W hen American archeologists announced that they had uncovered the first tombs containing sarcophagi in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings in some eight decades, the international press tripped over itself to get to Upper Egypt to report on the find. The rarity of the discovery continues to fuel wild speculation on the identity of the mummies, with some even predicting that remains of the most beautiful queen in history, Nefertiti, may be among them.

There is a more cautious, if still optimistic, voice coming from the halls of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA).

In an exclusive interview with Egypt Today, SCA chief Zahi Hawass, the world’s most renowned Egyptologist, offered the following perspective: “Why is this discovery important? Because it was found seven meters away from King Tut! This area has been excavated before, even by Davis and Carter [discoverers of the tomb of Tutankhamun] and they missed this shaft. Everyone thought that the Valley of the Kings was finished.”

Obviously, the Valley is not at all “finished” revealing its treasures.

Hawass has heard and even been the center of similar hype countless of times before and admits that “only 30 percent of our monuments have been excavated,” but doesn’t see this particular find as lastingly significant.

Otto Schaden, leader of the team that uncovered the find, generally agrees with Hawass’ estimation. Standing in front of the site, Schaden told et, “For all we know, even though they are buried here in the Valley of the Kings, they could be the king’s favorite cooks. It could be one of his nephews who never had a chance for a higher position. Who knows? You can speculate endlessly.”

Silvia Dogliani Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass

Much of the speculation could end on March 10, when the tomb is officially opened and the contents of the seven sarcophagi inside are examined and photographed by Hawass, Schaden and their staffs.

And yes, there are seven coffins, not five, as has previously been reported. Hawass explains the discrepancy: “Later [after initial press reports] in the excavations, they found remains of coffin number six and still another coffin of a child.” Hawass offers a further, if somewhat guarded, forecast of what he does and does not expect to find: “One possibility [for the origin of the mummies] is that in the 21st Dynasty, the Priests of Amun wanted to save the mummies and they began to enter into tombs and take the mummies and hide them. This could be a cachet of hidden tombs. To this day, we still do not know where the mummies of Tuthmosis I, Hatshepsut, Amenhotep or the mummy of Akhenaten are. Maybe this could be a clue.

“In my opinion, if we open the contents of the tomb and we find nothing else, at least we will find names. What this is, and this is my opinion only, is a tomb and not a cache. The Valley of the Kings is not really connected with those kings. Anyone near the king could be buried here. Maybe they were relatives of King Tut and he ordered them to be buried beside him or even [relatives of] Seti I, we don’t know. Perhaps they made this tomb because they could not afford for the tomb to be decorated and they put the jars in with them to help them in the afterlife. It could be private people and not royal people; this is what I believe is the case.”

Whatever the tomb yields, its discovery has already had a positive economic impact on Luxor. Tourism to the area is up sharply, with the new find in the Valley rivaling Tut’s tomb itself for visitor’s attention. According to Egyptologist and tour guide Marwa Fahmy, “People are very excited about the developments and many more tourists are coming to the site than in previous months.”

Though it is not yet high season for the area’s antiquities sites — which include the temples of Luxor, Karnak, Hatshepsut and the tombs at the Valley of the Kings — Fahmy says she has been completely booked since the find’s announcement, and her tour schedule is full up well into summer.

David Lee Wilson Archeologist Otto Schaden confers with one of the excavators near the cache site

The influx of cash and the subsequent ripple effect which emanates from the Valley area has had a welcome impact on hotels, transportation and other tourist-related services.

And while Egypt continues its high-level program to diversify its tourism intake to include attractions beyond the Pharaohs, Hawass has another surprise in the works that he is certain will help attract a record number of visitors this year.

“Some people put on perfume in the morning,” he says. “My perfume is the sand. If I don’t smell the sand every day, I will die. Egypt is still so rich. I made a discovery recently in Saqqara. I haven’t announced it yet, but it will show that you can still discover cachets and” He pauses, and it’s the long, dramatic pause for which he is famous on international television. “and even whole pyramids in Egypt.” et