‘We haven't finished with Tutankhamun's tomb yet'
Sensational, is how Leiden Egyptologist Olaf Kaper described the discovery of two new chambers in the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun. He hopes that a second set of scans will confirm their presence unequivocally.
Second series of scans
The Egyptian minister of antiquities announced on 17 March that scans had revealed two previously undiscovered chambers in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The team of researchers has since made new scans and will present their findings shortly. 'I expect that the scans will confirm what the first series showed, namely that there are chambers behind two of the walls of the tomb, and that there are some abnormalities in the scans that could indicate the presence of archaeological artefacts. We need this confirmation to exclude the possibility that the images from the first scan were in any way mistaken,' Kaper explained.
Significant find
Researchers worldwide have reacted very positively to the discovery of the chambers. Nonetheless, there are few who expect to find the mummy of Queen Nefertiti in the chambers. This hypothesis was put forward by British researcher Nicholas Reeves, who found the first indications of the chambers. Whatever may be found there, the discovery itself is very significant, according to Kaper. 'It means that haven't yet finished with the tomb of Tutankhamun, even though it has already yielded so much. The tomb was discovered in 1922 and we thought we knew all there was to know about it, but this discovery means that we can expect more information about one of the most exciting periods in Egyptian history.'