The Burial of Nefertiti? (2015)

Recently published, high-resolution scans of the walls of room J (the Burial Chamber) of Valley of the Kings tomb KV 62 (Tutankhamun) reveal, beneath the plastered surfaces of the painted scenes, distinct linear traces. These are here mapped, discussed, and tentatively identified as the “ghosts” of two hitherto unrecognized doorways. It is argued that these doorways give access to: (1) a still unexplored storage chamber on the west of room J, seemingly contemporary with the stocking of Tutankhamun’s burial; and (2) a pre-Tutankhamun continuation of KV 62 towards the north, containing the undisturbed burial of the tomb’s original owner – Nefertiti.

Tutankhamun's Mask Reconsidered (in press, corrected proof)

The possibility that the intended owner of the celebrated gold mask from Valley of the Kings tomb KV 62 might have been someone other than Tutankhamun was first raised by the writer in a paper given at University College London in 2001. The present article, based on a second lecture delivered at the Valley of the Kings Since Howard Carter symposium held i n Luxor, Egypt on November 11, 2009, revisits and develops that idea. The conclusions reached are that Tutankhamun's employment of the mask was indeed secondary, and that the original owner had been a woman: Ankhkheprure Nefernefruaten ,

The Burial of Nefertiti? Frontispiece. The Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62): (x) proposed new chamber behind the decorated west wall of the Burial Chamber (J); (y) potential continuation of the tomb beyond the Burial Chamber’s decorated north wall (Weeks 2003)
The Burial of Nefertiti? Frontispiece. The Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV 62): (x) proposed new chamber behind the decorated west wall of the Burial Chamber (J); (y) potential continuation of the tomb beyond the Burial Chamber’s decorated north wall (Weeks 2003) © Theban Mapping Project