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Tutankhamun ‘secret chamber’ does not exist, researchers find

Photo: Reuters

 

Egyptian authorities have finished their quest to discover a secret chamber in the tomb of Tutankhamun – concluding that it does not exist, the BBC reports.

Previously, officials said they were “90% sure” of a hidden room behind the wall of the boy king’s famous 3,000-year-old tomb.

One theory suggested it could have been the tomb of Queen Nefertiti – who some think was Tutankhamun’s mother.

New research, however, has concluded the chamber simply is not there.

The search for the hidden tomb began when English archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, examining detailed scans of the chamber, discovered what looked like faint traces, or “ghosts”, of doors beneath the plaster.

His 2015 paper The Burial of Nefertiti, he argued that the relatively small tomb had originally been designed for Queen Nefertiti – and her remains could possibly lie further within the tomb.

Nefertiti’s remains have never been discovered, but she has been the object of much speculation. A 3,000-year-old sculpture of the queen, immaculately preserved, has made her one of the most recognisable women of ancient Egypt.

It is also thought she may have ruled Egypt as pharaoh herself between the death of her husband and the ascension of Tutankhamun.

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