11 August 2008

Which mummy was Tut's Mommy?

This is exciting.

Egypt is to carry out DNA tests on the mummified remains of two foetuses found in the tomb of Tutankhamun to determine if they were the children of the boy king, antiquities authorities said on Thursday.

Apparently the experts are also trying to find out who Tutankhamun's parents were; I guess everyone, at least in the archeology field, wants to finally finally find out if the boy-king's mom was none other than Nefertiti.

On that note, the article does state that experts have this high hope of pinpointing the mummy of queen Nefertiti using these results.

Tutankhamun must be one of the most famous pharoahs of Egypt. Much as I would like to say it was because he was a boy-king and was the last pharoah, it was possibly due to the infamous controversy about the curse.

Remember the tomb being opened, people falling sick and only one surviving and something along those line? The stuff that cheesy movies are made of. So many movies and books revolve around this tale that it is safe to assume it has followed the route of distorted phone lines(?). You know what I mean; people embellish and age old story until the squirrel in the story is now described as a fire breathing dragon?

Or call it the Pocohantas syndrome.

Before I finish, I want to provide the link for the 2005 reconstruction of King Tut's face. This in itself was embroiled in controversy, given the age old misbelief that someone of darker skin could not possibly *sarcasm* done anything groundbreaking in world history.

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