It's May 02, 2024, 06:26:07 PM
Possible Nefertiti find met with skepticism Egyptologists doubt mummy found in ancient burial ground is that of famed queen. By NOHA EL HENNAWY The Associated Press CAIRO – Egyptologists cast doubt Tuesday on an expedition's claim that it may have found the mummy of Queen Nefertiti, one of the best- known ancient Egyptians. Skeptics said X-ray analysis of the mummy found in Luxor's Valley of the Kings, the ancient royal burial ground for Egypt's pharaohs, indicates it is the body of a 16-year-old girl. Nefertiti is believed to have died in her 30s. The Discovery Channel announced the discovery Monday. It said the team found the mummy in a secret side chamber in a tomb known as KV35, which housed two other mummies as well. The channel said one of the mummies had a double- pierced earlobe and a bent arm, considered signs of ancient Egyptian royalty. It also said the mummy "bore a striking profile and swanlike neck comparable to the famed beauty Nefertiti" - apparently a reference to two statues of Nefertiti discovered before World War I now on display in Cairo and Berlin. The team was led by Joann Fletcher, a member of the University of York's Mummy Research Team in England. Fletcher took interest in the mummies inside the tomb when she discovered a forgotten royal wig there from the 18th dynasty. That dynasty, to which Nefertiti belonged, dates from the 14th century B.C. "Although we can only suggest the identity as a strong possibility, the expedition's findings certainly have some wide-ranging implications for Egyptology," the Discovery Channel quoted Fletcher as saying. Zahi Hawaas, secretary- general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, said any similarity between the mummy's face and Nefertiti's statue isn't worthy evidence because during that period "art was idealistic and not realistic." Other Egyptologists have also said it will be very hard to prove the mummy belongs to Nefertiti. Fletcher "is making a lot of assumptions," said Lisa Sabbahy, a professor of Egyptology at the American university in Cairo. She said that at the end of the Egyptian New Kingdom, many royal tombs were robbed. This prompted priests to collect all the mummies and put them in new coffins in other locations. During this process, a wig belonging to one mummy might have been put on another, she said. She said a DNA test also would not help because Nefertiti came from outside the royal family. She was the wife of Akhenaton - the 18th dynasty king.