Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


0

DNA Tests Set for Baby Girls in King Tut's Tomb

Was mummy a daddy?

Share

(Newser) – The 3,000-year-old mummified remains of two stillborn baby girls found in King Tutankhamun's tomb will undergo DNA testing to dermine their relationship to Egypt's famous boy king and Queen Nefertiti. The babies' remains were discovered in Tut's tomb in 1922 but never publicly displayed, reports the BBC.

Some researchers believe the babies' mother was Nefertiti's daughter Ankhesenamun, Tut's half-sister, who is thought to have married Tut when he was 12. There's no evidence the couple had any surviving children. "For the first time we will be able to identify the family of King Tut," said the head of Egypt's Supreme Council for Antiquities.

DNA tests are to be performed on the mummified remains of two babies found in the tomb of Tutankhamun but never publicly displayed.
DNA tests are to be performed on the mummified remains of two babies found in the tomb of Tutankhamun but never publicly displayed.   (AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities)
Zahi Hawass (right), head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, and an aide uncover the two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun.
Zahi Hawass (right), head of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, and an aide uncover the two mummified fetuses found in the tomb of King Tutankhamun.   (AP Photo/Supreme Council of Antiquities)
DNA tests are to be performed on the mummified remains of two stillborn baby girls found in the tomb of Tutankhamun but never publicly displayed.
DNA tests are to be performed on the mummified remains of two stillborn baby girls found in the tomb of Tutankhamun but never publicly displayed.   (AP Photo/Ric Francis, File)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.20.09
The Health-Care Wars Have Just Begun
11.19.09
Sarah Palin Deserves Some More Attention
0 comments
VIEWING:
 
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

15 Stories

RE-EXAMINING THE FOOD PYRAMID

 Heart Disease: 
 Pharaohs Had It, Too 

'Part of the human condition,' so fast food not only culprit

Nov 17, 09 7:20 PM CST
(Newser) - In a finding that pokes holes in the thinking that our modern fast-food lifestyle is behind heart disease, scientists have discovered that Egypt’s mummies, too, had hardened arteries. “Atherosclerosis is not just a disease of modern times,” one researcher tells WebMD . “It’s part of the... More »

MORE ABOUT:
CT scans • heart disease • fast food • ancient Egypt • ancient Egyptians • atherosclerosis • hardened arteries • mummies

HERODOTUS WAS RIGHT DEPT

 Vanished Persian Army 
 Turns Up in Sand 

Evidence of 50K doomed soldiers found in Egyptian desert

Nov 17, 09 2:21 PM CST
(Newser) - Italian archaeologists in Egypt claim to have unearthed evidence of a 6th-century BC Persian military folly once thought mythical. Herodotus described an army of 50,000 Persians sent by their emperor, Cambyses, to destroy an oracle that had spoken ill of his ambitions. The army was, according to lore, beset... More »

MORE ABOUT:
Iran • archaeology • Libya • ancient Egypt • archaeologist • ancient history • Persia • sandstorm • army • Herodotus

OPINION

Opening Her Tomb Won't Tell Us Who Cleopatra Was

Even Shakespeare had a hard time improving on her true story

Apr 22, 09 10:05 AM CDT
(Newser) - If the tomb that archaeologists are about to start excavating in Egypt really is Cleopatra’s, what will that really tell us about the legendary queen? Aside from possibly clearing up questions about her heritage and cause of death, probably not much, writes Cleopatra expert Stacy Schiff in the New ... More »

MORE ABOUT:
archaeology • tomb • ancient Egypt • Cleopatra • Marc Antony

15 Stories


DNA tests for Tutankhamun daughters
Guardian (UK)


Science & Health  •  World 
TwitterFollow @NewserScience on Twitter

 
Tutankhamun • ancient Egypt • Supreme Council of Antiquities • Nefertiti • Ankhesenamun • Cairo School of Medicine • Luxor • Zahi Hawass • Howard Carter

from our news partners