Queen Hatshepsut Update

As predicted, the Discovery Channel will be airing a special on a mummy that has recently been identified as Queen Hatshepsut based upon a tooth (see my post from June 27). The special is this Sunday, July 15, at 9 pm. Since I do not get the Discovery Channel, somone will have to tell me how it goes. But if you are like me and do not have cable (or limited cable), check out the cool website DC has set up for this.

Queen Hatshepsut

Zahi Hawass, the Egyptologist and secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo (but you probably know him as that guy who is on every single television special about ancient Egypt), believes that a DNA analysis of a tooth proves that a particular "obese" female mummy found in the Valley of the Kings a hundred years ago is Queen Hatshepsut (r. 15th Century BCE), one of the most powerful Queens of ancient Egypt. The DNA analysis shows genetic similarities with the mummy of Ahmose Nefertari, the matriarch of the 18th Dynasty. I think the Discovery Channel will be covering this.