Free Republic

A prominent Egyptologist has boldly claimed to have solved one archaeology’s greatest mysteries: the location of Queen Nefertiti’s mummified remains. Zahi Hawass, the previous Minister of State for Antiquities Affairs in Egypt, is part of the Egypt-led team that undertook a high-profile excavation in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings that allegedly uncovered amulets once owned by King Tut. The team announced last December that they had also unearthed several unnamed mummies, one of which Hawass believes is the famed ruler. “We already have DNA from the 18th dynasty mummies, from Akhenaten to Amenhotep II or III, and there are two...

The mystery of the final resting place of the wife of Ancient Egypt's most famous ruler has moved a step closer to being solved. Egyptologists previously discovered what they believe is the burial chamber of Ankhesenamun, Tutankhamun's wife, in the Valley of The Kings. If confirmed, it could help to unravel the final fate of the boy king's wife, who suddenly disappeared from historical records after her second marriage. The teen bride is believed to have had a tragic life, marrying her father, her grandfather and her half-brother Tutankhamun. Archaeologists have now begun to excavate an area near a tomb...

Egyptian scientists are doing DNA tests on stillborn children found in Tutankhamun's tomb in the hope of confirming if they are the pharoah's offspring and confirming his family tree. British archaeologist Howard Carter found the mummified fetuses when he discovered the tomb in 1922. Archaeologists assume they are the children of the teenage pharaoh, but this has not been confirmed. The identity of their mother is also still unknown. Many scholars believe their mother to be Ankhesenamun, the boy king's only known wife. Ankhesenamun is the daughter of the queen Nefertiti, who was renowned for her beauty. "For the first...