Archaeologists Find Tomb With Possible Ties to King Tut

It could belong to his wife, Ankhesenamun
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 19, 2017 10:14 AM CDT
Archaeologists Find Tomb With Possible Ties to King Tut
In this Jan. 24, 2015, file photo, the gold mask of King Tut is seen in a glass case during a press tour.   (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar, File)

The two daughters King Tut is believed to have had with wife Ankhesenamun were stillborn, their mummified fetuses found in Tut's tomb nearly a century ago, the Telegraph reported in 2008. But what of Ankhesenamun, who was also Tut's half sister? It's possible her grave has just been found. Former Minister of State for Antiquities Zahi Hawass tells Live Science his team is "sure" they've found a tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, "but we do not know for sure to whom it belongs." As for why the theory that it belongs to Ankhesenamun has emerged, it's a matter of proximity: Live Science reports Ankhesenamun wed the pharaoh Ay after Tut's death, and the tomb was found near Ay's.

A post at Ancient Origins is less unequivocal about the latter marriage, noting artifacts show Ankhesenamun and Ay together, but don't make clear that a marriage actually took place; it reports her name is not found within Ay's tomb. Ankhesenamun was around the age of 13 when she married Tut, who was slightly younger. Hawass says he will lead subsequent excavations at the site, where he located four foundation deposits that he says indicate a tomb was constructed there. As for Tut and Ankhesenamun's supposed children, a 2008 AP report noted their remains had been stored at Cairo University's School of Medicine following their 1922 discovery. (King Tut's dagger has out-of-this-world origins.)

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