Mysteries still surround Egyptian chamber

Alan Boyle Science editor • Profile • E-mail

Is it a royal Egyptian tomb, a glorified supply room for ancient embalmers, or something in between? A year after the discovery of a chamber that had lain hidden in the Valley of the Kings for millennia, archaeologists are still asking themselves exactly what they've found.

When the find was announced in February, it was portrayed as the first tomb to be uncovered in the pharaonic city of the dead since the discovery of King Tutankhamun's treasures in 1922. But a month later, top Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass said the chamber was merely a "room for mummification" rather than a royal resting place.

Now it looks as if neither of those claims was true. One scenario is that the chamber, known as KV-63, was originally created as a tomb, then ended up as a cache for sacred supplies. However, the head of the KV-63 expedition is still holding out the possibility that at least one mummy will be found among the chamber's seven coffins.

"Until we examine each coffin to some extent, we can’t draw a conclusion," University of Memphis archaeologist Otto Schaden told MSNBC.com. "We can draw one, but it might be wrong."

Schaden spoke via telephone from the Valley of the Kings, where he and his colleagues are continuing to remove artifacts from the chamber, including jars of mummification materials and the coffins labeled A through G. During the interview, he gave a progress report on the dig as well as a behind-the-scenes perspective on a TV show chronicling the find, "Egypt's New Tomb Revealed," which premieres June 4 on the Discovery Channel.

Professional Egyptologists, as well as legions of fans, are keeping a close eye on what Schaden and his team are up to, because it's so rare to find a completely new chamber in the thoroughly-explored Valley of the Kings.

Experts wondered whether the chamber might have contained royal mummies that were brought in from less secure sites to protect them from ancient grave robbers, said Mark Rose, executive editor and online editor of Archaeology magazine. Some even speculated that KV-63 was linked to ancient Egypt's biggest celebrities, such as Nefertiti, the wife of heretic pharaoh Akhenaten; or Ankesenamun, the wife of King Tut himself.

"We know Ankhesenamun survived Tut, but her ultimate fate and the whereabouts of her mummy are mysteries," Rose told MSNBC.com.

Now, however, reality has set in. Aidan Dodson, an Egyptologist at the University of Bristol, told MSNBC.com that the chamber appears to contain "not wonderful things, but interesting things."

"For those looking for the glitter of gold, or looking for famous names, they’re going to be disappointed," Dodson said. Five of KV-63's coffins are known to contain mummification materials rather than royalty, and Dodson said the two coffins yet to be opened are likely to hold more of the same.

Aladin Abdel Naby / Reuters Expedition leader Otto Schaden, left, and Egyptian chief of antiquities Zahi Hawass stand in front of the hole that opens into a newly discovered chamber in Egypt's Valley of the Kings.

But even if no actual mummies are found, the items within KV-63 will shed new light on the materials and rituals involved in making the mummies, he said. And, he added, "the fact that a previously unknown tomb has turned up [in the Valley of the Kings] suggests that there's still some mileage in that area."

Schaden, meanwhile, says there's lots of mileage left even in KV-63. He's particularly interested in those two as-yet-unopened coffins — as well as seals and inscriptions that could tell who the chamber and the mummification materials were meant for. According to the Discovery Channel, one seal appears to bear a reference to "pa-aten" — which is part of a name used by the mysterious Ankhesenamun (a.k.a. Ankhesenpaaten).

With those mysteries in mind, here are extended excerpts from Thursday's interview with Schaden:

MSNBC.com: What’s the latest about what’s happening at the site?

Schaden: Well, we’ve taken out some of the pillows from Coffin G. When we first found it, it was the one sitting on top, and it was slightly ajar, and we could see cloth. And so we assumed it was a shroud of a mummy. But once we got inside, we realized it’s not a mummy, it’s a bunch of pillows. So we started taking those out. ... We got most of them out in pretty good shape, considering their age and their position. They’ve been crammed into this coffin for over 3,000 years.

Q: So how many coffins are left, and what’s the status of the excavation? Are there some coffins in the back of the chamber that still have to be investigated?

A: Yes. Two are completely up, a third one has been excavated. It was literally filled with potsherds and natron [the salt used for mummification] and things, and we’re gradually reassembling all the broken pottery. There are a few pieces of that one which are ready to come up, so they’ll probably come up on Saturday. Then we can get to the next one. There are four left, and the next one doesn’t have as much stuff in it, so we hope that one will go quickly. That will give us access to this little infant’s coffin, which is near the back. So that will be a prime target sometime next week.

Q: Is there a sense that this may have been a tomb, or part of the ritual storage or safekeeping for the ingredients for mummification? Have you come to a conclusion on that question?

A: We can’t decide the tomb part until we know if there are any mummies in those last two coffins. They’re both closed. As for the other coffins, most of them had been damaged by termites, except the one on top. And those in the front, because they were filled with so much pottery and natron, they basically split open, so we could see what was in them. But the two in the back are still closed. So there’s a possibility that there was a burial. We can’t say for sure, but we’ll know soon. If there was no burial, then we can draw one conclusion. If there is a burial, then we have a mixed bag here, such as a burial plus embalming ingredients.

Until we examine each coffin to some extent, we can’t draw a conclusion. We can draw one, but it might be wrong. We’d rather draw one and be able to stick with it rather than keep coming up with a new one. If I say it’s all embalming and we find a body, then I have to change. I like to wait until we know, and then go from there, because we still have many unanswered questions. One bit of evidence one way or the other isn’t going to alter the long list of questions we still have.

MORE FROM SCIENCE

Science Section Front

Nature’s fireworks on display ‘Toy universe’ may solve mystery of life’s origins Mystery solved about dangerous ‘blind’ faults Shrinking sheep mystery solved: Blame warming Study: Tropical rain band shifting north Newsweek: Are the chemicals in fireworks dangerous? Cosmic Log: Nano-wizard takes the prize Ancient mosaic comes out of hiding in Israel Volcano’s eruptions create colorful sunsets Sand forms water-like droplets when poured Science Section Front   Add Science headlines to your news reader: