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Queen/King Hatshepsut's Remains Identified

By Melissa Markham on June 28, 2007 8:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Hatsheput's remains have been identified due to a combination of technology, detective work and the Egyptian's mummification process which required that they keep all of the person's parts on hand. When Hatsheput's tomb was discovered, it was empty, but later, another tomb was discovered directly underneath with two bodies inside. One was a thin body in an open sarcophagus, the other was a heavier body which was lying on the floor.

Mummy Mouth X-ray
Hatsheupt's Facial X-ray

For decades the thin body was thought to Hatshepsut, but when looking at a wooden box filled with Hatsheput's internal organs, a broken tooth was discovered. This broken tooth matches a chipped tooth that can be scene in a head x-ray of the heavier mummy found in the tomb. So at long last, it has been determined which of the two mummies is Hatsheput. Also, an inscription on the sarcophagus "Great Royal Nurse, In." was discovered last year, leading researchers to believe that the thin body in the sarcophagus was actually the mummy of Hatsheput's beloved nurse.

Hatsheput died at the age of 50 because of cancer. She also suffered from diabetes. Before her death, she was the first great female leader of Egypt. Hatsheput was the eldest daughter of the pharaoh Tuthmose I, Hatshepsut married her half-brother Tuthmose II and served in the traditional role of queen until his death around 1479 B.C.

A young son by another wife was slated to become pharaoh upon her husband's death. But backed by the clergy, Hatshepsut ruled Egypt as regent in the name of the boy-king, Tuthmose III.

Over the next decade, she declared herself a pharaoh and ruled as co-king with her stepson. Art from this period shows her wearing feminine garb but capped with the headdress of a male king.

Eventually Hatshepsut was depicted in statues and wall carvings as a fully male ruler: bearded, bare-chested, and without breasts.

Hatshepsut's reign, ending with her death in 1458 B.C., was considered a successful one. She was a prolific builder and expanded Egyptian trade.

After her death, Tuthmose III took pains to erase records of his stepmother's reign, which could be one explanation for her empty tomb and the mummies buried below it. This could also explain why the nurse was lying in a sarcophagus and the Queen was lying on the floor. Another possibility is that priests may have moved the bodies to hide them from tomb robbers, but it seems like she wouldn't have been left dumped on the floor (my opinion).

For more information about this discovery and links to Hatsheput, check out the story at National Geographic.