HIDDEN CHAMBERS IN TUT'S TOMB 'FULL OF TREASURES,' OFFICIAL SAYS

THE hidden chambers behind secret doors in Tutankhamun's tom are "full of treasures," a high-ranking Egyptian official reportedly has divulged.

The Tourism Minister of Egypt Hisham Zaazou may have slipped up during a recent visit to Spain when he revealed the startling information about the investigations into the chambers in Tutankhamun's tomb ahead of official press announcements due to take place in April.

Zaazou said that the hidden chambers have been found to be full of treasures and will be the "Big Bang" of the 21st Century.

According to the Spanish National daily newspaper, ABC, Zaazou made the sensational claims during a visit to Spain a few weeks ago.

"We do not know if the burial chamber is Nefertiti or another woman, but it is full of treasures," said Zaazou [via ABC] .... "It will be a 'Big Bang' ... the discovery of the 21st Century."

There has been no official word on the subject from Egyptian officials since last November when experts announced that scans prove there truly are chambers or passageways hidden behind secret doors in Tutankhamun's Tomb. The announcement followed three days of infrared scans. 

Dr Nicholas Reeves, who believes NEFERTITI could be buried in those secret chambers, says the findings appear to support his theory.

At a news conference in November, fittingly held at Howard Carter's Rest House on Luxor's West Bank, the Minister of Antiquities, Dr. Mamdouh El-Damaty, announced that the radar scans of Tutankhamun's Burial Chamber revealed there is a large void behind what we now know is a false wall in Tutankhamun's Burial Chamber.

The radar scans revealed that the transition from solid bedrock to masonry is stark. There is a straight, vertical line - the line that Nicholas Reeves first spotted earlier this year on high-definition scans of the tomb wall.

It strongly suggests that the antechamber continues through the burial chamber as a corridor.

Reeves believes that what looks like a solid, painted wall, is actually a ruse designed to foil tomb robbers. 

A number of other tombs in the Valley of the Kings used the same device. Tutankhamun's seems to be the only one that worked.

So what's next?

The Minister of Antiquities suggests that the next step is to drill as small hole in the wall of the side room known as theTreasury. 

It adjoins the "void" behind the wall in the Burial Chamber.

And, importantly, it has no painted decoration that could be damaged.

If a camera reveals artefacts within the chamber behind the wall, then a tunnel starting from the Treasury might be the best bet.

But for now, let's congratulate Dr. Nicholas Reeves for the results so far. He spotted something that ancient thieves, Howard Carter, and hundreds of scientists since missed - the outline of a hidden doorway in Tutankhamun's tomb.