Another Ancient Tomb Discovered in Egypt?

Aug. 7, 2006 — -- Just months after archaeologists gleefully clamored over the first tomb to be found in Egypt's Valley of the Kings since 1922, there may be another.

Located just meters from the last tomb -- KV-63 excavated earlier this year -- Nicholas Reeves of the Amarna Royal Tombs Project, working under the Valley of the Kings Foundation, claims the group has detected what he believes will turn out to be another tomb, and possibly a royal one at that.

"This new discovery is important on several levels," he said in an e-mail. "First of all, for what it might turn out to be -- perhaps the burial place of Akhenaten's missing women and not impossibly Nefertiti herself, the most beautiful woman of the ancient world.

"Second, for what, in strategic terms, it might do for archaeology in the Valley of the Kings -- by its staggering potential to pull Egyptologists up short and ensure that work in the Valley slows down, focuses itself, prepares adequately and doesn't miss a trick either within or outside the tombs when the digging begins."

As with the discovery of KV-63, it's not just what treasures may lie inside, but the overall message another tomb might send that has many in the archeology community excited.

Without a doubt the most significant find in the Valley of the Kings to date was the discovery of King Tutankhamen's final resting place by British Egyptologist Howard Carter on November 4, 1922 -- designated KV-62 -- near the entrance to the tomb of Ramses VI.

At the time, many archaeologists had already begun to think of the Valley as dried up, lacking further finds of any real importance, but Carter's find reinvigorated the archaeology community and sparked public interest in the ancient civilization.

When it was first uncovered, it was hoped that KV-63 would do the same. Archaeologists hoped the tomb would be filled with ornate jewels, elaborately decorated sarcophagi and artwork, and maybe even a mummy.

Inside KV-63, scientists found no gems or mummies, only embalming and burial supplies and a number of coffins.

The archaeologists were thrilled, but the public, which is often the driving force behind expensive, long and sometimes unfruitful digs, are typically unimpressed when the discoveries are more scientific than shiny.