Mummy of Hatshepsut found

[Bianca]

TOOTH CLINCHES IDENTIFICATION OF EGYPTIAN QUEEN

 By Jonathan Wright

 
                                           


CAIRO (Reuters) - A single tooth has clinched the identification of an ancient mummy as that of Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt about 3,500 years ago, the country's chief archaeologist said on Wednesday.
 
The right mummy turned out to be that of a fat woman in her 50s who had rotten teeth and died of bone cancer, Zahi Hawass told a news conference to announce the identification.

It was found in 1903 in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, where the young Pharaoh Tutankhamun was buried, and Hawass himself thought until recently that it belonged to the owner of the tomb, Hatshepsut's wet-nurse by the name of Sitre In.

But the decisive evidence was a molar in a wooden box inscribed with the queen's name, found in 1881 in a cache of royal mummies collected and hidden away for safekeeping at the Deir al-Bahari temple about 1,000 meters (yards) away.

During the embalming process, it was common to set aside spare body parts and preserve them in such a box.

Orthodontics professor Yehya Zakariya checked all the mummies which might be Hatshepsut's and found that the tooth was a perfect fit in a gap in the upper jaw of the fat woman.

"The identification of the tooth with the jaw can show this is Hatshepsut," Hawass said. "A tooth is like a fingerprint."

"It is 100 percent definitive. It is 1.80 cm (wide) and the dentist took the measurement and studied that part. He found it fit exactly 100 percent with this part," he told Reuters.

DNA TESTS

The team examining the mummy are also doing DNA tests and preliminary results show similarities between its DNA and that of Ahmose Nefertari, the wife of the founder of the 18th dynasty and a probable ancestor of Hatsephsut's.

DNA analysis is complicated because Hawass recently concluded that the mummy once assumed to be that of Tuthmosis I, Hatshepsut's father, is not in fact his. It belongs to a much younger man who died from an arrow wound, he said.

Asked why he would not wait for more complete DNA analysis, Hawass said: "You do not need anything else (other than the tooth) ... And we do have a definite answer now on the similarity between Hatshepsut and the grandmother, Ahmose Nefertari."

One Egyptologist, who asked not to be named, said not all archaeologists were confident the identification was watertight. "It's an interesting piece of scientific deduction which might point to the truth," the archaeologist said.

The New York Times quoted Kathryn Bard, an Egyptologist at Boston University, as saying: "You have to be so careful in reaching conclusions from such data."

The confusion about the identities of many royal mummies often arises from political events after they died.

Hatshepsut's tomb, for example, was found looted and without any mummified female, possibly because her son and successor, Tuthmosis III, tried to wipe out all traces of her memory after she died in about 1482 BC.

Priests probably moved the collection of 40 royal mummies, including the box with the tooth, to Deir al-Bahari hundreds of years after the pharaohs died, in order to protect them from desecration and looting during a time of insecurity.

[Bianca]

EGYPTOLOGISTS THINK THEY HAVE HATSHEPSUT'S MUMMY



 By Jonathan Wright
Mon Jun 25, 1:06 PM ET                   

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptologists think they have identified with certainty the mummy of Hatshepsut, the most famous queen to rule ancient Egypt, found in a humble tomb in the Valley of the Kings, an archaeologist said on Monday.
 
 Egypt's chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, will hold a news conference in Cairo on Wednesday. The Discovery Channel said he would announce what it called the most important find in the Valley of the Kings since the discovery of King Tutankhamun.

The archaeologist, who asked not to be named, said the candidate for identification as the mummy of Hatshepsut was one of two females found in 1903 in a small tomb believed to be that of Hatshepsut's wet-nurse, Sitre In.

Several Egyptologists have speculated over the years that one of the mummies was that of the queen, who ruled from between 1503 and 1482 BC -- at the height of ancient Egypt's power.

The archaeologist said Hawass would present new evidence for an identification but that not all Egyptologists are convinced he will be able to prove his case.

"It's based on teeth and body parts ... It's an interesting piece of scientific deduction which might point to the truth," the archaeologist said.

Egyptologist Elizabeth Thomas speculated many years ago that one of the mummies was Hatshepsut's because the positioning of the right arm over the woman's chest suggested royalty.

Her mummy may have been hidden in the tomb for safekeeping after her death because her stepson and successor, Tuthmosis III, tried to obliterate her memory.

Donald Ryan, an Egyptologist who rediscovered the tomb in 1989, said on an Internet discussion board this month that there were many possibilities for the identities of the two female mummies found in the tomb, known as KV 60.

"Zahi Hawass recently has taken some major steps to address these questions. Both of the KV 60 mummies are in Cairo now and are being examined in various clever ways that very well might shed light on these questions," he added.

In an undated article on his Web site, Hawass cast doubt on the theory that the KV-60 mummy with the folded right arm was that of Hatshepsut.

"I do not believe this mummy is Hatshepsut. She has a very large, fat body with huge pendulous breasts, and the position of her arm is not convincing evidence of royalty," he wrote.

He was more optimistic about the mummy found in the wet-nurse's coffin and traditionally identified as the nurse's. That mummy is stored away in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

"The body of the mummy now in KV 60 with its huge breasts may be the wet-nurse, the original occupant of the coffin ... The mummy on the third floor at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo could be the mummy of Hatshepsut," Hawass wrote.

[Bianca]

                       


                               TEMPLE OF HATSEPSHUT


                       

[Ian Nottingham]

Nice work, Bianca, some more on this:

Egyptians: Mystery mummy is lost female pharoah
POSTED: 12:20 p.m. EDT, June 27, 2007
Story Highlights• Mummy of obese woman is 15th-century B.C. Egyptian Queen Hatshepsut
• Tooth found in jar containing queen's remains fits in mummy's mouth
• Mummy was found a century ago; identification on par with King Tut discovery
• Hatshepsut most powerful female pharaoh in history; dressed as a man



_{This mummy is believed to be the body of Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt in the 15th century B.C. It had languished unidentified till now.}



CAIRO, Egypt (AP) -- The mummy of an obese woman, who likely suffered from diabetes and liver cancer, has been identified as that of Queen Hatshepsut, Egypt's most powerful female pharoah, Egyptian archaeologists said Wednesday.

Hatshepsut, who ruled Egypt in the 15th century B.C., was known for dressing like a man and wearing a false beard. But when her rule ended, all traces of her mysteriously disappeared, including her mummy.

Discovered in 1903 in the Valley of the Kings, the mummy was left on site until two months ago, when it was brought to the Cairo Museum for testing, Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said.

DNA bone samples taken from the mummy's pelvic bone and femur are being compared with the mummy of Queen Hatshepsut's grandmother, Amos Nefreteri, said molecular geneticist Yehia Zakaria Gad, who was part of Hawass' team.

The mummy identified as Hatshepsut shows an obese woman, who died in her 50s, probably had diabetes and is also believed to have had liver cancer, Hawass said. Her left hand is positioned against her chest, in a traditional sign of royalty in ancient Egypt.

Molar in queen's jar fits in mummy's mouth
The discovery, announced Wednesday at the museum in Cairo, has not been independently reviewed by other experts.

While scientists are still matching those mitochondrial DNA sequences, Gad said preliminary results were "very encouraging."

Hawass also said that a molar found in a jar with some of the queen's embalmed organs perfectly matched the mummy.

"We are 100 percent certain" the mummy is that of Hatshepsut, Hawass told The Associated Press.

Hawass has led the search for Hatshepsut since a year ago, setting up a DNA lab in the basement of the Cairo Museum with an international team of scientists. The study was funded by the Discovery channel, which is to broadcast an exclusive documentary on it in July.

Molecular biologist Scott Woodward, director of the Sorenson Molecular Genealogy Foundation in Salt Lake City, was cautious ahead of Wednesday's announcement.

"It's a very difficult process to obtain DNA from a mummy," said Woodward, who has done such research. "To make a claim as to a relationship, you need other individuals from which you have obtained DNA, to make a comparison between the DNA sequences."

Such DNA material would typically come from parents or grandparents. With female mummies, the most common type of DNA to look for is the mitochondrial DNA that reveals maternal lineage, Woodward said.

"What possible other mummies are out there, they would have to be related to Hatshepsut," he said. "It's a difficult process, but the recovery of DNA from 18th Dynasty mummies is certainly possible."

Molecular biologist Paul Evans of the Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, said the discovery could indeed be remarkable.

"Hatshepsut is an individual who has a unique place in Egypt's history. To have her identified is on the same magnitude as King Tut's discovery," Evans told the AP by phone from Utah.

Hatshepsut is believed to have stolen the throne from her young stepson, Thutmose III. Her rule of about 21 years was the longest among ancient Egyptian queens, ending in 1453 B.C.

Hatshepsut's funerary temple is located in ancient Thebes, on the west bank of the Nile in today's Luxor, a multi-collonaded sandstone temple built to serve as tribute to her power. Surrounding it are the Valley of Kings and the Valley of the Queens, the burial places of Egypt's pharaohs and their wives.

But after Hatshepsut's death, her name was obliterated from the records in what is believed to have been her stepson's revenge.

She was one of the most prolific builder pharaohs of ancient Egypt, commissioning hundreds of projects throughout both Upper and Lower Egypt. Almost every major museum in the world today has a collection of Hatshepsut statuary.

British archaeologist Howard Carter worked on excavating Hatshepsut's tomb before discovering the tomb of the boy-king, Tutankhamun, whose treasure of gold has become a symbol of ancient Egypt's splendor.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/science/06/27/egypt.mummy.ap/index.html

[Bianca]

Hi, Ian!

Thanks for adding more to the story.  American publications gave very little attention to this

story.  I was really disappointed.  Hatsheput was, after all, the only woman who passed herself

off as Pharaoh for 21/24 years.  And one of the Great Builders, also.  I was too busy to check

overseas for more info. 

Love and Peace,
b

[Tom Hebert]

Hi Bianca,

I think that's very exciting!  According to Cayce, Hatshepsut or a member of her household was the one who found Moses in the bulrushes.

[Bianca]

Hi, Tom;

Thanks for reminding me!  If I didn't have so much to read, I'd start reading all of EC's

books all over again.....

Is the new one by Edgar Evans out yet?  I have been waiting and waiting....

You know, the Third Revised version of the Atlantis Book.

B

[Tom Hebert]

Hi, Tom;

Thanks for reminding me!  If I didn't have so much to read, I'd start reading all of EC's

books all over again.....

Is the new one by Edgar Evans out yet?  I have been waiting and waiting....

You know, the Third Revised version of the Atlantis Book.

B

I'm probably the wrong person to ask.  I still use the original edition from 1968.  It gives a good explanation of Cayce's Atlantis, and that hasn't changed.  For recent discoveries and updates I go to "Atlantis Online"!


P.S.  What did you think of Hawass's beaming face?  All he needed was another ego booster.

[Bianca]

Touchee`, Tom!


Yea, Hawass is certainly busting his shirtbuttons lately, isn't he?

[Bianca]

Saturday, July 07, 2007


Yet more re Hatshepsut
NZHerald.co.uk


If saying her name will truly secure her place in eternity, then Hatshepsut has nothing to worry about. However, I've added this page because it deals not only with the identification of the mummy, but also addresses other issues.


A civilisation that flourished more than 3500 years ago still fascinates us. Dr Sabry Khater is well versed in Egyptomania. The head of the Egyptology sector of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities knows the power of our fascination with ancient Egyptian culture and how it helps drive some five million tourists to Egypt each year.

"People get crazy about Egyptology. They like to see more discoveries, more mummies, more gold and treasure. It's like an adventure for them to come to Egypt." . . . .

IN charge of all Pharaonic and Greco-Roman sites, Khater is responsible for both restoration and excavation. His focus today is putting in place management plans that balance the needs of tourists with preservation. Besides flash floods and a rising water table that threatens tombs that have survived 4500 years, his biggest headache is tourists exhaling - specifically inside tombs and temples where their moisture erodes the plaster and paint of murals. That's led to limiting visitor numbers and rotating which tombs are open to the public.
Equally challenging is the eviction of villagers from historic sites. In Gurna on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor - the site of the Theban necropolis - bulldozers moved in last year to start dismantling the houses of about 2000 families living over the tombs.
See the above page for the rest of this three page article.

Posted by Andie at 10:59 AM     




Andie Byrnes
London, GB


I trained as an archaeologist in Scotland many years ago, but lack of funds and lack of sun drove me into telecommunications (wireless, interactive TV and Internet) where I have been working for the last 15 years. However, once archaeology is in your blood, it never goes away, and I am now carrying out post-graduate studies in Egyptian Archaeology (prehistory) at UCL, London. I would very much like to thank Chris Townsend, David Petersen and the wonderful Kat Newkirk for their invaluable help, as well as everyone else who emails with news and comments. You are all life-savers. All the best. Andie.


http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10450164

[Bianca]

 




The New Zealand Herald:nzherald.co.nz     Sunday July 08, 2007


7:42AM NZT
Main Navigation

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Secrets of lost queen revealed



Page 1 of 3 - 5:00AM Saturday July 07, 2007
By Chris Barton 


The remains of Queen Hatshepsut, the first female pharoah of ancient Egypt. Photo / Reuters
A civilisation that flourished more than 3500 years ago still fascinates us.

Dr Sabry Khater is well versed in Egyptomania. The head of the Egyptology sector of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities knows the power of our fascination with ancient Egyptian culture and how it helps drive some five million tourists to Egypt each year.

"People get crazy about Egyptology. They like to see more discoveries, more mummies, more gold and treasure. It's like an adventure for them to come to Egypt."

The allure shows no signs of abating. At the Auckland Museum this month Egyptology fans can visit Egypt: Beyond the Tomb to find out just how seriously the ancients took their funeral arrangements. Next week many will be tuned to the Discovery Channel's Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen to learn why a find in the Valley of the Kings is billed as the most important since the discovery of Tutankhamen. The documentary is about the identification of a long-ignored mystery mummy as Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled from 1479 to 1458BC.

Khater, who was in Christchurch last week at a World Heritage Conference, describes Hatshepsut as "a very brilliant, strong lady". That's because it was unprecedented for a woman to be on the Egyptian throne for such a long reign - a feat Hatshepsut achieved by propaganda and cross-dressing in male regalia.


Advertisement

Advertisement"She shows the people there is no difference between a man and a woman," says Khater. Hatshepsut's ability to pass over gender boundaries didn't stop there. She also constructed a myth about her birth to affirm her godly status and enable her to become the first female pharaoh. Not surprisingly, she's held up as a feminist icon. But her tactics, which included keeping stepson Thutmose III from the throne, caught up with her. After her death, attempts were made to remove Hatshepsut from historical and pharaonic records - literally, by chiselling off her images from stone walls.

Mystery is a key ingredient of Egyptomania and Hatshepsut already has her fair share. But the identification of her mummified remains has also uncovered something unexpected. The queen was obese.

Asked to explain, Khater is reluctant to acknowledge the shocking truth. As he points out the ancient Egyptian artists always depicted their subjects as the ideal. There was no fat or thin. "The pharaoh is the link between the people and the gods and must be in the ideal shape."


Similarly, Dr Zahi Hawass, the superstar Egyptologist who features in the Discovery Channel documentary, can't bring himself to mention the queen's roundness. Throughout the documentary Hatshepsut is referred to as "the strong" mummy, although on one occasion Hawass allows what may be an euphemism - "the powerful physique of a queen".

[Bianca]

Secrets of lost queen revealed



Page 2 of 3 View as a single page 5:00AM Saturday July 07, 2007



By Chris Barton 
A civilisation that flourished more than 3500 years ago still fascinates us.

Hawass, who is secretary general of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities, was not so reticent a year earlier.

When he first set eyes on Hatshepsut, she had been languishing for centuries on the floor of tomb KV60, next to her wet nurse In-Sitre. "I do not believe that this mummy is Hatshepsut," wrote Hawass at the time. " She has a very large, fat body with huge pendulous breasts; and the position of her arm is not convincing evidence of royalty."

The pendulous breasts must have swung it for Hawass, who postulated the mummy with the powerful physique was the wet nurse and the mummy identified as In-Sitre might be Hatshepsut. As it turned out Hawass was 100 per cent wrong. A tooth found in a canopic box (used for containing the viscera of mummified corpses) bearing the cartouche, or royal seal, of Hatshepsut was a perfect match to a missing tooth in the obese one's jaw. Which was proof enough that looks can be deceiving.

The queen's obesity has already attracted interest from feminist groups. "Fat chicks rule" proclaims the Big Fat Deal blog. Others point out the paradox of Hatshepsut's diet - no sugar, whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, and little meat - which is remarkably similar to what nutritional experts are advising we should eat today. It's noted too that Hatshepsut had bad teeth - the hallmark of a high carb diet, not to mention no flossing. Some even speculate Hatshepsut may prompt a re-examination of the notion that the obesity epidemic is a modern phenomenon.


Advertisement

Khater says while cracked theories, mystery and new discoveries drive Egyptomania, it's the afterlife that's behind the craze.

"The ancient Egyptian people believe in the other life and I think at the time they were right. We are still thinking of this now. What will happen in the other life? Will we meet our fate again?"

He says there is something compelling about the idea of preparing for a journey in death through elaborate mummification and the ritual gathering of objects and tools needed for the journey.

"These guys were searching for the geography of the other world and what they will need in the other world. They wanted to continue their beautiful life in their eternal life."

IN charge of all Pharaonic and Greco-Roman sites, Khater is responsible for both restoration and excavation. His focus today is putting in place management plans that balance the needs of tourists with preservation. Besides flash floods and a rising water table that threatens tombs that have survived 4500 years, his biggest headache is tourists exhaling - specifically inside tombs and temples where their moisture erodes the plaster and paint of murals. That's led to limiting visitor numbers and rotating which tombs are open to the public.

Equally challenging is the eviction of villagers from historic sites. In Gurna on the west bank of the Nile in Luxor - the site of the Theban necropolis - bulldozers moved in last year to start dismantling the houses of about 2000 families living over the tombs. Khater says about two thirds of the families have been resettled in a new town nearby and there are plans to preserve about 30 dwellings, including some that were once the homes of 19th century tomb robbers.

[Bianca]

Secrets of lost queen revealed



Page 3 of 3 - 5:00AM Saturday July 07, 2007
By Chris Barton 



A civilisation that flourished more than 3500 years ago still fascinates us.

"We will leave some to show the history of the village." But the resettlement plans have met opposition. Some families are protesting that their livelihoods - for generations tied to the tombs and tourists - are being removed.

A similar clearance is under way in modern Luxor, where people living in a 70m wide swath, stretching over 3km are being relocated to reveal the Avenue of the Sphinx - a processional way linking the temples of Karnak and Luxor.

No doubt the clearances - which between them will open up access to about 500 tombs and 200 sphinxes - will ensure plenty of new discoveries to keep Egyptomanics happy. Meanwhile, the revelations about Queen Hatshepsut's corporeal existence are likely to keep Egyptologists occupied for some time. Some will be puzzling over the layers of meaning in one of her wall inscriptions:


".....To look upon her was more beautiful than anything; her splendour and her form were divine".



http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/2/story.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10450164&pnum=3

[Bianca]

http://www.livescience.com/history/070706_hn_hatshepsut.html




Mummy Reveals Egyptian Queen Was Fat, Balding and Bearded




By Meredith F. Small

posted: 06 July 2007 12:46 pm ET


There’s a new gal in town and she’s 3,500 years old.


Last week, Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo, announced that the mummy of an elderly female from tomb KV60 in the Valley of the Kings was surely Hatshepsut, female pharaoh of Egypt in the 15th century B.C.

The identity of Hatshepsut is significant because this is the first clear royal mummy ID since Tutankhamen was discovered and identified in 1922. And the ID was made with advances in science; a CT scan of a single tooth in a box with Hatshepsut’s name on it perfectly matched a tooth socket in the mummy’s jaw. Royal lineage has been also supported by DNA analysis of some yet unnamed fragment of the mummy and a longer dead female royal relative.

More startling, the descriptions of Hatshepsut suggest that women haven’t changed all that much over the centuries.

Turns out, Hatshepsut was no Cleopatra. Instead, she was a 50-year-old fat lady; apparently she used her power over the Upper and Lower Nile to eat well and abundantly. Archaeologists also claim that she probably had diabetes, just like many obese women today.

Hatshepsut also suffered from what all women over 40 need—a stylist. She was balding in front but let the hair on the back of her head to grow really long, like an aging female Dead Head with alopecia.

This Queen of Egypt also sported black and red nail polish, a rather Goth look for someone past middle age.

But like today, one should never be fooled by a woman’s Look. Hatshepsut was a powerful, successful woman. She married one of her half brothers, Thutmose II, and helped rule Egypt as his “Great Royal Wife.” When her husband died, Hatshepsut was named regent for her step-son but quickly grabbed the throne for herself.

To underscore her position of power, Hatshepsut often wore the complete regalia of a male pharaoh, including a false beard. Some speculate she actually liked wearing men’s clothing, and so what?

Hatshepsut ruled for 24 years, longer than any female ruler before or after her, and left behind a remarkable record of buildings and sculptures, including her mortuary tomb Djeser-Djeseru, a marvel of architecture.

But like many women of power, Hatshepsut was also embroiled in controversy. Her successor and stepson, Thutmose III, tried to erase her image from the Egyptian mind by chiseling her name and symbol off everything. And then he moved her to an obscure tomb and left her there to dry up with only a mummified nurse for company.

But Hatshepsut’s image couldn’t be erased because even with the weight, the beard, and the nail polish, she was a ruler, and a grand one.

In ancient Egypt, just like today, you simply can’t keep a good woman down.