Archaeologist Heads to Egypt to Find Nefertiti's Tomb

British archaeologist Nicholas Reeves, who made news last month with his announcement that the long-lost tomb of Nefertiti is likely hidden behind secret doors in her son Tutankhamun's tomb, is headed to Egypt to put his theory to the test, reports PhysOrg. Nefertiti, the famously beautiful and powerful wife of Pharaoh Akhenaton, who led his kingdom to worship one god, Aton, lived some 3,300 years ago, reports Egyptian Streets. The tomb of her son, the so-called "boy king" who ruled from age 10 until his death at 19 in 1324BC, was discovered in 1922.

Reeves, who contends that high-res scans of the walls of King Tut's tomb reveal "distinct linear traces" that suggest secret doorways to a "still unexplored storage chamber," says that Tutankhamun's premature death came before his own tomb was constructed, and thus he was placed in Nefertiti's tomb 10 years after her death—rendering the tomb's treasures his mother's leftovers. Reeves is due to arrive Monday to join other Egyptologists and examine the tomb's interior, while Egypt's antiquities ministry announced over the weekend the closure of Tut's tomb in October for restoration. A news conference has already been set for Oct. 1 in Cairo to announce preliminary findings and an action plan. (Check out how the famous Nefertiti bust was essentially Photoshopped.)