93 years ago, the archaeology world was astonished by the discovery of the ‘hidden’ tomb of King Tutankhamun, a search that went on for five years before yielding the bevy of ‘untouched-for-3000-years’ treasures and the artifacts. And now in 2016, the archaeology is poised to make yet another breakthrough in the ambit of King Tut, with recent radar scans (possibly) showing two hidden rooms inside the grandiose scope of Tutankhamun’s 3,300-year old burial chamber. And what’s more, these two hidden compartments possibly contain metal or organic material – as hinted at by Egyptian Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty.

Now of course the million-dollar question arises – does his pertain to the long lost tomb of Egyptian Queen Nefertiti? Well in terms of ‘vague’ data available right now, metals and organic matter probably relate to some inconspicuous sarcophagus, thus rather bolstering the conjecture put forth by Nicholas Reeves, a British Egyptologist at the University of Arizona. In 2015 he said how radar evidence points to the continuation of the corridor tomb beyond Tutankhamun’s burial chamber. To that end, Reeves hypothesized that Tutankhamun, who met his untimely death at the young age of 19, may have been rushed and concealed into an outer chamber of what was the structure of the original Nefertiti tomb, the famous queen who died ten years before.

GPR data from the scanned walls: Credit: Ministry of Antiquities

However on the skeptical side of affairs, many experts have cited what seems to be strong DNA evidence of Nefertiti’s mummy, which is apparently already safeguarded in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. Additionally, there are practical things to consider beyond hype. As Aidan Dodson, an archaeologist at the University of Bristol in England, said –

Quite often, people have done these sorts of scans, and when actually investigated, things have turned out to be nothing like predicted. If they are chambers, most likely they’d be filled with more funeral objects of Tutankhamun, possibly including some gilded statuettes of gods, or perhaps even the mummy of a young child who predeceased Tutankhamun.

In any case, there is no denying the significance of such a discovery that has suggested that there are hidden compartments inside Tutankhamun’s ritzy tomb. As for the archaeological developments, researchers are looking forth to conduct additional scans (along with other ‘multiple steps’) later this month that could precisely gauge the dimensional attributes of these rooms. As al-Damaty said in a succinct manner –

It’s a rediscovery that might lead us to the discovery of the century.

Plan of the hidden rooms inside King Tut’s tomb. Credit: Ministry of Antiquities.

Via: NationalGeographic