New antiquities minister:Radar scanning of Tutankhamun tomb to go as scheduled next week

The second round of the digital radar scanning of the tomb of Egypt's boy king Tutankhamun will go as scheduled on March 31, new Antiquities Minister Khaled el Anany said.

Anany, who was sworn in on Wednesday, said the scanning of the walls of Tut's burial chamber, the most famous tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, will take place as scheduled and its findings will be announced during a press conference on April 1.

The minister vowed to resume the project that could be the discovery of the century.

The outcome of the first radar scanning of the chamber was announced last week, showing the presence of objects made of metal and organic materials behind the north wall and others composed of organic materials behind the west wall.

First discovered by archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922, the tomb of King Tut yielded an astonishing array of grave goods—more than 5,000 artifacts, many of them in pristine condition. It was the most intact royal tomb ever found, providing Egyptologists with an unprecedented glimpse into the material life of a king who ruled during the 14th century B.C.

But in July of last year, Nicholas Reeves, a British archaeologist who specializes in the Valley of the Kings, published a paper claiming that there may in fact be another tomb hidden behind the walls of Tut’s burial chamber. 

Reeves’s theory was based in part on close examination of high-resolution laser scans of the tomb, which seemed to indicate traces of passageways and door openings that had been plastered and painted over during the preparation of Tut’s chamber.

Last November, former Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el Damaty invited Reeves and Japanese radar specialist Hirokatsu Watanabe to Luxor, where they spent two evenings conducting radar scans of the west and north walls of Tut’s burial chamber. An initial read of the scan was compelling: After those tests in November, Damaty announced that he was “90 percent positive” that another chamber lay behind the north wall of the tomb.

Source: MENA