miércoles, 11 de julio de 2007

The father of Tutankamun?

They are on a roll to find new kings and queens these days!

New CT scans have revealed that a mystery mummy (top left and right) found near King Tut's resting place shares many unusual features with the boy pharaoh (bottom left and right), such as a distinctive, egg-shaped skull, slight spinal scoliosis, impacted wisdom teeth, a similarly cleft palate, and identical jaw and cheekbones. The team says the findings bolster the controversial theory that the mystery mummy is Akhenaten—one of ancient Egypt's most influential kings, Nefertiti's husband, and, some scholars believe, Tut's father.

Egyptologists have uncovered new evidence that bolsters the controversial theory that a mysterious mummy is the corpse of the heretic pharaoh Akhenaten, husband of Nefertiti and, some experts believe, the father of King Tut.

The mummy's identity has generated fierce debate ever since its discovery in 1907 in tomb KV 55, located less than 100 feet (30 meters) from King Tutankhamun's then hidden burial chamber.

So an international team of researchers led by Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, used a CT scanner to peer inside the body and those of several other Valley of the Kings mummies. (The expedition was partially funded by the National Geographic Society, which owns National Geographic News.)

Read more here and here