasures,” Professor Smith says. “Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon are prototypes that fed into later popular culture depictions of archaeologists like Indiana Jones.”
