From the Associated Press:
CAIRO, Egypt - Egyptian authorities said Wednesday that a mummy found a century ago has been identified as the remains of pharaoh Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled over Egypt during the 15th century B.C.
Hatshepsut 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 to the mummy of Queen Hatshepsut's grandmother, Amos Nefreteri, said Egyptian molecular geneticist Yehia Zakaria Gad, who was part of Hawass' team.
While scientists are still matching those mitochondrial DNA sequences, Gad said Wednesday that preliminary results were "very encouraging.''
Hawass also said that a molar tooth found in a jar with some of the queen's embalmed organs perfectly matched the mummy.
"We are 100 percent certain'' the mummy belongs to Hatshepsut, Hawass told The Associated Press.
This is big news! And because I’m all jazzed up about it, I am rereading two of my favorite books of young adult nonfiction on this female pharaoh: Hatshepsut: His Majesty Herself by Andronik and Fiedler and Hatshepsut and Ancient Egypt by Miriam Greenblatt. I have come to love young adult nonfiction as an adult since becoming a mother. It is a great way to get some basic information on a variety of topics quickly and easily. Being a visual learner, I also appreciate the many illustrations, charts, and graphics that are often left out of longer or more adult works.
This investigation of Hatshepsut's mummy was underwritten by The Discovery Channel, and "Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen" will air on Discovery on July 15.
One reader's thoughts as she steps from book to book.
Books I've Finished
- "A Christmas Memory"
- by Truman Capote 12/8/12
- "Child's Christmas in Wales"
- by Dylan Thomas 12/7/12
- "One Christmas"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- "The Thanksgiving Visitor"
- by Truman Capote 11/29/12
- Inside Mrs. B's Classroom
- by Leslie Baldacci 11/28/12
- The Bee Eater
- by Richard Whitmire 11/15/12
- There Are No Shortcuts
- by Rafe Esquith 10/28/12
- I'd Like to Apologize to
- Every Teacher I Ever Had
- by Tony Danza 10/21/12
- Corked
- by Kathryn Borel 10/15/12
- Year of Learning Dangerously
- by Quinn Cummings 9/30/12
- A Hologram for the King
- by Dave Eggers 8/23/12
- To Kill a Mockingbird
- by Harper Lee 7/18/12
About Me
- Christine
- I often have a few books with bookmarks in them at once. I enjoy classics more than contemporary works of fiction, often read historical fiction, and love to get glimpses into other people's lives by reading memoirs and biographies.
4 comments:
Really exciting--keep us posted, Christine! DRD
The Egyptians always seem just out of the reach of reality to me, for so many reasons. Even when discoveries reavealing truth are made, it all seems just a bit unearthly.
DRD, I knew you, in particular, would be interested in this news. They think the other mummy near her was her wet nurse. Hatshepsut was in the wet nurse's cofffin. Was she hidden there by people who still loved and honored her? Or was she put there as a dishonor by Thutmose III who wanted to erase any memory of her? Insomniac, this is also a topic of interest for you, I believe.
Remind me July 15 to watch DC!
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