Archaeologists using GPR discovered voids near the tomb of the Egyptian king Tutankhamun, according to the journal Nature. Perhaps, there is hidden the answer to one of the most exciting questions of Egyptology - about the resting place of Nefertiti. About how reliable the sounding results are.
Two mysterious doors
At the beginning of the 20th century, leading Egyptologists recognized that the Valley of the Kings was unpromising for new discoveries. However, British archaeologist Howard Carter had his own point of view. Carefully choosing the place, he set about searching for the tomb of Tutankhamun, who ruled in 1332-1323 BC.
Five years passed, and when everyone except the scientist himself lost hope, in November 1922, the entrance to the tomb was discovered. The discovery shocked the whole world.
Tutankhamun's tomb consists of small rooms and a passage. Scientists noted that their size is too small for the king of that era. Countless riches are squeezed into four rooms, and the walls are painted only in the burial chamber. Could it be part of a larger structure?
Over the hundred years that have passed since its discovery, scientists have examined every centimeter of the tomb (technically referred to as KV 62). It would seem that the question has lost its sharpness. However, the data obtained with the help of new technologies added fuel to the fire.
In 2014, Spanish specialists from the Factum Arte project scanned the walls of the pharaoh's burial chamber. High-resolution images of frescoes and wall surfaces were posted online. After examining the "pictures", Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves from the UK drew attention to a number of straight lines. In his opinion, they point to two doorways in the north and west walls of the room, leading to secret rooms. And there may be unknown tombs, untouched since ancient times.
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Reeves suggested that Nefertiti, the legendary queen who ruled Egypt for a short time under the young Tutankhamun, rests in the hidden rooms. If the theory is confirmed, it will be the largest archaeological discovery since the excavations of Carter.
Two geophysical anomalies
Reeves' hypothesis prompted the Egyptian authorities to start research. The Minister of Antiquities Mamduh el-Damati invited two scientific groups specializing in georadar works for cooperation.
GPR emits radio frequency electromagnetic waves and then records their reflection from various obstacles and surfaces located inside a solid, underground, in the sea. These devices are used, for example, to search for mineral deposits, check the quality of engineering structures. Archaeologists have adopted georadars relatively recently.
In November 2015, Japanese specialist Hirokatsu Watanabe probed Tutankhamun's burial chamber from the inside and confirmed Reeves' hypothesis. However, a study commissioned by National Geographic magazine refuted these theories.
Two years later, a team of researchers from the Polytechnic University of Turin, led by Francesco Porcelli, conducted an electrical tomography scan of the area around the tomb and found two anomalies, but not where Reeves had suggested.
In February 2018, the Italian scientist, together with the British company Terravision Exploration, once again scanned the territory and came to disappointing conclusions: the theory of the existence of hidden rooms in the tomb of Tutankhamun contradicts the GPR data.
As for the two anomalies previously identified, scientists have not been able to find their connection with KV 62.
Tutankhamun's tomb and void-like anomalies discovered by geophysical methods / Illustration by RIA Novosti.
Corridor in the east
Porcelli explains the contradictory results by the peculiarities of the operation of georadars. In his opinion, the complexity of this technology is underestimated. He points to interference that may have led to misinterpretation of Watanabe's data.
Uncertainty did not suit Egyptologists. According to Nature, the retired Mamduh el-Damati decided to dot the i's and again invited Terravision Exploration to probe the rocks around the tomb of Tutankhamun together with scientists from the Ain Shams University in Cairo. A few meters to the east, this group found something like a corridor ten meters long and two meters high.
The study from the inside of the burial chamber again did not give reliable results - the air conditioning system interfered. It had to be either dismantled for the duration of the work, or the georadar must be modernized.
There are more questions in this exciting story so far. Some scientists doubt the georadar data and hope for confirmation of the theory that has arisen by other methods, others believe that not Nefertiti was buried in the secret rooms, but her daughter, the main wife of Tutankhamun, Ankhesenamun. And Nature, meanwhile, calls not to make secrets from the ongoing research, in order to jointly decide how to penetrate the depths of the centuries without damaging the unique monument.
Bust of Nefertiti at the Museum in Berlin. The tomb of the queen was never found. Archaeologist Nicholas Reeves suggests that she may be in secret rooms, where passages from Tutankhamun's burial chamber lead.
Tatiana Pichugina