The Mummy Returns: archaeologists discover remains of Egypt's first female pharaoh
By FIONA MacRAE
27th June 2007
Daily Mail
The Great Pyramid of Giza and the Sphynx, two of the great historical treasures in this very ancient country (founded 3150 BC) which has a population of 78 million.
The mummified remains of Egypt's first female pharaoh have been identified by archaeologists in what is being hailed as the most dramatic find since the tomb of King Tutankhamun almost a century ago.
A single tooth belonging to Hatshepsut - placed in a box inscribed with the ruler's name more than 3,000 years ago - has been definitively matched to a body from a tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Experts are now sure this mummy is that of the formidable ruler who was famously "both king and queen".
Egyptian authorities using DNA analysis and a tooth identified a mummy found a century ago as the remains of pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut
A woman monarch who called herself a pharaoh and dressed like a man, Queen Hatshepsut ruled over Egypt during the 15th century B.C
Born into the most advanced civilisation in the world, Hatshepsut commandeered the throne of Ancient Egypt from her young stepson, Thutmose III and, in an unprecedented move, declared herself pharaoh.
To cement her position as the first female king, she donned the traditional clothes, headdress and even the false beard traditionally worn by the male ruler.
On coming to power after her death in the 15th century BC, Thutmose III attempted to erase all record of her from history and her final resting place remained a mystery.
Now, the remains of an obese woman, one of two mummies found in a tomb discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1903, has been declared the body of Hatshepsut.
During her famed 18th Dynasty rule, Queen Hatshepsut wielded more power than Cleopatra or Nefertiti
When Queen Hatshepsut's rule ended, all traces of her mysteriously disappeared, including her mummy
Dr Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, said: "This is the most important discovery in the Valley of the Kings since the discovery of King Tutankhamun and one of the greatest adventures of my life.
"Queens, especially the great ones like Nefertiti and Cleopatra, capture our imaginations.
"But it is perhaps Hatshepsut, who was both king and queen who was most fascinating.
"Her reign during the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt was a prosperous one, yet mysteriously she was erased from Egyptian history.
"Our hope is that this mummy will help shed light on this mystery and on the mysterious nature of her death."
Dr Hawass and his team came to their conclusion after studying the secrets of the massive crypts beneath Egypt and the depths of the Cairo Museum.
Using knowledge of royal Egyptian mummification and clues from two known tombs linked to Hatshepsut, the team narrowed their search to just four mummies from thousands of unidentified corpses.
Sophisticated scanning allowed the scientists to link distinct physical traits of the four mummies to those of Hatshepsut's known relatives.
The search further narrowed to two possibilities from the tomb discovered by Carter, who went on to discover the resting place of boy-king Tutankhamun in 1912.
One body belonged to Hatshepsut's wet nurse. However, the second belonged to the ruler herself, a tooth held in a box bearing the female pharaoh's name has determined.
The molar, thought to have been set aside during the embalming process and kept in a nearby temple since its discovery in 1881, was almost an exact match to a gap in the monarch's upper jaw.
The minuscule difference in size - a mere fraction of a millimetre - can be accounted for by erosion of the gums after the tooth was extracted.
Orthodontics professor Yehya Zakariya said: "The identification of the tooth with the jaw can show this is Hatshepsut.
"A tooth is like a fingerprint. It is 100 per cent definitive."
Examination of the mummy also revealed that Hatshepsut's other teeth were rotten, she was overweight and died of bone cancer.
Preliminary tests show similarities between DNA extracted from the mummy and some taken from the remains of the woman thought to be her grandmother.
dailymail.co.uk
By FIONA MacRAE
27th June 2007
Daily Mail
The Great Pyramid of Giza and the Sphynx, two of the great historical treasures in this very ancient country (founded 3150 BC) which has a population of 78 million.
The mummified remains of Egypt's first female pharaoh have been identified by archaeologists in what is being hailed as the most dramatic find since the tomb of King Tutankhamun almost a century ago.
A single tooth belonging to Hatshepsut - placed in a box inscribed with the ruler's name more than 3,000 years ago - has been definitively matched to a body from a tomb in the Valley of the Kings.
Experts are now sure this mummy is that of the formidable ruler who was famously "both king and queen".
Egyptian authorities using DNA analysis and a tooth identified a mummy found a century ago as the remains of pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut
A woman monarch who called herself a pharaoh and dressed like a man, Queen Hatshepsut ruled over Egypt during the 15th century B.C
Born into the most advanced civilisation in the world, Hatshepsut commandeered the throne of Ancient Egypt from her young stepson, Thutmose III and, in an unprecedented move, declared herself pharaoh.
To cement her position as the first female king, she donned the traditional clothes, headdress and even the false beard traditionally worn by the male ruler.
On coming to power after her death in the 15th century BC, Thutmose III attempted to erase all record of her from history and her final resting place remained a mystery.
Now, the remains of an obese woman, one of two mummies found in a tomb discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1903, has been declared the body of Hatshepsut.
During her famed 18th Dynasty rule, Queen Hatshepsut wielded more power than Cleopatra or Nefertiti
When Queen Hatshepsut's rule ended, all traces of her mysteriously disappeared, including her mummy
Dr Zahi Hawass, Egypt's chief archaeologist, said: "This is the most important discovery in the Valley of the Kings since the discovery of King Tutankhamun and one of the greatest adventures of my life.
"Queens, especially the great ones like Nefertiti and Cleopatra, capture our imaginations.
"But it is perhaps Hatshepsut, who was both king and queen who was most fascinating.
"Her reign during the 18th dynasty of ancient Egypt was a prosperous one, yet mysteriously she was erased from Egyptian history.
"Our hope is that this mummy will help shed light on this mystery and on the mysterious nature of her death."
Dr Hawass and his team came to their conclusion after studying the secrets of the massive crypts beneath Egypt and the depths of the Cairo Museum.
Using knowledge of royal Egyptian mummification and clues from two known tombs linked to Hatshepsut, the team narrowed their search to just four mummies from thousands of unidentified corpses.
Sophisticated scanning allowed the scientists to link distinct physical traits of the four mummies to those of Hatshepsut's known relatives.
The search further narrowed to two possibilities from the tomb discovered by Carter, who went on to discover the resting place of boy-king Tutankhamun in 1912.
One body belonged to Hatshepsut's wet nurse. However, the second belonged to the ruler herself, a tooth held in a box bearing the female pharaoh's name has determined.
The molar, thought to have been set aside during the embalming process and kept in a nearby temple since its discovery in 1881, was almost an exact match to a gap in the monarch's upper jaw.
The minuscule difference in size - a mere fraction of a millimetre - can be accounted for by erosion of the gums after the tooth was extracted.
Orthodontics professor Yehya Zakariya said: "The identification of the tooth with the jaw can show this is Hatshepsut.
"A tooth is like a fingerprint. It is 100 per cent definitive."
Examination of the mummy also revealed that Hatshepsut's other teeth were rotten, she was overweight and died of bone cancer.
Preliminary tests show similarities between DNA extracted from the mummy and some taken from the remains of the woman thought to be her grandmother.
dailymail.co.uk
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