Egypt to DNA test Tutankhamun's 'children'
CAIRO (AFP) - Egypt is to carry out DNA tests on the mummified remains of two foetuses found in the tomb of Tutankhamun to determine if they were the children of the boy king, antiquities authorities said on Thursday.
The bodies of the two still-born children were found in 1922 in the tomb of Tutankhamun in the ancient Nile city of Luxor by British explorer Howard Carter and have since been stored at the University of Cairo.
Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass said the tests will determine whether the foetuses were the offspring of Tutankhamun and his wife Ankhesenpamon, daughter of Nefertiti, who was renowned as one of history's great beauties.
"It is thought that the tiny bodies may be those of the young king's stillborn children," said a statement from Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities.
"The study aims at identifying the lineage and the family of king Tutankhamun, particularly his parents. The DNA test and the CT scan may also help to identify the foetuses' mother," Hawass said.
He said the results of the studies would also help in identifying the mummy of queen Nefertiti.
Mystery still surrounds the identities of Tutankhamun's own parents -- while his father is known to be the Pharoah Akhenaton, his mother remains unknown.
Some believe her to have been Nefertiti, the first wife of Akhenaton who is remembered for having converted his kingdom to monotheism with the worship of one sun god, Aton.
His mother could also have been Akhenaton's second wife, the foreign princess Kiya, or Maya, Tutankhamun's childhood nurse.
The antiquities council statement said all royal mummies will be CT scanned for identification and that samples from several unknown female mummies found at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo have been taken for DNA testing.
"All of the results will be compared with each other, along with those of the mummy of the boy king Tutankhamun, which was CT scanned in 2005," it said.
The boy king's death more than 3,00 years ago remains the subject of dispute among historians, with some believing he died when an injury to a leg turned to gangrene, others that he was murdered with a blow to the head.
Last year, the true face of Tutankhamun, who was proclaimed pharaoh at the age of nine, was revealed to the public for the first time since he died at just 19 as the 12th and last pharaoh of the 18th dynasty.
The pharaoh's mummy was moved in November from its ornate sarcophagus in the tomb, where its 1922 discovery in Luxor's Valley of the Kings caused an international sensation, to a climate-controlled case where experts say it will be better preserved.
Source: YN
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