Antiquities official says Egypt approves use of radar to verify new theory on Nefertiti's tomb

FILE - In this Sept. 10, 2014 file photo, a 3,300-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti stands on its socle, at the New Museum in Berlin, Germany. An Egyptian official says the Antiquities Ministry gave an initial approval for the use of non-invasive radar to verify a theory that Queen Nefertiti’s crypt may be hidden behind King Tutankhamun’s 3,300-year-old tomb in the famous Valley of the Kings. (AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, File) (The Associated Press)

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FILE - In this Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015, file photo, the gold mask of King Tutankhamun is seen in its glass case during a press tour, in the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt. An Egyptian official says the Antiquities Ministry gave an initial approval for the use of non-invasive radar to verify a theory that Queen Nefertiti’s crypt may be hidden behind King Tutankhamun’s 3,300-year-old tomb in the famous Valley of the Kings. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File) (The Associated Press)

CAIRO – An Egyptian official says the Antiquities Ministry has given initial approval for the use of non-invasive radar to verify a theory that Queen Nefertiti's crypt may be hidden behind King Tutankhamun's 3,300-year-old tomb in the famous Valley of the Kings.

Mouchira Moussa, media consultant to the antiquities minister, said Tuesday that final security clearance will probably be obtained within a month.

"It's not going to cause any damage to the monument," says Moussa.

Egyptologist Nicholas Reeves had recently published his theory that has yet to be peer-reviewed. He says King Tut, who died at the age of 19, may have been rushed into an outer chamber of what was originally the tomb of Nefertiti.

Moussa says Reeves, who has been in contact with the minister, arrives in Cairo Saturday.