New clues in hunt for Nefertiti’s tomb

Egyptologists are optimistic that a second chamber may soon be found behind King Tutankhamun’s tomb, based on results of scans from the Valley of the Kings that were announced Saturday.

One archaeologist has speculated that if the second chamber exists, it could be Queen Nefertiti’s long-lost burial place.

Nefertiti vanished 3,000 years ago. Her full story has remained a mystery, involving experts around the world in an ongoing search for her tomb.

In August, British archaeologist Nicolas Reeves published a theory that the ancient queen’s final resting place is tucked away in a hidden chamber behind the walls of the tomb of Egypt’s most famous pharaoh, King Tut. Reeves’ theory rocked Egyptologists around the world, prompting more research in hopes of additional clues about Nefertiti.

A British Egyptologist and archaelogist believes he may have solved the millenia-old mystery of where Queen Nefertiti is buried.

Nicolas Reeves believes Nefertiti, an Egyptian queen who reigned for 12 years before vanishing without a trace 3,000 years ago, is buried in a hidden chamber inside the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

King Tut died at 17, but his fame is derived from his resting place being found largely intact in Egypt's Valley of the Kings in 1922.

"I had no preconceived notion that Nefertiti was buried here. To be honest, for some time, I fought the conclusion because it seemed so extraordinary," Reeves told CNN. "But that is where the evidence seems to be pointing."

A picture taken on September 28 shows the golden sarcophagus of King Tutankhamun in his burial chamber in near Luxor.

Reeves says the first clues are the simple but vivid hieroglyphics adorning the yellow walls. One section depicts what appear to be a mummy and a pharaoh.

Reeves claims the artwork found inside King Tut's tomb are similar to artworks found elsewhere depicting the boy king and Nefertiti. But he says the artwork also camouflages cracks in the walls that could indicate two previously unrecognized "ghost" doorways that may lay behind the King's burial chamber.

The search for Nefertiti

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To test his theory, Reeves recently used radar and thermal imaging to scan the tomb and differentiate between bedrock and walls.

Have Egyptologists found Nefertiti’s long-lost tomb?

Preliminary results from the scans reveal a vacant spot behind the northern wall of the tomb, which archaeologists say strongly indicates the existence of a new burial chamber, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities announced Saturday.

Work inside the tomb will not begin until all the data from the radar and infrared devices are carefully analyzed by Japanese experts, according to Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Eldamaty.

Nefertiti ruled Egypt alongside her husband, Amenhotep IV (Akhenatan), in the 18th Dynasty, in the middle of the 14th century B.C. Her not-so-modest name means “a beautiful woman has come.”

But after reigning for 12 years, she vanished. Some Egyptologists believe she became co-regent under a new name, while others think she simply died.

CNN’s Ian Lee contributed to this report.