Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s leading archaeologist, is critical of the theory that Nefertiti is buried next to Tutankhamun’s tomb. In August 2015, the British specialist Nicholas Reeves argued that the ancient Egyptian queen’s tomb could lie behind a hidden door off the boy king’s burial chamber, in the Valley of the Kings.
Hawass told The Art Newspaper that there was “very little evidence” for Reeves’s theory, which he believes will “die”. Known for his flamboyant style, Hawass was briefly minister for antiquities until he was forced out during political turmoil in 2011. As head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities from 2002, he has masterminded research on Tutankhamun’s tomb.
Reeves set out his theory in a 50-page paper published by the Amarna Royal Tombs Project, which he established in 1998. A former curator at the British Museum (1984-91) and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art (2011-14), Reeves is now based at the University of Arizona.
The Reeves paper argues that high-resolution photography of Tutankhamun’s burial chamber suggests that there is a hidden doorway, which could lead to the tomb of Nefertiti, chief consort of the pharaoh Akhenaten, father of Tutankhamun. Nefertiti died around 1330BC and her tomb has never been found.
Next moves
Reeves believes that a detailed geophysical survey of Tutankhamun’s tomb should be “one of Egyptology’s highest priorities”. He told The Art Newspaper that the first step would be to use radar, “which should tell us relatively quickly and easily whether there is a void beyond the west and north walls”. If a void is detected, then a small hole could be drilled through what would probably be mud bricks and a fibre-optic camera inserted. However, Reeves warns that such intervention requires careful consideration. Efforts should be made to collect uncontaminated air samples from an environment that may have been hermetically sealed for 3,300 years.
Physically, conducting a radar examination would be a simple process, and Reeves already has access to the equipment. However, getting the agreement of the Supreme Council of Antiquities may prove complicated, because of what Reeves has earlier called “archaeological politics”. In 2002, his excavation in the Valley of the Kings was suspended by Hawass’s office, following damaging rumours about trafficking in antiquities. Three years later, Reeves was cleared of irregularities, but he has still not received permission to continue work. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic that permission may now be granted, since the University of Arizona has an expedition in Egypt.
Hawass is an independent scholar with no formal position with the Egyptian archaeological authorities. Despite his scepticism, he suggests that the ministry of antiquities should appoint a committee to examine Reeves’s evidence. Reeves told us that he had provided an advance copy of his scholarly paper to the Egyptian authorities, “which they received with considerable interest and enthusiasm, and I am hopeful that it may soon be possible to take the investigation to the next stage”.
Latest theory Reeves has long believed that Nefertiti’s tomb is in the Valley of the Kings. A decade or so ago he thought the site might possibly lie 15 metres to the north of KV63, a newly discovered probable storage chamber close to Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV62). Radar investigations by Reeves in 2000 showed an apparent void, and he announced this six years later. Subsequent archaeological investigation under Hawass revealed no trace of a tomb, although Reeves argues that “perhaps he was not digging in quite the right place”.
Reeves says that he has tentatively identified two hidden doorways in Tutankhamun’s tomb: one leading to a storeroom to the west and the other, potentially, to a series of chambers to the north containing the undisturbed tomb of Nefertiti. Scholars believe that Nefertiti was buried either in the Valley of the Kings or at Akhenaten’s capital, Amarna, 250 miles to the north.
Reeves developed his theory using high-definition colour photography and surface scans recently taken of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Madrid-based Factum Arte. These images were made in order to create a replica for visitors, opened last year a mile away from the original tomb, which can take only restricted numbers for conservation reasons. A painstaking examination of the images led Reeves to identify indications of two previously undetected, plastered-over doorways, untouched since antiquity.
An examination of the paint suggested that the north wall of the burial chamber had been decorated slightly earlier with a different coloured ground from the other three Tutankhamun-era walls. Reeves analysed the decoration, arguing that an image of a pharaoh generally assumed to be Tutankhamun has ornamental grooves at the corners of the mouth, which are found in sculptural representations of Nefertiti.