Ancient Egypt’s Lost Queen Found in Humble Tomb

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TESTIMONY

Article from Special Issue Vol. 60, No. 718, October 1990

ARCHAEOLOGY & THE BIBLE

Page 339

ANCIENT EGYPT’S LOST QUEEN FOUND IN HUMBLE TOMB

A mummy that may be ancient Egypt’s most powerful female pharaoh has been discovered near Luxor in the Valley of the Kings, in a ‘lost’ tomb recently reopened by an American archaeologist. A scientific examination of the mummy is under way to try to identify the body, thought to be that of Queen Hatshepsut, who died in 1482 B.C.

Last year Dr Donald Ryan, an archaeologist from the Pacific Lutheran University in Washington State, was given authorisation to search Tomb 60 by the Egyptian Antiquities Organisation. Although the tomb had originally been discovered by Howard Carter in 1903, who later found Tutankhamun’s tomb, its precise location had been lost. Dr Ryan was fortunate in locating the tomb quickly. Descending a series of steps he entered an eight-metre corridor leading to the burial chamber. In the middle of the chamber, surrounded by coffin fragments and mummy wrappings, was the well-preserved female body.

Three years after Carter’s discovery Tomb 60 was briefly examined by another British archaeologist, Edward Ayrton. He found a coffin and mummy bearing the name of Sitre, a nurse of Queen Hatshepsut, which he sent to the Cairo Museum.

There was another mummy, but it was left because its coffin had been destroyed and the body was unidentified. In 1906 Tomb 60 was sealed and its entrance covered with sand. Although its existence was known Egyptologists had little interest in it, and its precise location remained unmapped.

Why had the body of the important queen been left in a relatively undistinguished tomb? Queen Hatshepsut’s own grand tomb, which lies to the west of the massive temple built in her honour, is just below Tomb 60. The fact that her mummy was not found has not surprised Egyptologists, since the bodies of pharaohs were often moved to protect them from looting.

Dr Ryan speculates that her body could have been removed soon after her death in an attempt to save her from grave robbers, and was buried in the nearby tomb of her nurse. “As speculation persists that we have discovered the mummy of Queen Hatshepsut, we will be making special efforts to explore the plausibility of this theory”, he said. Dr Ryan gave a progress report to a conference entitled “After Tutankhamun” at Highclere Castle, the former home of Carter’s patron, Lord Caernarvon. The conference was held to discuss current archaeological research in the Valley of the Kings. The interest to the Bible scholar is that Hatshepsut is thought by some to be the “daughter of Pharaoh” mentioned in Exodus 2, who adopted Moses as her son.

Joan Brooks

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