Did the golden mask of Tutankhamun belong to Nefertiti? Researchers have made a surprising claim.

British scientists from the University of York in the UK have meticulously examined the famous golden mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun for yet another time - it was in this mask that his mummy was discovered by Howard Carter when he opened the tomb in November 1922.

The examination revealed, or rather confirmed, existing suspicions that the mask was not originally intended for Tutankhamun. Simply put, it does not belong to him. But to whom, one might ask? The exact answer remains unknown. However, there is a well-founded hypothesis.

Howard Carter at the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun.

According to Professor Joan Fletcher, who led the research, traces of modifications have been found on the mask, which were made after it had already been crafted. Essentially, it was "tailored" to fit the pharaoh - the gold in the applied layers differs slightly.

However, even more striking is another detail: the ears of the mask were found to be pierced. This indicates that it is feminine – at least, it once was. Ancient Egyptians did not pierce the ears of male posthumous masks, only those of females or children. Scientists believe that the craftsmen, making alterations, overlooked these details.

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Archaeologists "scan" one of the walls of Tutankhamun's tomb with a ground-penetrating radar.

Carter noticed the "holes" but did not seek explanations. According to the archaeologist's report, referenced by Fletcher, he merely "pointed out one feature that had long been overlooked... clearly pierced ears."

The hypothesis regarding whose mask it might be with the pierced ears was proposed in 2015 by British Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves, who works at the University of Arizona. He was puzzled not only by the ears but also by its "feminine appearance" and the portrait likeness to the bust of Nefertiti.

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A diagram illustrating Reeves' hypothesis about two additional chambers in the tomb.

Reeves concluded that the mask originally belonged to Nefertiti. He developed an entire theory around this idea, suggesting that Nefertiti, whose body has "officially" never been found, rests beside Tutankhamun – essentially, in his tomb. But in a secret chamber adjacent to it.

Nefertiti, which literally translates to "the beautiful one has come," lived 3,300 years ago. She was the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) and at least the stepmother of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, if not his mother. She died in 1330 BC at an age estimated between 29 and 38 years. She passed away and vanished. Her whereabouts are still being sought.

According to the scholar, the extensive multi-room tomb, in one of which Carter found Tutankhamun, was originally designed for Queen Nefertiti and was intended solely for her. It is where she was buried.

However, nine years after Nefertiti's death, Tutankhamun died unexpectedly. He "took the place" of either his mother or stepmother because there was no time to create a separate burial chamber. As a result, Nefertiti's mummy was moved to an adjacent chamber, sealed away, while the pharaoh was laid in a "transitional" room where he remained until 1922.

- The tomb in which Tutankhamun's sarcophagus was found is quite small for a pharaoh, - speculated Reeves. - It is likely part of a larger 5-6 room structure that was originally arranged for Queen Nefertiti.

The Egyptian authorities believed Reeves. However, they did not start chiseling the tomb walls – they only allowed for "non-destructive methods" of examination. There were several attempts to "peek" into the secret chambers using ground-penetrating radar.

In early 2016, Japanese specialists led by Hirokatsu Watanabe assured that two hidden chambers were "visible" behind one of the walls. In one of them – some organic material, in the other – it seems, metal.

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The bust of Nefertiti, discovered by German archaeologists.

In 2018, Italian archaeologists from the Polytechnic University in Turin, led by Francesco Porcelli, equipped with a more powerful radar, did not confirm the Japanese findings – they found no convincing features indicating that there were any cavities behind the tomb walls.

In 2020, Mamdouh El-Damaty – an enthusiast in the search for Nefertiti, who once headed Egypt's Ministry of Antiquities and Cultural Heritage, announced in Nature journal that another "scan," organized by him – now a professor at Ain Shams University in Cairo – did indeed reveal hidden cavities adjacent to Tutankhamun's tomb. A 10-meter corridor was also found in close proximity to it. Still, nothing was broken.

There was an idea: at least drill through the wall of the tomb, behind which the secret rooms are presumed to be, insert a camera, and see what lies there. And whether there is anything at all. But this plan was never realized.

There is hope that following the recent revelations from British Egyptologists, the mystery will at last be clarified. Either way, Nefertiti will either be found or it will be confirmed that she is not in the vicinity of Tutankhamun's tomb.

For information on where else the mummy of the legendary woman, recognized as a standard of beauty during her lifetime, might be hidden, and how she might have actually looked, read here.