Egypt resumes hunt for Nefertiti’s tomb amid historical debate
Egypt’s archaeological team, led by famed Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, resumed on Dec. 9 the hunt for Queen Nefertiti’s tomb in the west bank of Luxor, after years of debate over her burial site.
CAIRO — Egypt’s archaeological mission, led by famed Egyptologist and former Antiquities Minister Zahi Hawass, resumed on Dec. 9 the hunt for Queen Nefertiti’s tomb in the west bank of Luxor after years of debate over her burial site.
Hawass told Al-Monitor by phone he believes Queen Nefertiti is resting in the Valley of the Kings in the west bank in Luxor. He said an Egyptian team has been formed to search for and excavate the tomb.
“The team of Egyptian archaeologists tasked with finding Nefertiti’s tomb was formed in 2017 and is an entirely Egyptian mission. This is the first time that an Egyptian mission leads [the excavation] works at the archaeological site of the Valley of the Kings, where foreign missions have always worked,” Hawass said.
Controversy and division over the whereabouts of Queen Nefertiti’s tomb have prevailed among archaeologists for years. In August 2015, Nicholas Reeves, an archaeologist at the University of Arizona, claimed Nefertiti may lie behind a wall within Tutankhamun’s tomb.
