Last Thursday, the tomb of Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun was subjected to infrared thermography scanning to test UK archaeologist Nicholas Reeves's theory that the northern and western part of the boy king's chamber houses hidden doorways. A month ago, Reeves suggested that the northern and western walls of Tutankhamun's tomb had hidden doorways that could lead to the final resting place of Nefertiti, the wife and co-regent of the monotheistic King Akhenaten. Reeves is scheduled to arrive in Egypt on 25 November. “Preliminary results from the northern wall show a different temperature from the other parts of the tomb, which could indicate the existence of additional hidden chambers,” Minister of Antiquities Mamdouh Eldamaty told Al-Ahram Weekly. He added that further tests will be required. “A longer scan of no fewer than seven days is to be carried out in order to confirm the results,” Eldamaty said, adding that other scientific methods may also be of use to help identify the areas with temperatures that are different from that of the northern wall. He said that analysis of the infrared scans will begin before Reeves and his radar-scanning equipment arrives later this month. The infrared scanning process was carried out by the Ministry of Antiquities in collaboration with the Faculty of Engineering at Cairo University and the Heritage Innovation Preservation Institute in France. The same scientific team is expected to carry out the ScanPyramid project, which hopes to reveal the secrets of the interiors of the Pyramids.
