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Secret Chamber Likely Behind King Tut's Tomb

There is a "90% chance" that behind King Tutankhamun's tomb is a hidden chamber which may be the last resting place of Queen Nefertiti.

Radar scans have suggested an empty space behind the walls of the pharaoh's tomb and the evidence will now been analysed in Japan.

The tests were carried out after British archaeologist Dr Nicholas Reeves suggested the Ancient Egyptian Queen's tomb might be hidden in an adjoining chamber in the Valley of the Kings.

Queen Nefertiti, who was thought to have been the boy-king's stepmother, died in the 14th century BC.

And if her final resting place has been discovered it would be the most remarkable Egyptian archaeological find this century.

The country's antiquities minister Mamdouh al Damaty said experts were "approximately 90%" sure there was another chamber there.

Dr Reeves said: "Clearly it does look from the radar evidence as if the tomb continues, as I have predicted.

"The radar, behind the north wall (of Tutankhamun's burial chamber) seems pretty clear. If I am right it is a continuation - corridor continuation - of the tomb, which will end in another burial chamber.

"It does look indeed as if the tomb of Tutankhamun is a corridor tomb... and it continues beyond the decorated burial chamber. I think it is Nefertiti and all the evidence points in that direction."

Experts carried out a preliminary scan of the tomb earlier this month using infra-red thermography to map out the temperature of its walls.

At the time, Mr Damaty said the analysis showed "differences in the temperatures registered on different parts of the northern wall" of the tomb.

King Tut died around 1323 BC and his tomb, complete with golden burial mask, was discovered in 1922 by another British archaeologist Howard Carter.

Experts have tried to understand why Tut's tomb was smaller than that of other pharaohs and why its shape was more like that of the Egyptian queens of the time.

Egyptologists remain uncertain over where Queen Nefertiti died and was buried.

She was thought to have passed away during her husband's reign, suggesting she could be buried in Amarna, where her bust was found in 1912.