No hidden room in King Tut's tomb, researchers say

The announcement is a disappointment to those who hoped to find the resting place of the lost Queen Nefertiti.

By REUTERS
Researchers say no hidden room in King Tut's tomb, May 26, 2018 (Reuters)
Researchers at Italy's Turin Polytechnic University have found no evidence of the existence of any hidden chambers behind the walls of ancient Egypt's boy-king Tutankhamun's tomb, the Antiquities Ministry said on Sunday.
Experts have been divided over the existence of a concealed chamber behind the tomb, which some believe could be the final resting place of the lost queen, Nefertiti.
There is huge international interest in Nefertiti, who died in the 14th century BC and is thought to be Tutankhamen's stepmother. Any confirmation of her final resting place would be the most remarkable Egyptian archaeological find so far this century.
Discovery of Nefertiti, whose chiselled cheek-bones and regal beauty were immortalized in a 3,300-year old bust now in a Berlin museum, would shed fresh light on what remains a mysterious period of Egyptian history.
The Egyptian Antiquities Ministry said in a statement that months of studies by Italy's Polytechnic University in Turin has shown that no such chamber exists.
"The studies... have shown that no chambers exist, or even an indication that any threshold or door frames, which contradicts the previous theory that had assumed the existence of passages or chambers adjacent or inside the burial chamber of King Tutankhamun," the statement quoted Mostafa Waziri, Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, as saying.
In 2015, the antiquities minister said that there was a "90 percent" chance that there was something behind the walls of Tutankhamun's tomb after initial reading of radar imaging suggesting that such a chamber exists.