Queen Nefertiti's tomb may be hidden behind the wall of King Tutankhamun's tomb, says expert

For a long time, archaeologists have been on the search for the tomb of one of the most famous royals in Egypt, Queen Nefertiti. Recently, Egyptologist Chris Naunton claimed that the queen’s tomb might actually be hidden behind her equally famous son.

Express reports that Naunton, who wrote the book Searching For Lost Tombs in Egypt, believes that one discovery made in KV62 could be the key to discovering the long-lost tomb of the queen. “Nefertiti comes under the handful of royals who came immediately before Tutankhamun. We’re basically talking about Akhenaten - his Great Royal Wife and somebody called Smenkhare. Some people believe Nefertiti and Smenkhare are the same person, and possibly one or two others as well,” shared Mr. Naunton, who added that there had been some debate about whether the queen was buried under a different name.

According to many experts, they believe that King Tutankhamun’s tomb was unusually small for a royal, which resulted in the theory that his tomb was actually much bigger. Given that King Tut died at 18 years old, it was possible that another, much larger tomb was made for his rushed burial.

To Mr. Naunton, King Tutankhamun’s tomb may also be hiding Queen Nefertiti’s, and a discovery made back in 2015 can prove it. “In 2015, a colleague of mine, Nicholas Reeves, who had studied the three-dimensional surfaces of the walls in KV62, came up with the idea that a couple of the walls are not solid bare brick - they are false walls, and there’s something beyond them,” said Mr. Naunton.

Mr. Naunton then explained that his colleague theorized that the actual tomb of King Tut was much bigger, and there was a corridor in that tomb that was blocked off and expanded slightly to become a burial chamber. This led to Reeves believing that the blocked off corridor led to the tomb of a royal who lived around the time of Tutankhamun and Akhenaten.

Aside from Nefertiti, Naunton hopes to be able to find the tomb of Imhotep, and he has an idea of where his tomb may be located. “There’s a strong possibility that his tomb is at Saqqara, in the northern part of that cemetery - close to the pyramid he built in an area we know hasn’t been excavated,” said Naunton.

Mr. Naunton then went on to explain why he thinks the tomb may be found in that area. “There are still parts of the best-known cemeteries that haven’t been properly investigated.”