"So far there is no reason to say that there may be Queen Nefertiti"
It would seem, what other word in Egyptology can be said about the tomb of Tutankhamun, discovered and meticulously examined by Howard Carter in 1922? But, it turns out, thanks to modern technology, miracles still happen, as the Minister of Antiquities of Egypt Mamduh al-Damati told the world on Thursday. And for us this story is commented professionally by Egyptologist Viktor SOLKIN.
So, Victor, what is the discovery and what is its value?
- We are, of course, waiting for the grand opening of the century. During the press conference of Mamduh al-Damati, the results of many months of research by an international team of scientists were summed up: with the help of a special scanning device, all the internal spaces of Tutankhamun's tomb were "probed" (it is located, I remind you, in the Valley of the Kings). The study began in November 2015. As a result, the hypothesis of the British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves was fully confirmed, who was the first to suggest last year that the tomb may have additional rooms that the famous Howard Carter missed in the 1920s.
Why did Carter let them pass?
- The tomb that we know today consists of four rooms; the central burial chamber is covered with paintings. And Howard Carter did not study these walls in detail, not wanting to disturb the drawings, and not even suspecting that there was something behind them. Nicholas Reeves, studying the scans of these walls, admitted that there were passages to other chambers, because the ground under the paintings was not uniform. As a result, a Japanese scientist, the largest specialist in scanning objects located in the land of Hirokatsu Watanabe, was involved for such important research. And the results are stunning: indeed, significant rooms adjoin the burial chamber of Tutankhamun on both sides.
What exactly did he do?
- There were two stages. First: with the help of a special "penetrating" scanner, he scanned all the walls of the tomb, determined where the passages to the side rooms are. Second: with the help of an even stronger scanner, he examined the surface of the Valley of the Kings above the tomb in order to understand in which directions the rooms were going, if they were at all, what size.
Promotional video:
What does the scanner look like?
“This is such a miniature flat panel on wheels about 50 by 60 cm, with which a very elderly Japanese scientist rode on the ground of the Valley of the Kings. So they found two spaces: one small, and the other, apparently, on the contrary, is a significant gallery, continuing the main axis of the entire tomb. And this meticulous scanner showed in the rooms, firstly, an accumulation of metal, and, secondly, an accumulation of organic materials (someone else's burial). This explains the long silence of the scientists: they needed proof that it was a tomb, not caves, not some pieces that were not completed during construction …
Everyone immediately picked up the theme that there is a female pharaoh Nefertiti (wife of Akhenaten, father of Tutankhamun)
- So far there is no reason to say that Queen Nefertiti could be there. Most likely, her burial was ruined under Tutankhamen. The next scan is scheduled for March 31: they will try to figure out in detail the outline of the premises, how far they extend. Results will be announced on April 1st. And already based on the results of this scan, from one of the side rooms of the tomb of Tutankhamun, which is close to the supposed long corridor, a minimum hole will be drilled to let a video camera in there. And having seen what is there, scientists will think about how to open the secret rooms so as not to damage the painting. Either from above, or bypassing … And then there will be a joint mission of scientists from different countries who will begin the restoration of things from the 14th century BC.
Jan Smirnitsky