", "The results may be disappointing, but the science is paramount. 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. 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 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. 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. The question is: is it Nefertiti? Any excavation would take years of planning so that it could be done without damaging King Tut’s tomb. 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. 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 … In addition, the burial chamber appeared to have been built and decorated in stages, and most of the nearly 2,000 artifacts found inside seemed to have been hastily placed and intended for earlier royals. Valley of the Kings“. 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. NILE #17. "It may be more efficient than traditional archaeology and less destructive," he adds. Others theorize that she outlived her husband and ruled alongside Tutankhamen or perhaps served as pharaoh herself before King Tut assumed the throne. The culprit? But what was its lasting impact? Grave (day trip) (From $384.62) See all Tomb of Queen Nefertari experiences on Tripadvisor 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. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! 2020 National Geographic Partners, LLC. "It's disappointing, but this is the result. ", 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. 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. Relief showing Akhenaten and Nefertiti under the rays of the sun-god Aten. Some Egyptologists believe she died. A British archaeologist believes ancient Egypt’s Queen Nefertiti may be buried behind a secret door inside of King Tut’s tomb. e-mail; 1.1k shares. 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. So, where is her mummy? High-frequency radar can provide detailed results up to distances of about seven feet; lower frequencies penetrate deeper but provide coarser results. December 2018-January 2019. from 4.90. 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. “The more I looked, the more information I found that I seemed to be looking at something pretty real,” he told the BBC. Her mummy has proven the most elusive to archaeologists and the most notable absence from the royals of Egypt’s 18th dynasty. Only because of this simple fact of being situated in … 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. https://www.history.com/news/has-queen-nefertitis-tomb-been-found 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. As Reeves’ visit to Egypt draws closer, the suspense crescendoes. “If I’m wrong, I’m wrong,” Reeves told the BBC. Tut's father was the pharaoh Akhenaten, who was married to Nefertiti. DECEMBER 2018-JANUARY 2019. It’s considered the most comprehensive search yet. “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 sculpture of the Egyptian beauty wearing a distinctive flat-topped blue crown attracted worldwide attention and is now on display in a Berlin museum. Tantalising radar shadows have revived hopes that one of history’s most beautiful, and controversial, women — Queen Nefertiti — may indeed be buried in secret chambers within King Tut’s famous tomb. Nearly a century later, British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves thinks he has solved the mystery. 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. This is conclusive in our point of view," he adds. 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 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. 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. 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. 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. View comments. Experts used ground penetrating radar (GPR) which provided "conclusive evidence of the non-existence of hidden chambers adjacent to or inside Tutankhamun's tomb… 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. Hidden doorways in the ancient Egyptian tomb of King Tutankhamun may lead to the long-lost resting place of Queen Nefertiti, a scientist has claimed. The location of Nefertiti’s tomb has long been a mystery. 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. 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. All rights reserved. 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. It was July of last year when British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves announced his hypothesis that stunned scholars of the ancient world. They discovered several bodies in Kv21 and observed that two mummies could have been queens . . The wife of pharaoh Akhenaten, Tutankhamen’s father, was one of ancient Egypt’s most powerful women. After the experts individually interpreted their radar data, they came together to cross-check their results. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 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 … 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… Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. With no tomb yet dug for pharaoh’s sole use, KV62 was reopened and accessed. 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. Renowned for her beauty, the queen was more than just a pretty face. 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. 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 … 62. The badly damaged mummy of the Younger Lady was uncovered in a tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in 1898, and shown through DNA evidence in 2010, to be King Tut's biological mother. 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. "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. The Antiquities Museum in the Library of Alexandria 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 . (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. 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. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. (Nefertiti was likely King Tut’s stepmother, although some Egyptologists believe she was the boy-king’s biological mother.) Two previous tests of Reeves' theory, using ground-penetrating radar (GPR) to search for hidden chambers or passages, produced contradictory results. 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. THE ONE WITH NEFERTITI’S COFFINETTE ON THE COVER. In a second radar scan in Tut's tomb in 2016, National Geographic technicians Eric Berkenpas and Alan Turchik prepare the radar unit. The woman who changed Egypt’s history has been missing for more than 3,300 years. The Ancient Egyptian civilization, famous for its pyramids, pharaohs, mummies, and tombs, flourished for thousands of years. 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. ", SOURCES: THEBAN MAPPING PROJECT, Ministry of State for Antiquities. Nefertiti died a queen and would have been buried as one. All Rights Reserved. The Neues Museum in Berlin decided to keep its full-color scan of the Nefertiti bust under lock and key. © 1996-2015 National Geographic Society, © 2015- 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. Nefertiti disappeared from the historical record with five years remaining in Akhenaten’s reign. Published: 14:33 EST, 1 February 2018 | Updated: 09:25 EST, 2 February 2018 . (Credit: Theban Mapping Project). The tomb belongs to the dead Pharaoh depicted in the painting. 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. Egyptologist Marc Gabolde of Paul Valéry University, who has been searching for Nefertiti’s tomb, thinks so. “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. However, a second radar scan of the tomb, performed by National Geographic Society engineers in 2016, did not replicate Watanabe's results. Read about previous searches for Nefertiti 's tomb after all the Nile, at the height of the may! 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