Seeking lost tombs in the Valley of the Kings

Several tombs lie undiscovered in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Nowic

A new radar survey is hoping to find the locations of several tombs that have yet to be discovered.

Below the shifting sands of Egypt's enigmatic Valley of the Kings lies a host of tombs thousands of years old, yet despite the best efforts of archaeologists there are still many that continue to elude discovery.

This may soon change however thanks to an extensive new survey involving the use of ground-penetrating radar, a technology that works by sending high frequency waves down in to the ground and then picking up any reflections.

Using these signals it is possible to build up a picture of what lies below the sand including, it is hoped, the tombs of several Pharaohs that are known to exist but which have remained undiscovered.

"The consensus is that there are probably several smaller tombs yet to be found. But there is still the possibility of finding a royal tomb," said project field director Afifi Ghonim. "The queens of the late Eighteenth Dynasty are missing, as are some pharaohs of the New Kingdom."