Radar survey suggests 90 pct chance another tomb lies behind Tutankhamun's burial chamber - Ancient Egypt - Heritage - Ahram Online

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Radar survey suggests 90 pct chance another tomb lies behind Tutankhamun's burial chamber

Nevine El-Aref, Thursday 17 Mar 2016

The Japanese radar survey that suggests the existence of additional chambers behind the north and west walls of Tutankhamun's tomb will be followed up with another survey late March

After four months of technical studies, Japanese radar specialist Watanabi is 90 per cent sure that two chambers are located behind the north and west walls of Tutankhamun's burial chamber, Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty announced at a press conference held today at the ministry's premises in Zamalek.

Eldamaty told reporter that recent studies carried out on the west and north walls of Tutankhamu's burial chamber reveal that solid and empty spaces are located behind them, as well as lintels that indicates the existence of doorways. Organic and metal materials were also detected inside these spaces.

Eldamaty explained that studies carried out on the northern wall reveal that it has dark and light spots. The dark spots, he said, are the original bedrock of the Valley of the Kings, while light spots are empty spaces. "Differences in thickness is also noted," he pointed out.

In response to Ahram Online questioning whether the organic material detected could be a mummy, Eldamaty said: "Until now, I cannot be sure what these organic materials could be. It could be a mummy, a sarcophagus or anything. I cannot tell."

Eldamaty announced that at the end of March another radar scan would be conducted on the north and west walls of Tutankhamun's burial chamber in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering of Cairo University, in order to be 100 per cent sure of the results obtained from the first radar survey by Watanabi.

"It is a very important step in an attempt to explore these two walls and find the correct and safe methods to uncover what lies behind them," Eldamaty asserted.

The minister added that the radar surveys represent a rediscovery of the boy king's tomb, suggesting that the empty spaces behind the walls could be the royal burial chamber of Tutankhamun's sister, Merit aatun, or his mother, Kia, or his grandmother, Tiye, but not Nefertiti as archaelogist Nicolas Reeves suggests.

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