 An undisturbed royal tomb has been detected deeply buried in the Valley of the Kings, a British Egyptologist claims. The find, using remote-sensing equipment, lies only a few yards from the tomb of Tutankhamun, discovered in 1922, and is likely to date to the same early New Kingdom period between 1550BC and 1300 BC, and perhaps even to Tutankhamun’s own 18th dynasty.
“From its location this tomb could prove to be a find of the greatest possible significance,” said Nicholas Reeves, director of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project. “Situated in a part of the Valley which was out of bounds to earlier excavators, moreover, the new find is almost certain to be undisturbed.”
Dr Reeves believes that the site, neighbouring tombs KV62, that of Tutankhamun, and KV63, the most recent discovery, is likely to represent another burial of the period after the reign of the “heretic” pharaoh Akhenaten. It may even be of those who once lived in his abandoned capital of Akhetaten at Tell el-Amarna.
The find was made during the survey that located KV63, which this year yielded coffins empty of mummies, but containing embalmers’ gear. The latest issue of the Egyptological journal KMT illustrates many of the the KV63 finds, including the naturalistic faces painted on the coffins and the feather-stuffed “pillows” found crammed into one of them.
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Although KV63 was located using ground-penetrating radar in 2000, a false accusation of antiquities smuggling led to Dr Reeves’s permit being suspended, he said in an interview with Archaeology. Although he was cleared last year, Dr Reeves has yet to be allowed back into the Valley of the Kings, and KV63 was uncovered by Otto Schaden, of the University of Memphis. The new discovery comes from further analysis of the earlier radar data.
The project was driven by a physical threat that the rubble fill of the Valley, and with it most of the archaeology, might be removed wholesale to combat flash-flooding on the open tombs. In the course of work to potentially locate the burial place of Akhenaten’s wife and co-regent, Nefertiti, Dr Reeves found that much more lay undisturbed than previously thought. He thus turned his attention to potential unlocated tombs.
Dr Reeves said: “Radar is a tricky technology, but well-suited, it seems, to the Valley of the Kings terrain. The radar signal is emitted as a pulse, with the time and the force of the reflection echo measured and appearing on screen as real-time data.
“It’s important to note that these data are mere patterns and do not represent the actual form or dimension of the object detected. I have every faith in the skills of our radar specialist, Hirokatsu Watanabe, one of the best in the world. He’s confident that what we have here is the same as we had with KV63 — a significant void, a tomb.”
“It’s a feature which I guess hasn’t seen the light of day for several millennia. We’re calling it “KV64,” he said.
If the tomb is there, several 18th-dynasty royals are potential occupants, including Nefertiti, Akhenaten’s secondary wife, Kiya, and daughter, Meketaten.
www.archaeology.org/online/interviews/
reeves.html; www.valleyofthekings.org; KMT Vol. 17 No. 3: 18-27.
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