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MUMBAI:
Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities
Dr. Zahi Hawass announced and unveiled in an international press
conference at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum, a 3,500-year-old mummy
now positively identified as Hatshepsut, one of history’s few
female pharaohs.
Using
computed tomography (CT) scanning and ongoing DNA testing, Dr. Hawass
solved the mystery of what happened to one of ancient Egypt’s
most powerful and successful rulers. Dr. Hawass’s odyssey of
archeological and scientific adventure has been documented in Discovery’s
Secrets Of Egypt’s Lost Queen, which premieres worldwide on
15 July, 2007
The investigative journey of Dr. Hawass and his team leads them
through the massive crypts beneath Egypt and into the depths of
the Egyptian Museum. Using knowledge of royal Egyptian mummification
and clues from two known tombs linked to Hatshepsut, the team narrows
their search for Hatshepsut to just four mummies from thousands
of unidentified corpses.
CT
scanning allows the scientists to link distinct physical traits
of the four mummies to those of Hatshepsut’s known relatives.
The search further narrows to two possibilities—both from the
tomb of Hatshepsut’s wet nurse—but the final clue lies
within a canopic box inscribed with the female pharaoh’s name.
A scan of the box finds a tooth that, when measured, perfectly matches
a missing upper molar in one of the two mummies.
Discovery
US president, GM Jane Root says, "Only Discovery Channel can
provide a context for and continually immerse viewers in these important
moments of scientific discovery. We are proud to be part of this
significant find, and commend Dr. Hawass and his team for their
hard work and dedication.”
Applied
Biosystems, a global provider of DNA analysis technologies, and
Discovery Quest, Discovery’s initiative to support the scientific
community’s work, enabled the construction of and equipment
for the first-ever ancient DNA testing facility located in the Cairo
Museum in Egypt. The DNA testing facility will not only be used
to extract and compare nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of the Hatshepsut
mummy and mummies from her family, but will be used by scientists
to examine future finds in Egypt and attempt to clarify familial
relationships among the royal families.
Equipment
from Siemens Medical Solutions allowed scientists to conduct detailed
computed tomography scanning of each of the mummies. By using their
technology in a project like this archeologists were able to go
beneath the wrappings and fragile bodies of some of Egypt’s
greatest pharaohs without damaging them.
More
powerful than Cleopatra or Nefertiti, Hatshepsut stole the throne
from her young stepson, dressed herself as a man and in an unprecedented
move declared herself pharaoh. Though her power stretched across
Egypt and her reign was prosperous, Hatshepsut’s legacy was
systematically erased from Egyptian history—historical records
were destroyed, monuments torn down and her corpse removed from
her tomb—and her death is shrouded in mystery.
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