Could the missing mummy of
Queen Nefertiti, one of the most famous Egyptian queens, actually have
been discovered decades ago and simply misidentified?
That's what Egyptologist
Susan James wondered in a recent KMT article. Many of the likenesses
sculpted of Nefertiti's face resemble the female mummy known as
"Elder Woman" (or Mummy 61070, as cataloged by the Egyptian
Museum in Cairo). The Elder Woman is often supposed to be Queen Tiye (wife
of Amenhotep III).
A lock of the Elder Woman's
hair was found in Tutankhamun's tomb, which indicated to Egyptologists
that there may have been a family tie between the two; they concluded that
she was most likely Queen Tiye, his probable grandmother.
Unfortunately, the facts of the "Elder Woman" mummy don't match
the facts known about Queen Tiye: Elder Woman was between 24 and 34 years
old (this is elder?); Queen Tiye would have been over 40 when she died.
[NOTE: Fletcher's team has
reported that x-rays of the Elder Woman reveal an age range between 35 and
45.]
James also compared the
mummy's face to known busts and statues made of Nefertiti; they appear to
match, according to James, in at least two important ways: (1) the
narrowness of the skull and (2) the "very pronounced" groove
between the nose and the upper lip (the philtrum).
DNA testing would help show
genetic relationships between Elder Woman and other known royal mummies,
but Egyptian officials have been reluctant to allow such testing in recent
years. For now, the mummy known as 61070 remains in the Egyptian Museum in
Cairo.
