Wednesday, October 21, 2015

Hawass on Nefertiti's supposed tomb

ZAHI HAWASS: Where is the tomb of Queen Nefertiti? There is no evidence to support the theory that the tomb of Queen Nefertiti lies behind the walls of the tomb of Tutankhamun, writes Zahi Hawass (Al-Ahram). I haven't heard anything out of Dr. Hawass for quite a while. Excerpt:
I started the first Egyptian expedition to excavate in the Valley of the Kings and began the work in front of the tomb of Tutankhamun, working in the same spot that Reeves has indicated. But what he has interpreted as a tomb is actually a crack in the rock. When Otto Schaden from Memphis State University found the true location of KV63, Reeves announced that it had in fact been his idea, and as a result he lost my respect.

Moreover, according to scientists, radar is not useful in archaeology and has not been used to make discoveries. The use of radar in this case is simply designed to give more publicity to Reeves. According to Hani Halal, a former minister of higher education, radar is useless, but a new technique called infrared thermography can tell us the location of doors and rooms behind tomb walls.

I believe that Reeves’s theory has no scientific basis because the 3D photographs he used cannot be used to give correct readings and anything can be imagined from them. Reeves has imagined his information and used it to pursue his habit of always saying things to attract the media.

In conversation with a scholar who has worked at the Valley of the Kings, we discussed the theory and agreed that the traces on the walls of KV62 are based on a reading of the publication of Factum Arte’s work. They are merely the traces of the chisels of the ancient masons and the outlines of two doors that were never carved. It is premature to suggest that the doors give access to hitherto undiscovered chambers containing the tomb of Nefertiti.

The great Egyptologist Howard Carter worked inside the tomb for ten years. If anything was behind those walls he would have found it. When archaeologists find a tomb, they look everywhere to discern if anything is hidden behind the walls.
This is far outside my areas of expertise, so I am just passing on what I find. Cross-file under Technology Watch (?).

Background to the story is here and here.