The tomb of the Queen of Egypt may reveal many secrets

So far, the life and resting place of the Egyptian queen Nefertiti is still in secret, urging archaeologists to explore.

The statue of Queen Nefertiti was found in 1912. (Photo: Corbis.)

According to National Geographic, Nefertiti married one of the most eccentric pharaohs in ancient Egypt. But after her husband died, she officially took control of Egypt as a man. If researchers find her grave, what is hidden inside may change Middle East history.

In the early 14th century BC, at the height of the 18th dynasty, power pharaoh Amenhotep III ruled Egypt for more than four decades. After his death, his son and heir, Amenhotep IV took the throne.

Queen Nefertiti (right) and King Akhenaten, are playing with three of the 6 daughters.(Photo: Kenneth Garrett).

King Amenhotep IV destroyed the temples with the statue of Amun and began to worship Aten. He moved the capital to the western desert named Akhetaten . He also changed the name from Amenhotep to Akhenaten and revolutionized Egyptian art in a realistic style. The king described himself with a big belly, not a healthy young pharaoh.

Queen Nefertiti has a stunning appearance as Akhenaten's official wife. She was known in 1912 through a painted limestone bust in the Akhetaten-era ruins.

Historical records do not mention a son of Nefertiti and Akhenaten. But they have six daughters: Meritaten, Meketaten, Ankhesenpaaten, Neferneferuaten Tasherit, Neferneferure, and Setepenre. Perhaps one of Akhenaten's things was the mother of King Tut , the successor of Akhenaten.

One of the desert canyons to the west of the Nile River in the Valley of the Kings, where King Tutankhamun is buried and possibly Queen Nefertiti.(Photo: Kenneth Garrett).

When Akhenaten died, Tutankhamun did not take the throne immediately. A man named Smenkhkare ruled Egypt for about two years. If Nefertiti was Smenkhkare, that meant she was buried in the Valley of the Kings .

After the death of Smenkhkare, King Tutankhamun took the throne. After that, the spiritual life of the Egyptians turned. Believers gave up on the Aten god and returned to worship the traditional Amun god. Because Tut's name was related to the heretical period of Akhenaten regime, Tut changed his name to Tutankhamun.

A 40 cm tall portrait of Queen Nefertiti.(Photo: Kenneth Garrett).

King Tut died after being in power for only a decade and had no grave for burial. Royal tombs often have long corridors and lots of rooms, making it very time consuming to make room on the limestone cliffs of the Kings Valley. Most likely King Tut's final resting place has not been prepared.

It is possible that the young pharaoh's body was placed in a newly completed tomb and for others. On the other hand, King Tut could be buried in the tomb of a prince of the same stature who had died before. And that person was Queen Nefertiti, King Tut was buried with his stepmother or his mother-in-law. According to historians, Tut married Ankhesenpaaten, one of the daughters of Queen Nefertiti, at the age of eight.