Scientists have found new signs of hidden rooms in Tutankhamun's tomb

There may be unknown rooms behind the walls of Tutankhamun's burial chamber, according to the authors of a new archaeological and geophysical report. They compared the features of the tomb's painting and structure with the results of an examination of its walls and surrounding rocks. Based on these data, the researchers proposed a model of the complex extending tens of meters to the north. However, the existence of the rooms has not yet been confirmed, and the assumption of Nefertiti's burial there remains a separate hypothesis. About what signs the scientists found and why previous studies led to a different conclusion, see the "Izvestia" article.

Why are they looking for other rooms in Tutankhamun's tomb

Tutankhamun's tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings was designated KV 62. Howard Carter discovered it in 1922. Despite the worldwide fame of the find and the subsequent study of its contents, the tomb's structure continues to raise questions.

It is relatively small and unusually arranged for a royal burial of that time. From the entrance corridor, a path leads to the front room, then turns to a painted burial chamber; two more small rooms branch off from the main rooms. It was the scale and layout that led Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves to suggest that the tomb visible today could have originally been intended for another person, and later was adapted for the burial of Tutankhamun.

In 2015, Reeves put forward a more specific version: the northern and western walls of the burial chamber may conceal the continuation of the tomb and the burial of Nefertiti. She is often referred to as Tutankhamun's stepmother, as she was the wife of Akhenaten, who is usually considered the Pharaoh's father. But even the discovery of additional rooms alone would not prove that they are connected specifically with Nefertiti.

How the tomb was examined

The researchers used several methods to explore the space without opening the painted walls. The ground-penetrating radar sent signals into the thickness of the material and recorded reflections from areas with different properties. Electrical exploration helped to look for differences in the electrical resistance of rocks. Microgravimetry measured small changes in gravity, which may be related to differences in the density of the material below the surface.

The devices were used both inside the burial chamber and on the slope around the tomb. The team also studied the geology of the site, the layout of KV 62 and its murals. The purpose of the combination of methods was to check whether the signs obtained by different methods were consistent. However, none of them provides an image of a room comparable to a photograph: researchers see the signals and then offer an explanation for them.

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On the western wall of the burial chamber, the authors drew attention to vertical joints, cracks and a line, which they interpret as a possible outline of the overlap of the sealed passage. They consider the data obtained at the northern wall as a possible indication of artificial masonry behind the painting. On the slope to the north, microgravimetric measurements showed several anomalies, the location of which the researchers compared with the axis of the tomb.

These are signs that need to be checked, not detected open doors and rooms. A change in the signal may indicate features of the rock or its density; a single geophysical interpretation is not enough to determine the origin of the anomaly.

What is behind the walls according to the authors of the report

The authors suggest that there may be at least one more room for storing funeral equipment to the west of the burial chamber. To the north, according to their reconstruction, a larger burial system could have continued.

Their proposed model extends approximately 25-30 m north of the known part of KV 62. Researchers admit the existence of five or six rooms there. But this is a reconstruction based on indirect data: the number of rooms, their shape and location have not yet been established by direct examination. In the report itself, the authors distinguish the degree of confidence in individual proposed facilities and call the corridors connecting them largely presumptive.

There is also an important limitation to the interpretation of wall scan results. The authors report that the survey did not reveal any clear signs of empty chambers directly next to the burial room — within about two meters. According to their version, the possible passages could have been filled with rock fragments in ancient times, and the proposed premises were located further away. This version helps to explain the absence of a signal from an open cavity near the wall, but by itself it does not confirm it.

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Why the results are controversial

The tomb has already been examined by ground-penetrating radar several times, and the results turned out to be contradictory. The first studies supported interest in the hidden room hypothesis. However, a group of scientists conducting another detailed radar survey in 2018 found no signs of cameras directly behind the walls of KV 62.

The authors of the new report dispute the finality of that conclusion. They believe that previous research could have been focused primarily on finding open voids, whereas the proposed passages may have been filled in. In addition, the new work includes microgravimetric measurements and a joint review of data from different methods. Nevertheless, the previous negative result remains an essential part of the history of this hypothesis: it is impossible to say that the presence of hidden rooms has been established.

The question of Nefertiti is even less defined. Ground-penetrating radar and other devices cannot establish who the intended continuation of the tomb was intended for and whether there are remains in it. The authors derive the connection with the queen from their interpretation of the architecture and murals of KV 62, and not from the found burial or the inscription naming her.

What can put an end to the question?

According to the authors of the report themselves, the next step should be a direct study of one of the proposed premises with the possibility of obtaining images of its interior. Only after that it will be possible to check whether it exists, whether it is man-made and whether it is connected with the tomb of Tutankhamun. The submitted materials do not indicate that such access has already been obtained.

Even if further research confirms an unknown part of the complex, the issue of Nefertiti will require separate evidence. So far, the most accurate conclusion is that the new work has renewed the debate about the possible continuation of KV 62 by offering additional geophysical data, but has not resolved it.