If you have even a passing knowledge of ancient Egyptian royalty, you’ve probably heard of Tutankhamun, aka King Tut, the face of what may be the world’s most famous sarcophagus. You’ve probably also heard of Queen Nefertiti (always depicted with her classic flat-topped blue crown that sits on her head like a big Guile popcorn bucket). We’ve long known where Tutankhamun ended up, but now researchers think his tomb may be hiding a second, secret tomb, this one holding the remains of Nefertiti.
According to a study published by Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves and his team in the Occasional Papers of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project, King Tut’s iconic burial site (which archaeologists call KV 62) might just be a repurposed layout taken over after the teenage ruler dropped dead around 1324 BCE.
King Tut’s Tomb May Have Been Hiding Queen Nefertiti for 3,300 Years
Howard Carter originally opened the crypt in 1922, finding over 600 artifacts shoved into a suspiciously cramped space. Reeves first floated the theory in 2015 that the place was built for a female ruler, specifically Nefertiti, who likely ruled under the name Smenkhkare right before Tut. Unlike typical male pharaoh tombs of the Eighteenth Dynasty, which take a right turn, KV 62 takes a left turn, matching the architectural layout reserved for queens, as seen in the tomb of queen Hatshepsut.
Wall paintings also suggest someone hastily painted over images of Tut performing funeral rites for Nefertiti to make it look like Tut was the one being buried. After nearly a decade of scanning the walls with ground-penetrating radar and microgravimetry, seven field campaigns have backed up the theory. The team identified a high-probability void extending 82 to 98 feet north of KV 62, with five or six hidden chambers blocked off by ancient rubble.
Archaeologists are waiting for permission to drill a tiny hole and stick a camera through the walls. If the peak inside confirms the theory, that means King Tut has essentially been secretly bunking up with one of history’s most famous queens for thousands of years.
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