The controversy that began in 2015 came to its end following a series of radar scans as no signs of hidden chambers were found inside the Tutankhamun’s Tomb.

Tutankhamun ruled Egypt more than 3000 years ago. His tomb is located on the west bank of the Nile River in the Valley of the Kings. It holds a lot of significance as it was packed with the glittering wealth of the rich 18^th Dynasty and depicts the glory of ancient Egypt. The mystery that it may have secret rooms was initiated in 2009 when a detailed laser scan of the tomb was done with the intentions of reconstructing a millimeter-perfect structure in a museum.

In 2015, Dr. Nicholas Reeves, a British Archaeologist, found evidence of depressions in the walls. According to his theory, they were actually doorways which were filled and painted. Another thing that backed his idea was the size of Tutankhamun’s tomb as it was too small for pharaoh tombs.

All these concerns urged the authorities to reveal the truth. As the destruction of the tomb was not possible, Egyptologists decided to take help of the latest technology. The first step in this regard was taken in November 2015 when an Infrared Thermography Scan of the burial chamber was done. It showed inconsistencies in the structure behind the paintwork as temperature differences were observed in the north wall.

Hirokatsu Watanabe, a Radar Technician, performed a follow-up scan next month and claimed that he is 90% certain that his radar echoes have detected metallic objects and hollow chambers. However, his survey was declared as ‘unconvincing’ by the authorities.

Another radar scan of the tomb was done in April 2016 but nothing exciting could be found. Although the results were kept secret, the signs of the failure were clearly visible. The statement of Dean Goodman, a Geophysicist of GPR-Slice Software, describes it in the most suitable manner. He said,

“If we had a void, we should have a strong reflection. But it just doesn’t exist.”

As the world was pretty excited about the mystery of this tomb, the officials of Ministry of Antiquities were desperate to find something extraordinary that would give a massive boost to their struggling tourism industry. As a result, they decided to try their luck once more. International experts from Italy and Britain joined the local team in pursuit of these proposed hidden chambers. Franco Porcelli, the Lead Investigator, was delighted with this opportunity and he acknowledged that in the following words:

“In this way, the possible existence of hidden structures of relevance in the archaeological site adjacent to the tomb of Tutankhamun can be established with a 99-percent degree of confidence. I’m privileged to be given this opportunity, and I’m privileged to be coordinating such a great team.”

After spending reasonable time on analyzing the results of these scans, Egyptian Government made a disappointing announcement according to which there are no hidden chambers in the tomb of Tutankhamun. The statement was released, on behalf of the General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, during the 4^th edition of the Annual International Tutankhamun GEM Conference in Giza. It puts an end to all the speculations about what actually exists in those chambers. Having said that, the most enticing theory was proposed by Reeves when he discovered the depressions in the walls of the tomb.

According to Reeves, the tomb of Tutankhamun was originally built for his stepmother, Nefertiti, who died in 1330 BCE. Following his sudden death, at the age of 19, in 1323 BCE, the tomb was converted into his burial and the body of his stepmother was stuffed in a chamber that was plastered over. The only possible way to confirm this was to destroy the wall which was not at all feasible for the government unless they were 100% sure. As an alternative, Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) was used, which is a non-destructive technique, for finding cracks and cavities inside the ground. Double antenna polarizations were used to create extremely dense spatial sampling for scanning along both axes but the researching team found nothing. The matter was put to rest by the following statement of the Ministry:

“It is concluded, with a very high degree of confidence … the hypothesis concerning the existence of hidden chambers or corridors adjacent to Tutankhamun’s tomb is not supported by the GPR data.”