The Lost Queen

From Egypt Today
August 2007
The search for Hatshepsut unearths more questions than answers, but makes for great TV

By Cache Seel

Hatshepsut Khenmet-Amun (the United of Amun in Front of the Nobles) was quite a woman. The second-known woman to rule Egypt, she became co-regent, along with her young stepson, after her husband and half-brother Thutmose II died in 1504 BC. The arrangement lasted just two years before Hatshepsut claimed the title of Pharaoh for her own. For the next 18 years, she was one of the most successful of the ancient rulers, male or female. After her death in 1482 BC, her stepson, Thutmose III, whom she had kept from the throne, took power. In revenge, it is believed, Thutmose III ordered his stepmother’s memory erased from history.

Images of Hatshepsut and cartouches bearing her name were chiseled off walls. Her massive obelisks in the Luxor Temple were bricked over. Her statues were broken and buried in a pit. The queen’s name was removed from official histories and her mummified remains, except for one canopic jar, were lost.

A little more than a year ago, Discovery Channel contacted Dr. Zahi Hawass, the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. They wanted to make a documentary about Hatshepsut that would hopefully end with the discovery of her mummy. The concerted effort between several teams of archaeologists and forensic scientists must have been one of the largest teams ever assembled to answer one specific question.

To facilitate the Discovery Channel search, the first-ever DNA laboratory for mummies was built in the basement of the Egyptian Museum, and CT (computerized axial tomography) scanning equipment was brought in on loan from Germany. Four unidentified female mummies who were believed to be royals were inspected, as well as known members of Hatshepsut’s family.

“What you can see from this story is that the CT scan and DNA can really reconstruct history, and you can see things never seen before,” Hawass says.
Hatshepsut

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