The millennia-spanning journey into the Egyptian afterlife is rife with perils. Will your heart find balance on the scales of justice? Will your tomb provisions sustain you in the realm of Sekhet Aaru? Will your body wind up at a Victorian unwrapping party?
Oh, and here’s another hurdle to your post-death ascension: Tomb-scanning radar technology.
In the fall of 2015, archaeologist Dr. Nicholas Reeves released a report pinpointing two hidden chambers in Tutankhamun’s tomb, postulating that these chambers may contain organic material—perhaps even the remains of the legendary Queen Nefertiti, wife of Tut’s father Akhenaten.
Back in August 2015, archaeologist Dr. Nicholas Reeves reported the discovery of two previously unknown doorways in Tut’s tomb thanks to high-definition photo analysis. These bricked-up passageways, he argued, likely indicated a secret passageway to Nefertiti’s final resting place. Infrared thermography tests subsequently revealed suspicious temperature variations in one area of the tomb’s northern wall.
Archeologist Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922 and Akhenaten’s probable remains turned up 15 years earlier, elsewhere in the Valley of the Kings. Akhenaten’s Great Royal Wife, however, has thus far eluded thieves and historians alike.
Alive for only 40 years, Nefertiti assisted her husband Akhenaten in creating a religious revolution in Egyptian society, instituting a new belief system centered around monotheism. It is believed that this was predominantly a political maneuver designed to cut out the influence of Egyptian priests and restore authority to the throne. The religious conversion was ultimately successful. Akhenaten and Nefertiti, it seems, knew exactly how to play the game of thrones.
If the discovery pans out, we might be looking at the archaeological discovery of the century. Though we might also prepare ourselves for the release of Sutekh the Osiran, or maybe that evil fungus from “Time Walker.”
For now, those hidden chambers resonate with quantum uncertainty—and Nefertiti’s journey to the afterlife hangs in the balance.
