More radar scanning done for hidden chambers at Egypt's King Tut tomb

A radar scanning of the tomb of Egypt's ancient King Tutankhamun in Luxor was conducted Thursday, with another vertical scanning to be carried out by the end of April to determine if the tomb has more hidden chambers, according to Egyptian antiquities authority.

"We take scientific steps to get more facts ... this is the third scanning operation already," Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Khaled El-Enany said during the scanning process in Luxor city's Valley of the Kings tourist district.

After the scanning are conducted, the minister added, scientific discussions will be held during an international conference on Tutankhamun in Egypt this May.

"We will discuss the results of the scanning processes openly in May during the conference," he said, adding that "the scientific debate will provide more scientific results."

On March 17, Egypt's antiquities ministry announced that radar scans revealed two hidden chambers behind the tomb of King Tut.

According to that scanning, which was carried out by a Japanese team last November, the chambers might contain metal or organic materials.

Thursday's scanning operation is meant to determine the thickness and dimensions of the walls, the minister revealed.

In 2015, British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves announced that Queen Nefertiti's crypt may be buried in hidden doorways behind King Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old tomb.

Reeves, who has been working with Egyptian experts on the discovery of the new chambers, believes that the last resting place of Queen Nefertiti, who played a major political and religious role in Egypt in the 14th century B.C., may be found behind Tut's tomb.

"Reeves had a credible research, but It is not a proof that there is something, however, it deserves to be studied," El-Enany said.

The minister said his ministry is doing studies and scans together with international experts now, stressing that the team does not "touch the walls and the relics inside the tomb."

"It will be great if we find something, but if we don't find anything, it will be a result that there is nothing behind the wall and it is a scientific result," he explained.

El-Enany was a member of the first committee that examined the tomb, but he did not follow the two previous scans.

"That is why I'm here today, I have already read all the reports of the committee and I'm working on this issue on a scientific basis, so I have to be very careful," he stressed to Xinhua.

The minister said he is waiting for the results of today's scanning, the findings of the April scanning as well as the results of the scientific debate in May conference, adding that he will establish a scientific committee that will all these discuss the results openly and scientifically.

He also revealed that if the results confirm that there is a cavity behind the northern wall, "we can drill a one-inch hole into the tomb's wall, but this is a further step."

"I prefer to wait and see what the results of our studies and debates ... this will give us more scientific judgments," he said.

Tutankhamun, who ascended to the throne at the age of nine and died at 19, has been the world's best known pharaoh of ancient Egypt. The young king ruled from 1332 B.C. to 1323 B.C., during a period known as the New Kingdom in Egypt's history. Endit