Tomb mystery solved?

[rangerrebew]

Issue No.1302, 30 June, 2016      28-06-2016 06:14PM ET
Tomb mystery solved?

Could the mystery of Luxor Tomb KV55 now be solved, more than a century after its discovery, asks Nevine El-Aref
 

In 1907, British archaeologist Edward Aryton excavated Tomb KV55, considered one of the most mysterious tombs ever discovered. He found it in the Valley of the Kings, on the west bank of the Nile at Luxor. The tomb bears no name and contained a selection of artefacts that belonged to several kings and queens, a single sarcophagus and a mummy.


The identification of the sarcophagus and the mummy has been complicated by the fact that the artefacts appear to belong to different individuals.


Because of the positioning of the mummy’s arms, it has been speculated that the mummy could belong to the pharaoh Akhenaten’s mother Queen Tiye, his wife Nefertiti, his secondary wife Kiya, or his stepsister Meritaten.

http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/News/16740/47/Tomb-mystery-solved-.aspx

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[SunkenCiv]

I inhale the sweet breath that comes from your mouth
I contemplate your beauty every day.
It's my desire to hear your lovely voice
like the north wind's whiff.
Love will rejuvenate my limbs.
Give me your hands that hold your soul,
I shall embrace and live by it.
Call me by name again, again, forever,
and never will it sound without response.

(text found in KV-55)

[SunkenCiv]

A bit more from the recesses of the hard drive:

Anatomy Of A Mummy | Joyce M. Filer | Archaeology | March/April 2002

[snip] An anatomical examination cannot identify the individual, but it can provide information useful in evaluating the theories various scholars have proposed. The human remains from Tomb 55, as presented to me, are those of a young man who had no apparent abnormalities and was no older than his early twenties at death and probably a few years younger. If those wanting to identify the remains with Akhenaten demand an age at death of more than mid-twenties, then this is not the man for them. As an obviously younger individual, some people might like to identify the remains as belonging to the mysterious Smenkhkare. [/snip]

Who's In Tomb 55? | Mark Rose | Archaeology | March/April 2002

[snip] On January 6, 1907, Theodore M. Davis, a wealthy American financier, and his hired archaeologist, a young Englishman, Edward R. Ayrton, opened a most unusual tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. The tomb, designated KV55 or simply Tomb 55, was unimpressive, with a single chamber and side niche, but its contents were extraordinary.

The largest object was a wooden shrine, sheathed in gold, that had been made for the funeral of Queen Tiye, the mother of the late 18th Dynasty pharaoh Akhenaten (r. 1350-1333 B.C.). This pharaoh's name could be read on two of the four clay bricks found on the tomb's floor. In the niche were four jars, originally inscribed for Kiya, a secondary wife of Akhenaten, mismatched with stoppers bearing exquisite portraits, probably of one or more of Akhenaten's daughters. The strangest of the tomb's contents was an elaborate coffin, also originally for Kiya as attested by reworked yet still decipherable inscriptions, but adapted for a male burial by the addition of a beard and the alteration of the inscriptions. The face on the coffin had been broken off and the royal names on it, which might have identified its occupant, removed.

In the century following its discovery, Tomb 55 has been hotly debated, especially the identity of the remains in the coffin and how that person fit into the royal family and succession at the end of the 18th Dynasty. "It is probably true to say," notes Aidan Dodson of Bristol University, "that there are as many interpretations as Egyptologists who have written about the notorious Tomb 55. But it matters: the tomb provides part of the key to what was actually going on at the end of Akhenaten's reign-and perhaps at the end of Tutankhamun's as well." Results of an examination of the skeleton by British Museum Egyptologist and physical anthropologist Joyce M. Filer, published here in detail for the first time (click here), may help close the book on Tomb 55's mysterious occupant. [/snip]

DNA Shows that KV55 Mummy Probably Not Akhenaten | Kate Phizackerley | KV64

[snip] The difficulty lies with D7S820. As previously seen, the mother of the foetuses presented as 6,13, so she must have inherited one of this pair from each of her parents. As the son of Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye, Akhenaten could not have inherited allele 13 from either parent and therefore Nefertiti must have presented allele 13 at the D7S820 locus - and Akhenaten therefore allele 6. If the Younger Lady is another daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, then likewise her alleles of 6,10 must have been inherited one from each parent. Therefore Nefertiti's alleles at this locus must either have been 6,13 or 10,13. It would therefore be impossible for Amenhotep III and Nefertiti to be the parents of the KV55 mummy whose alleles are a duplicated 15. Therefore, if the Younger Lady is a daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti she cannot be the mother of the KV55 mummy (Smenkhare), although nothing can be deduced about whether or not she was the consort of Amenhotep III. However, if it was assumed, or proven, that the Younger Lady was not the daughter of Nefertiti then I could not rule out that Nefertiti was the mother of the KV55 mummy: she can be the mother of either but not both. Personally I am inclined to follow the JAMA paper in accepting Amenhotep III and Tiye as the parents of the KV55 mummy (Smenkhare) but the alternative cannot be ruled out on the basis of the published STR analysis. Again, mtDNA analysis may be helpful in excluding the possibility of some alternative theories like this one. [/snip]

Figure 1: Hypothethical Family Tree

[Jewbacca]

Nothing to say but that I enjoy your posts and read most all of them.  Not remotely knowledgeable enough myself to post anything of value.

[SunkenCiv]

Nothing to say but that I enjoy your posts and read most all of them.  Not remotely knowledgeable enough myself to post anything of value.

The greatest modern innovation has been cut/copy and paste.  ;)