Геофизикийн судалгаагаар Тутанхамон хааны бунхны хананы цаана хоосон орон зай байгааг илрүүлсэн нь эртний Египетийн түүхэнд шинэ таамаглал дэвшүүллээ.
Египетийн эртний олдворын сайд асан Мамдух Элдаматигаар удирдуулсан баг 2023 оны сүүлээс 2024 оны эхэн хүртэл Тутанхамон хааны бунханд (KV62) геофизикийн нарийвчилсан шинжилгээ хийжээ. Радар болон цахилгаан эсэргүүцлийн томографийн аргаар хийсэн судалгаагаар бунхны хойд болон баруун хананы цаана хоосон орон зай эсвэл дамжин өнгөрөх хонгил байж болзошгүйг тогтоосон байна. Энэхүү олдвор нь тус бунхан нь Нефертити хатантай холбоотой илүү том цогцолбор байгууламжийн нэг хэсэг байж магадгүй гэх эрдэмтдийн таамаглалыг дахин сэргээлээ.
Бунхны архитектур болон хананы зураг нь түүхэн уламжлалаас өөр байгаа нь судлаачдын анхаарлыг ихэд татаж байна. Тухайлбал, хааны бунхны хонгил ихэвчлэн баруун тийш эргэдэг бол энэ бунхан зүүн тийш чиглэсэн байгаа нь уг байгууламжийг анх эмэгтэй хүнд зориулан төлөвлөсөн байж болзошгүйг илтгэдэг. Мөн хананы зураг дээрх дүрүүдийг хожим засварлан өөрчилсөн байх магадлалтай бөгөөд эдгээр нь Нефертити хатны төрхтэй ижил төстэй байгааг Мамдух Элдамати онцолжээ.
Тус бунхныг анх 1922 онд нээсэн археологич Ховард Картер ч мөн бунхны орох хаалга ер бусын жижиг хэмжээтэй байгаад эргэлзэж, цаана нь өөр нууц өрөө эсвэл мумми байж болзошгүй гэж таамаглаж байв. Гэвч одоогоор эдгээр илрүүлсэн хоосон орон зайд яг юу байгааг тогтоох боломжгүй хэвээр байна. Судлаачид энэхүү байгууламжийг Амарнагийн хааны гэр бүлийн гишүүдтэй холбоотой байж болзошгүй хэмээн үзэж байгаа ч нарийвчилсан судалгаа үргэлжилж байна.
Дэлгэрэнгүйг эх сурвалжаас харах
↓Эх сурвалжийг нээх ↓
Ground-penetrating radar and other geophysical tests have detected empty space behind two walls of KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun. A team led by former Egyptian antiquities minister Mamdouh Eldamaty believes the modest burial site may belong to a much larger complex, possibly one linked to Nefertiti.
Ever since Howard Carter broke into the tomb in 1922 and saw “everywhere the glint of gold,” archaeologists have studied its contents. One detail nagged at Carter himself, the entrance was unusually small compared with others in the Valley of the Kings, and he wondered whether it concealed another chamber, or even a mummy.
That old suspicion has now been put to the test. From late 2023 through early 2024, Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities permitted Eldamaty’s team to investigate, and the findings, published in a recently released report, have reopened a question Egyptologists have long pondered.
What The Scans Found?
The team built on observations by archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, whose 2015 analysis of 3D scan data hinted at what might be sealed and hidden doors. The walls were scanned further, and outside the tomb, ground-penetrating radar searched for additional rooms from above. Inside, electrical resistivity tomography and microgravity measurements looked for gaps in the walls.
The results point to empty space behind the north and west walls, which could hold pathways or chambers. Radar picked up gaps on the far side of the west wall, hinting that leftover construction material sits there, and microgravity anomalies outside the tomb suggested the same. Royal tombs often had passageways blocked with rubble to discourage looters, so it’s possible the west wall stands in front of one of these obstructed entrances. Eldamaty thinks KV62 might be part of a far bigger complex.
Why Nefertiti Enters The Picture?
The team suspected that some of the tomb’s more confusing features might point toward the burial of Tutankhamun’s stepmother, Nefertiti. The golden death mask, for instance, bears the cartouche of Ankhkheperure Neferneferuaten, the throne name given to Nefertiti when she became co-regent beside Akhenaten. The tomb is thought to have been hastily rehammered to reflect her stepson’s identity.
The paintings tell a similar story. Images of Tutankhamun being buried by his successor, Ay, had been painted over older ones showing him burying Nefertiti. Figures on the north wall match existing busts of Nefertiti when compared to their profiles, and she is believed to be depicted in the male form she takes in the afterlife, the pharaoh Smenkhkare.
“With none but Nefertiti in her ultimate manifestation as Smenkhkare meeting these criteria, it comes as no surprise to find the north wall’s ownership imagery replicating the precise profile of this very lady,” Eldamaty said in his report.
Odd Architecture, And What Remains Unknown?
The layout is strange too. Pharaonic tombs typically turned right at the burial chamber exit, a direction reserved for male kings, but in Tutankhamun’s the turn leads left. That reversal could mean the tomb was intended for a woman, though whether Nefertiti or anyone else lies in a hypothetical hidden chamber remains unknown.
The west wall mural adds another wrinkle. In antiquity it showed a mummiform Nefertiti as Smenkhkare, with Tutankhamun as the living successor, until someone repainted it to make Tutankhamun the deceased. Carter then damaged and repainted the wall himself, presumably searching for another entrance or chamber.
Tutankhamun’s sudden death at a young age left him no time to plan a grand tomb, and there are theories that the tombs were swapped, with KV62 set aside for Ay. No record of Nefertiti’s death exists, and her mummy has never been found.
Even so, Eldamaty said the evidence increasingly points toward a connection with the Amarna royal family and the immediate circle of Akhenaten’s court.
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