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Tag: YDNA

King Tut Further Unwrapped – The Family of Tutankhamun Project

Mummy Forensics - DIY KitIt’s only 24 hours since all Tut broke lose, and additional information is still gradually being released (confirming my theory that the main bulk of the information was leaked too early ahead of the press conference). That, or it took the released information a while to percolate through my brain. The following bits are new or extra info (to me) from the official SCApress release.

My grey mass failed to process the fact that this study is part of the ‘Family of Tutankhamun Project’ rather than the ‘Egyptian Mummy Project’. Somehow, limiting the scope does make sense, despite the Onion’s report on the extinction of the Egyptian mummies*. The other half of that same grey mass neglected to apprehend that rather than the protozoan Plasmodium falciparum being observed in King Tut’s DNA, traces of the malaria parasite’s DNA were discovered in Tut.

The SCA release states that:

“Two types of DNA analysis were performed on samples taken (see how they do this, red) from the bones of these mummies: analysis of specific nuclear DNA sequences from the Y chromosome, which is passed directly from father to son, to study the paternal line; and genetic fingerprinting from the autosomal DNA of the nuclear genome that does not directly decide a persons sex. To authenticate the DNA results, the analyses were repeated and independently replicated in a newly equipped ancient DNA laboratory staffed by a separate group of personnel.”

I’m glad to see the ‘separate group of personnel’ written here, as that wasn’t explicitly mentioned in previous reports (which were thoroughly processed by said grey mass). The neural structure does wonder:”If we have thoroughly tested the 18th dynasty’s DNA, then why absolutely no mentioning of any ethnic ancestries? At least some data must have been found?”

A special award goes to the person that decided on the use of the words ‘conclusively’ (putting an end to doubt or question) and definitely (known for certain). The report claims absolutely that:

  • The mummy found in KV55 is Tutankhamun‘s father** (Even though his age at death is now estimated to be between 45 and 55, rather than 20 to 25, it is only ‘almost certain’ that this was Akhenaten. I guess it also can ‘almost certainly’ not be Smenkhkare any more)
  • The ‘Elder Lady’ from KV35 is Queen Tiye, who is Yuya and Thuya‘s daughter.

Yet, I’m not entirely confident that ‘positively identified’ means there is no possible argument against the fact that the ‘Younger Lady’ from KV35 is Tutankhamun’s mother. The assumption that the two fetuses found hidden away in KV62 are Tut’s kids is even more hasty. But then again, that claim is just as likely as the mummy KV21Abeing the most likely mother of these likely children and thus likely Tutankhamun’s wife, making her probably (that was quite enough ‘likelies’ in one sentence) a royal mummy. At least she’s not under superstition of being male, as was Tutankhamun’s likely mother for a while. Aren’t we all looking forward to the removal of the ‘protected’ status on King Tut’s wikipedia entry, so we can start updating it?:p

What I did not fail to notice, not just in the SCA’s press release, is that the research is quite clearly sponsored by Discovery Channel. For those nagging about the big ‘hype’ factor of this and ‘King Tut Unwrapped’ (photo preview here), please know that I’m not on your side. I’m perfectly happy with this arrangement. UNESCO is not needed to help fund the research and can spend some more on errr.. what about Colchester’s Roman Circus? 😉 Taxes do not need to rise because a growing number of mummies are in need of trips to the mummy-hospital and with Discovery Channel sponsoring, the majority of the results are made freely (cost of the bandwith) accessible to all. A sweet deal altogether?

With that to ponder () I leave you, as Ihave some ‘likely’ removing to do on various Heritage Key directory pages.

*No, the grey mass did not fail to notice that the Onion is indeed one big joke.
**I thought that – although the probability is extremely high – a DNApaternity test is never 100% conclusive.

King Tut DNA Research and Cause of Death Finally Revealed?

King Tut's Mummy - Head (Photo by Sandro Vannini)This Wednesday the long awaited results of the DNAresearch on King Tut’s mummy – and some of his possible family members – will be announced at a press conference with Egyptian Minister of Culture, FaroukHosni and Dr. Zahi Hawass. They will announce new discoveries surrounding the family of Tutankhamun and the cause of the young king’s death.

The study on the family of Tutankhamun (keep an eye on all things Tut on our dedicated page) was conducted through the Egyptian Mummy Project (EMP) headed by Dr. Zahi Hawass, and a team composed of Egyptian scientists from the National Research Center, members from the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University, and two German DNA specialists.

Tutankhamun – Cause of Death?

In the past, the EMP has conducted two further studies on ancient Egyptian mummies. The first project, carried out in 2005, performed a CT-scan of the mummy of Tutankhamun. The study concluded the king had died aged 19, but contrary to earlier speculation had not been murdered by a blow to the back of the head – Egyptian scientists revealed that the hole was created post-mortem during Dynasty 18, in order to insert mummification liquid.

“It was a hole that they opened in Dynasty 18 when they do mummification,” Hawass explains in this video.

The scientists also noted that the king suffered a fracture to his left leg a day or so before his death. Will there be conclusive evidence that this was the cause of the young Pharoah’s demise?

King Tut’s Parentage:A. Amenhotep III , B. Akhenaten or C. Someone Else?

We’re anxiously awaiting the announcement of not only the CoD, but also more information on Tutankhamun’s family tree. King Tuts parentage is a matter of intense debate. Initially it had been thought that Tutankhamun was the brother of Akhenaten and the son of Amenhotep III. Recent evidence, however, has indicated that he was in fact born in Tell el-Amarna – the short-lived 18th Dynasty capital of Egypt – and was most likely the son of Akhenaten.

A match of King Tut’s yDNA(passed on from father to son) will not be able to sort out the above question, though. Shared yDNA would leave the possibility open that Amenhotep IIIis Tutankhamun’s grandfather, and the DNAwas passed through Akhenaten (aka Amenhotep IV), or any other son of Amenhotep III. Yet, in case of a match, it will confirm that Amenhotep III’s mummy is actually labelled correctly. But then again, in case of a mis-match, it is still possible…wait – did they have milkmen in ancient Egyptian times?

Shortly summarised:although the information from the press conference will surely be interesting – is it Wednesday already?!! – it might not be conclusive. Rather, more pieces will be added to the mystery of the Pharaohs, and our Boy King in particular.

King Tut - Stillborn Child - Fetus

Testing Ancient DNA

The study on King Tut’s DNAwas conducted inside two DNA laboratories under the supervision of the Supreme Council of Antiquities. One is located in the basement of the Cairo Museum (have a peek in the museum’s basement in this video), and another is in the Faculty of Medicine at Cairo University. These are the only two DNA laboratories aimed exclusively at the study of ancient mummies.

Mummy DNA is different from that of living people: “It is very old and fragile, so we have to extract and multiply it before tests,” says Dr. Hawass. The DNAsamples on mummies are taken by entering the same puncture hole from a number of different angles with a bone marrow biopsy needle, a less invasive technique than those employed by previous researchers.

Queen Hatshepsut’s Tooth

The EMPs second project succeeded in identifying the mummy of Queen Hatshepsut from remains found in KV60 in the Valley of the Kings, by matching her mummy (the obese woman from KV60) with a molar found in a wooden box inscribed with Hatshepsuts throne name. As usual in the ‘who’s who’ of mummies, this is still debated by some, saying the obese mummy was actually Queen Hatshepsut’s wet nurse.

Anyway, we’ll be holding our breath for the next 48 hours. If you can’t stand the anticipation and need some distraction, do check out our Ancient World in London series. There’s quite a bit going one:Win a book by writing the most romantic, hilarious or original ancient world-inspired love declaration or personal; put your questions to the London Stone on Twitter (for a Roman stone, he’s quite up with the times) or join our Bloggers Challenge on who best invaded London. Else, have a guess, what is the Grand News we can expect to come out of Wednesday’s press conference at the Cairo Museum, .