The 3,800-year-old mummy belonged to Lady Sattjeni, a leading figure from the Middle Kingdom.
G. Elliot Smith/Wikimedia Commons
Found by Victor Loret in 1898 in tomb KV35, the mummy was considered to be an unknown royal family member of Amenhotep II, because she was found in his burial. In 1999, Marianne Luban suggested the mummy might be Queen Nefertiti, based on her profile resemblance with the famous Berlin bust. In 2004 Egyptologist Joann Fletcher also proposed the mummy is Nefertiti, relying her theory on portable x-ray, forensic face reconstruction and resemblance between art and mummy. Her identification raised much controversy. The DNA analysis revealed the mummy is the mother of Tutankhamun, but did not offer an identity. In their meta-analysis, Rühli and colleagues also present her as Queen Nefertiti. "We can't be fully certain of her identity, however inscriptional evidence and facial resemblance with Tutankhamun as seen in CT scans, strongly suggests the mummy belongs to Nefertiti," Rühli said. "Nefertiti is labelled in inscriptions to be Tutankhamun's mother and indeed the mummy known as the Younger Lady is genetically suggested to be King Tut's mother," he added.
Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt
One of the two wooden coffins containing the mummy of Sattjen.
G. Elliot Smith/Wikimedia Commons
Discovered in 1881 in the Deir el-Bahri Cache above the Mortuary Temple of Hatshepsut and unwrapped by Gaston Maspero in 1886, this mummy, known as CG 61066, was badly damaged by grave robbers in antiquity. The left arm was broken off at the shoulder, the right arm cut off at the elbow and the right leg severed from the body. The mummy’s name remains uncertain. It was identified as that of King Thutmosis II (reign c. 1493–1479BC) thanks to a wrongly spelled label. However, the inscription appear to have overwritten an earlier sign referring to Thutmosis I. This could indicate the inscription had been changed from Thutmosis I to Thutmosis II, suggesting that the royal mummy CG 61066 is that of Thutmosis I rather than his likely son Thutmosis II.
Photos: Mummies' Faces, Hairdos, Revealed in 3D
G. Elliot Smith/Wikimedia Commons
Badly damaged by ancient robbers, this mummy had fallen into pieces, the well preserved head broken off, all four limbs detached and the feet severed. The mummy has been identified as that of Thutmosis III, the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty (reign about 1479–1425 BC) and shares a striking resemblance with Thutmosis II (mummy CG 61066), his purported father. The identification is based on the fact that when it was unearthed, the mummy was lying in a coffin bearing in its interior traces of inscriptions made for Thutmosis III. A linen shroud with a funerary book which certainly belonged to Thutmosis III, was possibly placed there by the embalmers.
Photos: Signs of Incest in Famous Mummies
G. Elliot Smith/Wikimedia Commons
French excavator Victor Loret found the mummy CG61069 in 1898 in the KV35 tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The mummy was lying in a wooden coffin placed into a stone sarcophagus with inscriptions naming Amenhotep II, the seventh pharaoh of the 18th dynasty of Egypt, who ruled between 1428 and 1397BC. A simple label on the mummy's shroud presented the identity of Amenhotep II. Some doubt however remains. The coffin did not give a name and was too large for the mummy. Moreover, the faded hieratic ink inscription could have been easily misread. "With reservations the mummy CG 61069 should be considered as Amenhotep II until proven otherwise," Ruhli and colleagues concluded.
Kidney Spotted For First Time in Egyptian Mummy
G. Elliot Smith/Wikimedia Commons
Found in 1898 in the KV 35 tomb, this damaged mummy -- both feet are broken off and the right leg was ripped off at the knee joint -- shows the face of an extremely emaciated man. The body has been identified as Thutmosis IV, the 8th Pharaoh of the 18th dynasty who ruled between 1397 and 1387 BC, thanks to inscriptions on the chest and coffin correctly spelled and clearly visible. According to the researchers, the identification should be considered reliable.
G. Elliot Smith/Wikimedia Commons
When it was unwrapped in 1905, this mummy revealed a body in rather bad condition. The head was broken off, most of the soft tissue from the face gone, the right leg was cut away from the trunk, and part of the foot missing. The embalmers taped the mummy together in the attempt to restore a lifelike appearance. Bird bones, a human big toe, and parts of an arm were found inside the body cavity. The genetic profiling determined the mummy was the consort of Queen Tjye and as the genetic father of the mummy from tomb KV 55, thus identifying the body as Amenhotep III.
Ancient Egyptian Mummy Wearing Jewels Found
Wikimedia Commons
The identity of these exceptionally well-preserved mummies is certain, since the coffins and funerary objects bear their names and status. Genetic testing recognized Yuya and Thuya as King Tut's great-grandparents.
Victor Loret/Wikimedia Commons
This nameless and naked mummy was found in 1898 in the cachette KV 35 together with the so-called Younger Lady and a teenage boy. The regal quality of mummification and her bent arm recognized her as a queen; speculations were made to identify her as of Tjye, Nefertiti, or Hatshepsut. In view of the genetic test, where she was proved to be the daughter of Yuya and Thuya, the identification as Tjye, wife of King Amenhotep III, appears the most realistic one.
Wikimedia Commons
This body, consisting of a completely disarticulated skeleton with few missing part and a damaged skull, was identified as Akhenaton although some argued he could have been the elusive pharaoh Smenkhkare. In the Tutankhamun Family Project he was proved with molecular genetics to be a direct descendant of the "Elder Lady" (Queen Tiye) and mummy CG 61074, commonly regarded as "Amenhotep III," and this would indicate that he was the heretic king Akhenaton. The KV 55 mummy was also determined to be the genetic father of Tutankhamun. Inscriptions support the genetics. Not only the body found in KV55 bore golden bands with the name Akhenaton, but inscriptions from Tell el-Amarna, the city of the heretic king, describe King Tut as the son of Akhenaton.
G. Elliot Smith/Wikimedia Commons
Found by Victor Loret in 1898 in tomb KV35, the mummy was considered to be an unknown royal family member of Amenhotep II, because she was found in his burial. In 1999, Marianne Luban suggested the mummy might be Queen Nefertiti, based on her profile resemblance with the famous Berlin bust. In 2004 Egyptologist Joann Fletcher also proposed the mummy is Nefertiti, relying her theory on portable x-ray, forensic face reconstruction and resemblance between art and mummy. Her identification raised much controversy. The DNA analysis revealed the mummy is the mother of Tutankhamun, but did not offer an identity. In their meta-analysis, Rühli and colleagues also present her as Queen Nefertiti. "We can't be fully certain of her identity, however inscriptional evidence and facial resemblance with Tutankhamun as seen in CT scans, strongly suggests the mummy belongs to Nefertiti," Rühli said. "Nefertiti is labelled in inscriptions to be Tutankhamun's mother and indeed the mummy known as the Younger Lady is genetically suggested to be King Tut's mother," he added.
Ministry of Antiquities, Egypt
One of the two wooden coffins containing the mummy of Sattjen.
Spanish archaeologists have discovered the 3,800-year-old mummy of Lady Sattjeni, a leading figure from the Middle Kingdom, authorities at the Ministry of Antiquities announced on Tuesday.
Sattjeni’s family was just below pharaoh Amenemhat III (1800-1775 B.C.) in the hierarchy of Elephantine, an island in the center of the Nile at Aswan. Her sons Heqaib III and Ameny-Seneb ruled there at the end of the Twelfth Dynasty.
According to Mahmoud Afify, head of the Ancient Egyptian archaeology division the Ministry of Antiquities, the discovery is historic as it helps reconstruct the family tree of the governors of Elephantine.
Sattjeni’s mummy was found in the necropolis of Qubbet el-Hawa, near the modern city of Aswan, by a team of Jaén University, Spain, led by Egyptologist Alejandro Jiménez-Serrano.
“The body was originally wrapped in linen and deposited in two wooden coffins made of Lebanon cedar,” Nasr Salama, general director of Aswan and Nubia areas, said.
Over Sattjeni’s face, the archaeologists also found remains of her cartonnage mask.
“The inner coffin was in extremely good condition. This will even allow us to date the year in which the tree was cut,” the ministry said in a statement.
Jiménez explained that Lady Sattjeni was the daughter of the nomarch Sarenput II, the owner of the finest and largest tomb at Qubbet el-Hawa. After the death of all the male members of her family, she held the dynastic rights in the government of Elephantine.
The Spanish researchers, who have been digging in the necropolis since 2008, had previously brought to light several other burials, including that of Sattjeni’s eldest son Heqaib III.
No comments:
Post a Comment