Petrie found this burial in 1908 in Thebes. The artefacts came to Scotland in 1909; a queen and a child, presumably her own. The symbols on the unidentified coffin stop at the point where the person’s name would be given, due to erosion of the plaster dating from thousands of years ago.
Dr. Bill Manley from National Museum of Scotland believes that, thanks to work with a range of other experts, he has discovered the likely identity of the woman. By looking at the shape of the coffin and studying the grave gifts academics have been able to date the burial to around 1550BC. A visit to Egypt in 2003 allowed Manley to use Petrie’s notes and maps to help pinpoint the location of the burial site further, but he failed to find the actual spot. Manley says:
Two wooden panels, in Cairo, Egyptian Museum, CG 1426-7 showing Hesyre, the Chief dentist and physician for Pharaoh Netjeriket, known as Dsozer, 3rd Dynasty c. 2650 BCE.
Hesyre's tomb was North of the Step Pyramid at Saqqara; Tomb S 2405. The titles he is named with include doctor and dentist “ibeh snwn”. These wooden stelae are part of a collection of eleven found by Mariette and later by Quibell (1911-1912). Six are at the Cairo Museum, the rest was in bad condition and the only readable hieroglyphic were not recorded. The first reference to a dentist title was this, given to Hesyre.
Some authors think that there was no dental profession in Egypt and more swnw or doctors have this title. But taking into account what can be seen in ancient human remains from Egypt regarding their teeth, I am almost sure that a 'doctor for the teeth' was extremely necessary as they suffered more from teeth infections, abrasion and loss than we do today. The diet suffered from the presence of sand grains, that, even microscopic, produced an erosion of enamel, dentine and even the pulp, originating unbelievable pain and premature teeth loss. These are maybe few of the available depictions of doctors of ancient Egypt...
The Tale of Horus and Seth is an ancient Egyptian myth about Horus and Seth's rivalry for the Egyptian throne, held in the story by Osiris, Horus' father and god of the underworld. There are several versions of the story worldwide, but this particular one, held at the Petrie Museum in London, allegedly contains the world's first chat-up line - and it's gay.
Tired with fighting Horus for the throne, Seth, god of storms, chaos and the desert, decides to invite his foe over for a 'feast'. Yet when Horus, god of the king, sky and vengeance, arrives, Seth has an underhand plan with which to fool him.
Rather than bestow violence upon Horus, Seth decides to seduce him, so as to fall him foul of the conservative council who will pick Osiris' successor. "How lovely are your buttocks," Seth says, "and how muscular your thighs." A Lichtheim translation follows the story thus:
"Now when evening had come,a bed was prepared for them, and they lay down together. At night Seth let his member become stiff and he inserted it between the thighs of Horus. And Horus placed his hands between his thighs and caught the semen of Seth."
The tomb of Thutmose I and Hatshepsut is one of the most undecorated tombs in the valley of the Kings. The tomb was built by pharaoh Hatshepsut, who was the 5th pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, directly behind her impressive temple at Deir el Bahri. It is thought that the aim of this was that her body would then lie underneath her temple. However the tomb curves, never reaching the temple probably due to unsuitable rock. The only decoration in the tomb can be found in the burial chamber, consisting of fifteen limestone blocks which were inscribed with texts from the Amduat.
Thutmose I, who was the 3rd pharaoh of the 18th dynasty, was also buried in the tomb KV20, however his mummy was later moved by Thutmose III into his own tomb, KV38.
It is thought that Hatshepsut as well was was moved - to KV60, the tomb of her wetnurse - by Thutmose III.
In 1903, Howard Carter discovered the ancient tomb known as KV60. The tomb is located in the southeast branch off the valley in the eastern cliffs of the Valley of the Kings. It is a small, uninscribed and undecorated tomb, consisting of an entryway stairway, a corridor with recesses and a side chamber, and a roughly cut burial chamber.
Two female mummies where found here, thought to be Queen Hatshepsut (relocated here by Thutmoses III) and her wetnurse. One of the females was found with her left arm bent at the elbow across the chest and with the left hand clenched, while the right arm held straight at its side. This burial position may indicate that she was a queen, or at least a member of the royal family during the 18th dynasty.
Commonly referred to as the Amarna cache, KV55's history and the occupant is uncertain. Research by 'The Family of Tutankhamun' project lead to the conclusion that the mummy found in KV55 is the biological father of King Tutankhamun, and estimated the mummy's age at death to be somewhere between 45 and 55, rather than the previously thought 20 to 25 (closer to Smenkhkare's age), making it very likely this is indeed Akhenaten.
Artefacts discovered inside KV55 indicate that the tomb may have been used for the burial of multiple occupants, and later (probably during the 20th dynasty) the tomb was re-entered and the mummies were moved to KV35.
Two unidentified mummies were found upon discovery in 1817 by Giovanni Battista Belzoni, who were thought to be 18th Dynasty queens as their left arms were crossed on their chest, which is a burial pose reserved for queens. A small chamber located adjacent to the burial chamber contained several large jars, which were likely to have contained embalming waste.
After its discovery, the tomb was vandalised and the mummies were torn to pieces as they were being dragged, as well as some of the jars being shattered. The damage was noted when Donald Ryan re-investigated the tomb in 1989 and observed graffiti which proclaimed "ME 1826".
In 2010, a team used DNA evidence to identify the biological mother of the two fetuses preserved in the tomb of King Tutankhamun as one of the two mummies from KV21. The archaeological team's lead, Carsten Pusch, said "The data obtained from KV21A points to this mummy as the mother of the fetuses. Unfortunately we are not yet able to identify her as Ankhesenamen, Nefertiti's daughter."
The mummy, found lying on the floor next to the Elder Lady in a side chamber of KV35 (Amenhotep II's tomb), is badly damaged, its right arm has been ripped off. CT-scans have suggested an age range between 25 and 35.
The Younger Lady, in June 2003, was controversially claimed to be Queen Nefertiti by British Egyptologist Joann Fletcher, whereas Egypologist Zahi Hawass believed it to be Kiya, another wife of Akhenaten who is believed by some to be the birth mother of Tutankhamun. Some believed this mummy to be a male.
Recently, with DNA testing, this mummy was shown in February 2010 to be a woman, possibly the mother of King Tut, the daughter of Amenhotep III and possibly Tiye (which would make her both the sister and wife of Akhenaten). Her name, however, remains unknown, leaving open the possibility that she is Kiya or another, unknown wife of Akhenaten.
As far as we know, Nefertiti only had daughters, which further debunks Joann Fletcher's claim.
The 'Elder Lady' (discovered in KV35, lying next to the the badly damaged Younger Lady) is well-mumified, with curly hair and must have been about 50 years old when she died. She was discovered in KV35 and many scholars believe that she may be Queen Tiye, the mother of Akhenaten.
Supporting this theory are her age at death and the possibly 'royal' position of her hands (the left arm at the chest and the right down by her side). In addition, one study comparing a strand of the Elder Lady’s hair to a lock of hair found inside a tiny coffinette inscribed for Tiye from Tutankhamun’s tomb concluded that the two samples matched. However, these results have been disputed, and the identification is still not secure.
Discovered in March 1898, KV35 is the Tomb of Amenhotep II who was found in his original sarcophagus in the burial chamber. The burial chamber is notable as a structure which had both an upper and lower pillared section, which would become the typical style for future royal tombs.
During the Third Intermediate Period, the tomb became a mummy cache, in which the mummified corpses of several prominent kings were relocated here and are identifed by inscriptions on the burial wrappings.
