Sunday, October 04, 2015

New chambers in Tut's tomb?

TECHNOLOGY WATCH: Search for Nefertiti's burial chamber in Tutankhamun tomb (BBC).
While assessing the scans last February, Dr [Nicholas] Reeves spotted what he believed were marks indicating where two doorways used to be. The archaeologist from the University of Arizona says he believes Nefertiti may lie inside.

Egypt's Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty hopes that non-invasive radar equipment can be used in the tomb within the next three months.

"If it is true, we are facing a discovery that would overshadow the discovery of Tutankhamun himself," said Mr Damaty.

Radar equipment "will confirm whether there's something" there, he added.
No, this isn't about ancient Judaism. But since I am forever going on about the imminent promise of non-invasive and non-destructive scanning technologies, it seemed worthwhile to note a case where primitive forms of such technologies are already being used to solve an archaeological question. I hope they do find more chambers in Tut's tomb — preferably well stocked ones! But the real point is that the technology now exists either to find them or to rule them out.