Copying Tombs in the Valley of the Kings

     Modern technology is doing some fascinating things in the Valley of the Kings. I reported a while back that a full reproduction of the tomb of Tutankhamen had been created and opened to the public. Computers were used to scan the paintings in the burial chamber and to create a full sized replica of the tomb. This technology creates a snapshot in time of the tomb so that future archaeologists can compare the current state of the tomb to the scan to determine if there has been any deterioration in the tomb.

     This technology is being used in other tombs now. For instance, the entire tomb of Seti I is being scanned and a full size replication of part of the tomb has been opened to the public while the remainder of the tomb is being reproduced. This reproduction, which includes the Pharaoh's burial chamber is on display in Basel, Switzerland and includes a copy of Seti's calcite sarcophagus (now in the John Soane Museum in London).

     The new issue of KMT magazine just arrived in my mailbox and they have an article on a special exhibit dedicated to Amenhotep II currently open in Milan, Italy. One of the things mentioned in the article is a full sized reproduction of Amenhotep II's burial chamber. Looking at photos in the article certainly gives the impression that the tomb has been faithfully and accurately copied.

     If you cannot get to Egypt, the Valley of the Kings can now come to you!

a New "Chamber" in the Great Pyramid??

     A team of scientists have scanned the great pyramid at Giza using cosmic rays and have found a large "void" or empty space in the pyramid. What exactly this void is, is uncertain at this time. No entrance to it is known and it could be pretty much anything at this point.

     My initial thought was that this may be a "relieving" chamber that was included to help keep the pyramid from collapsing due to its immense wait. Dr. Aiden Dodson has been quoted as suggesting the same thing. 

     There is some suggestions that this space is a second "grand gallery" like the one that leads to Khufu's burial chamber, but his is nothing more than speculation at this point.

     As new information becomes available, I will post it here.