Is Nefertiti under our Noses?

24th December, 2024: Opinion Piece

“In a chamber beyond a tomb full of treasures, a sarcophagus adorned with gilded gold takes centre stage, with the serene face of the instantly recognizable beauty of beauties carved delicately into the hard stone or wood. Inside, the perfectly embalmed mummy of a queen lays, beyond the wrappings, her face appears as if she sleeps, 3000+ years at rest, untouched by daylight, untouched by robberies, jewellery and funerary tribute still adorn her body and perfume fills the air…”

Such dreams fill the mind when news of Nefertiti’s tomb being discovered makes the annual headlines. Is she really buried behind a wall of Tutankhamun’s tomb? What will the latest discoveries tell us? Right now, the regurgitated articles seem to pop up every other year. Alas, no luck. Such a theory has yet to come to fruition.

It is now the end of another year, Christmas 2024, “and what have you done?” John Lennon sings from the radio. For us Egyptology fans, we can breathe a sigh of relief as now The Gem (Grand Egyptian Museum) has partially opened, and Nefertiti still stares forth in Berlin. However, Nefertiti is not just the stone ghost of a queen that was, there is always the hope of her returning to the modern world, once again igniting the flame of the Egyptomania torch, with what many hope will be the discovery of her tomb. Or simply just the discovery of Nefertiti herself.

But what if we already have her? What if Nefertiti has been with us for decades, first discovered over a century or two ago…what if she is laying here under our very noses, unnamed, unrecognized, waiting for somebody to notice? It’s possible. In fact, it’s more likely than you think.

Beginnings…

On the 9th of October 1817, Italian explorer Giovanni Belzoni unearthed a tomb, which would go on to be known as KV21 (King’s Valley 21). Belzoni, documented that within the tomb were the mummies of two females;

“At one corner of this chamber, we found two mummies on the ground quite naked, without cloth or case. They were females, and their hair pretty long, and well-preserved, though it was easily separated from the head by pulling it a little.”

The tomb itself is well cut on an east-west axis off of the main wadi (valley), with a hillside entrance and stairwell leading downwards into the tomb. There are two burial chambers. To get to the chambers, there are “two sloping corridors with a stairwell between them”.

One of the corridors leads to a burial chamber, known as Burial Chamber J, noticeable for its central pillar and side chamber. Unfortunately, despite the footing, the tomb itself is unremarkable when it comes to embellishment as the walls are smooth but undecorated, with only traces of red and black markings here and there made by the ancient masons.

Therefore, there is no indication of whom the tomb was built for and why it was presumably left unfinished (theorized due to lack of decoration).

The two female mummies were first discovered by Belzoni within a corner of the burial chamber (J), not in coffins but sadly nude and unwrapped and laying on the ground. Belzoni goes on to describe their hair as long, with no signs of a coffin nearby. He tells us that within a small enclosure adjacent to the burial chamber were fragments of alabaster vases, wood fragments, and other miscellaneous items including several “earthen vessels”, with one in tact pottery jar adorned with hieroglyphs. It is thought the fragments of 24 large pottery storage jars also discovered are of the mid-18th Dynasty style.

From then on the tomb and the mummies went on to be rediscovered a few times from 1817-1989, and each time their condition was reported more fragile.

In the mid-1820s, it was documented by Edward Lane and James Burton that the mummies were “still intact” within the tomb, despite visitors to the tomb within the years since Belzoni’s 1817 discovery. Burton also documented sometime before 1830, that the tomb was clean, “the water not having got into it“. Graffiti within the tomb’s burial chamber has the written date of 1826, suggesting people had frequented the tomb at least a few times through the years it was left desolate.

After the 1820s, the tomb presumably was engulfed by natural disaster, as it appears a flood had gushed within, filling the tomb with debris. This led to what is thought to have been a trench built into the entrance in approximately 1896. From then on, the tomb became a distant memory and was essentially lost, but not entirely.

Just under a century later, archaeologist Donald P. Ryan’s curiosity peaked, and his search for the two female mummies began.

With excavations at the site starting in 1989, a century worth of debris greeted the team, and it appeared that James Burton’s note from around the mid 1820s, of “water not having got into” the tomb was sadly now not so, as it appeared the floodings since had pretty much done extraordinary damage.

Among the debris of the tomb, within the first corridor, Ryan came across a mummified torso and head laying face down, and while making his way through, more body parts emerged upon the steps, including hands and feet. It seemed reasonable to blame the floodings for the scene of the disturbed mummy parts before him, alas, Ryan proposed some of the damage to the deceased had been caused by tomb vandals too.

As mentioned, Belzoni had written that at least one of heads within the tomb had long flowing hair, but no such head was found, leading Ryan to believe his theory of vandals was right, as such a head would have been ideal for the black market.

However, what he did find, Ryan gathered. Including the clenched hands, with what appears to have been left arms bent diagonally. And as any Egyptologist (professional or armchair) knows, such a pose signified royal status, and so it was and still is believed that these two women known as KV21a and KV21b were indeed of the royal family.

In 2016, after using the most up-to-date technology of the time, including Multi-Detector Computed Tomography and DNA analysis, co-authors Zahi Hawass and Sahar Saleem presented the results of the examination of various royal mummies, including both KV21a and KV21b in their book, “Scanning the Pharaohs: CT Imaging of the New Kingdom Royal Mummies“.

Professor of Radiology at Cairo University, Sahar Saleem is a prominent figure in the field of radiology, particularly known for her work in paleoradiology, which involves using radiological techniques to study ancient remains, especially mummies. After studying medicine at Kasr Al-Ainy Medical School of Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt. She later earned a Master’s degree and a Medical Doctorate in Radiology from the same university, and pursued further specialization by doing a postdoctoral fellowship in Neuroradiology and a Fellowship in Radiology Education at the University of Western Ontario in Canada.

Saleem has played a significant role in the Egyptian Mummy Project, which involves the scanning and study of royal mummies from Ancient Egypt. Her work has contributed significantly to our understanding of ancient Egyptian health, death causes, and mummification practices. Saleem is notable for discovering the knife wound in the throat of Ramesses III, supporting historical accounts of the Harem Conspiracy, suggesting that this pharaoh was likely murdered during this plot.

The publication did approve the possibility of the identity of the women being of the Amarna royal household, and as likely candidates for the mummies of Ankhesenamun and Nefertiti. However, this has never been officially publicized or certified. But what has been made public is the fact that DNA tests indicated a close maternal relationship between KV21a and KV21b, supporting the theory that KV21b might be Nefertiti, the mother of Ankhesenamun.

The Mummy KV21a

The mummy of KV21a is that of what appears to be an adult human female no older than 25 years of age, who measures at around 1.62m in length. Sadly, the mummy is greatly damaged, with no head and a mutilated torso with detatched arms.

The abdominal cavity is unfortunately filled with flood debris, which indicates her torso had been opened prior to the flooding disaster. And it is thought the mummy had been unwrapped previous to the flooding also.

Interestingly, her legs and feet remain, alas, they show what in life would be painful distortion, with her left food twisted at a peculiar angel, described as a “flex across its planter surface to approximately 90 degrees”, and the left foot even more-so.

This is interesting to note, as the mummy of Tutankhamun, in recent analysis, showcased what those studying the Boy King’s remains thought to be “clubbed feet” or a “club foot”. If KV21a, is the sister-wife of Tutankhamun, queen Ankhesenamun, and she shares similar traits, until further testing, this could be circumstantial evidence, when it comes to identifying her as a close relation of the Boy King.

Ankhesenamun was born Ankhesenpaaten, and was the daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaten. It is believed she was born around 1350 B.C., the third daughter of the royal couple, born in year 5 or 6 of Akhenaten’s reign.

Ankhesenpaaten, which translates to, She Lives Through the Aten” or “Living Through the Aten,” later went on to marry, king Tutankhaten, who later became Tutankhamun, after the religious revolution of Atenism came to a crashing halt. It is generally accepted that Tutankhamun was Ankhesenamun’s half-brother.

Tutankhamun’s reign ended around 1323 B.C. when he died at around 18 or 19 years of age. After about a decade of rulership, Ankhesenamun was now left widowed.

How and when Ankhesenamun met her end is not currently known. However, theories suggest she remarried after Tutankhamun’s death.

A letter was sent to King Suppiluliuma I of the Hittites, a major power in the ancient Near East at the time, from a queen of Egypt in a rather precarious position.

In the letter, which is known from Hittite annals, the queen (referred to as “Dakhamunzu” in Hittite texts, which is thought to be a transliteration of the Egyptian title “Tahemetnesu” meaning “The King’s Wife”) states that her husband has died and she has no sons. Considering Ankhesenamun was a widow and from what we know bore no children, she is thought to fit the profile of this mysterious queen.

Desperate, the widowed writer pleads for one of Suppiluliuma’s sons to come to her in Egypt in order to marry her and become Pharaoh.

“My husband has died and I have no son. They say about you that you have many sons. You might give me one of your sons to become my husband. Never shall I pick out a servant of mine and make him my husband.”

Suppiluliuma was initially suspicious of such an unprecedented request from an Egyptian queen, fearing it might be a trap or deception. He sent an emissary to Egypt to verify the situation. Upon receiving confirmation and another plea from the queen, he agreed to send his son, Zannanza, to Egypt. Tragically, Zannanza was killed enroute to Egypt. The Hittite records suggest that “hostile Egyptians” were responsible, although specific culprits are not named. This incident led to increased hostility between Egypt and the Hittites.

In 1931, Egyptologist Percy Newberry described a blue glass finger-ring that had been acquired by Mr. Blanchard of Cairo from an unknown site in the Delta. This ring bore the royal cartouches of both Ay and Ankhesenamun. The ring was made of blue glass and was engraved with the names (cartouches) of Ay and Ankhesenamun, suggesting a possible marital or close familial connection. This artefact is significant as it could be evidence that Ay did indeed marry Ankhesenamun after Tutankhamun’s death, thereby legitimizing his claim to the throne.

Unfortunately, it appears the ring has now been lost among private collections, as the exact ring Newberry described has not been located since. However respected Egyptologist and author Joyce Tyldesley does propose that it is possible the ring may have been a forgery anyway. In 1973, similar ring, also made of glass but of a different colour, was purchased by the Berlin Museum.

Overall, it is generally theorised that as a result of the death of Zannanza, Ankhesenamun went on to marry Ay, who would become king. What we do know is that after Ay’s ascension to the throne, Ankhesenamun disappears from historical record.

Family Lineage

Within the Boy King’s tomb, two mummified foetuses were discovered. Known as Mummies 317a and 317b, the female mummies were buried with no namesake alongside their father, and are simply referred to as “Osiris” on their coffins

The foetus known as 317z was born prematurely at approximately 5-6 months of gestation. With C.T. scans estimating her to have been about 24.7 weeks old at the time of death. Contrary to this, the mummy known as 317b was born at or close to full term, with a gestational age estimated around 36 weeks.

There were initial reports suggesting congenital abnormalities like spina bifida and scoliosis, especially for the mummy of baby 317b. However, later, more detailed C.T. scans by Dr. Saleem and others have largely disproven these claims, attributing the skeletal damages to post-mortem fractures and poor storage conditions rather than congenital anomalies.

Both of the girls were mummified with significant care, using methods typical for high-status individuals. Mummy 317a was provided with a gilded mummy mask, while 317b’s mask was too small, which could mean it was re-used by another, or simply made too small by mistake with not enough time to remake another.

The daughters were buried in two-coffin sets of miniature size, similar to those used for nobility, indicating their royal status and the importance placed on their posthumous journey, and they were placed within their father’s tomb seemingly lovingly.

DNA testing has pretty much declared it extremely likely that the mother of the two girls was KV21a, however, it is thought the results were not statistically conclusive to certify officially. However, the analysis of DNA tells us that it is “overwhelmingly confirmed” that Tutankhamun is the father of both of the babies, with “very high probability”.

With this in mind, but always with the “possibility” of change to such a theory coming forth in the future, it is safe to assume that mummy KV21a is that of Ankhesenamun, the wife of Tutankhamun and daughter of Nefertiti & Akhenaten, but at the present more testing will need to be done to certify her identity officially.

The Mummy KV21b

Discovered in the upper corridor (B), partially covered by rocks, the remnants of an adult human female mummy were discovered. This sorry sight of an upper torso and head lying face down among debris from a flood, could in fact be the sad way in which Nefertiti herself was reintroduced to the modern world.

Her head, despite being there, was discovered significantly damaged on the forehead and crown. But what remains of her mummified skull is smooth, narrow and round. The left side of her face is intact, with the eye still within the socket. Her right eye is lost, along with the missing portion of the right side of her skull. On the back of her head are small tufts of dark brown hair, similar to the hair which was discovered upon the floor of the burial chamber.

The mention of the female mummies having long brown hair by Belzoni, and the damaged skull of KV21b still having a segment of brown hair at the back, as well as the missing head of KV21b, could perhaps mean that tomb robbers at somepoint stole the head of KV21a and damaged the head of KV21b in an attempt of thievery too. This could explain why more of the hair was found upon the burial chamber floor back in 1817 before the floodings. It is impossible to know, but such a theory seems like it could be likely.

KV21b’s damaged torso shows an open chest, with the manubrium and sternum absent, the frontal ribs are also missing. Within the torso cavity are bundled wrappings. This could mean her chest was damaged prior to burial in KV21, or that she was reburied at somepoint after damage had been done to her torso in a previous burial, or that embalmers stuffed her torso with wrappings at her original embalming.

Her legs show signs of osteoarthritis, specifically in the lumbar vertebral margins. Her right knee joint is disarticulated, which could be due to arthritic deformity, with her foot being slightly distorted too.

It appears the mummy of KV21b is definitely over 40 years of age. This was measured by the surface presented by analysing both sides of the pubic symphysis, which were “considerably smoother”, than that of a younger female.

Her mummy suggests, in life, she would have stood at around 1.68cm tall (5 ft 6 inches), which is rather tall for ancient times, especially for women.

How likely is it that this mummy is Nefertiti?

It was believed Nefertiti vanished from historical records around the 12th year of her husband’s 17-year reign, which corresponds to approximately 1338 B.C.

After this point, there is no further mention of her in contemporary records. As for her death, the exact date is not definitively known. However, many historians infer that she might have died around this time due to her sudden disappearance, although there’s no direct evidence confirming her death or burial.

Some theories suggest she might have ruled as Pharaoh under the name Neferneferuaten, although some propose Neferneferuaten was in fact a daughter of Nefertiti and Akhenaten.

In 2012, archaeologists uncovered a graffito at Deir el Bersha, Egypt, which identified Nefertiti as Akhenaten’s primary queen, titled “Great Royal Wife, His Beloved, Lady of the Two Lands, Neferneferuaten Nefertiti“. This message, inscribed in red ochre on a limestone quarry wall, dates back to the 16th and final year of Akhenaten’s reign as pharaoh.

This discovery is significant because it confirms that Nefertiti remained alive and retained her royal status near the end of Akhenaten’s rule. This finding opens up the possibility that the subsequent female pharaoh, Neferneferuaten, might have been either Nefertiti herself or her daughter, Meritaten.

Royal Tomb (Amarna 26) was intended for Akhenaten and his family. It includes an unfinished suite that some scholars, like Egyptologist Marc Gabolde, believe might have been intended for Nefertiti. However, no definitive evidence proves she was buried there.

Despite the resemblance between the mummy and Nefertiti, it has to be acknowledged that a familial resemblance could exist between mother and daughter, as well as mother and sister. And often forgotten is the idea that Nefertiti did indeed have at least one sister that we know of, and she is seemingly documented in history as Mutnodjmet.

Mutnodjmet is believed to be the younger sister of Nefertiti and she is mentioned in various reliefs from Tel el-Amarna (ancient Akhetaten). Among the many titles she held, Mutnodjmet is referred to as “The Sister of the King’s Great Wife,” specifically linking her to Nefertiti, and emphasizing her familial connection to the royal household. It is thought Mutnodjmet played her part within the royal court and due to several depictions or mentioning’s of her, it suggests she held some prominence within the royal family.

As with Nefertiti, nothing is known about her parentage. Theories of course arise about both sister’s familial lineage but there is nothing certified at the present.

Mutnodjmet is depicted within the Amarna Tomb of the high official Parennefer (Amarna Tomb 7). On the West Wall, Mutnodjmet is depicted among the princesses in a room behind the king and queen making an appearance at the Window of Appearances. Mutnodjmet also appears in some of the Tombs of the Nobles, particularly in the tomb of Ay (Southern Tomb 25), where she is portrayed as a young girl. This tomb’s decoration includes scenes where she is seen with Nefertiti’s daughters.

Some scholars propose Mutnodjmet went on to marry the general Horemheb, who became king after the death of Tutankhamun. This theory arises from a statue base found in Saqqara, where a Mutnodjmet is named as the wife of Horemheb, though it’s not definitively proven that this is the same Mutnodjmet, as naturally a person can share the same name as someone else.

For now, little is known about Nefertiti’s sister Mutnodjmet, she is the subject of historical fiction, notably in Michelle Moran’s novel “Nefertiti,” where she plays a significant role. This has added to her modern cultural recognition, although these works blend historical facts with creative storytelling.

Would Nefertiti really be buried in such an unremarkable tomb?

It is generally accepted that Nefertiti, like her family, was meant to be buried in the Royal Tomb at Amarna, alas, the tomb was never completed.

Theories suggest Nefertiti’s mummy might have been moved from her original burial place which was possibly in Amarna or possibly elsewhere, to one of the mass burial caches like DB320 or KV35 to protect her and the other royals from tomb robbers. Other theories propose Nefertiti might have been reburied in Thebes after the abandonment of Amarna, such as in a tomb like KV21. More famously a theory that has arose in recent years, is the Nicholas Reeves’ theory that suggests Nefertiti was buried in a hidden chamber behind the walls of Tutankhamun’s tomb (KV62). High-resolution scans in 2015 initially suggested the presence of voids behind the walls, but subsequent radar investigations have not confirmed this.

The reburial of Egyptian mummies by priests, often referred to as “reburial caches” or “secondary burials,” was motivated by several key factors. One of the main reasons was to protect the mummies and their grave goods from tomb robbers. The Valley of the Kings, where many pharaohs and nobles were initially buried, was notorious for tomb robberies even in ancient times. By moving the mummies to secret locations, priests hoped to safeguard the remains and sacred items from desecration.

Despite KV21 being in the Valley of the Kings, it is still rather remote in comparasion to others in the region. Egyptologists even note that the small size of king Tutankhamun’s tomb is a peculiarity. Therefore, it is possible and reasonable that after the fall of Akhenaten’s Amarna age, and after the death of Tutankhamun, once the Boy King was buried in the Valley of the Kings, there was a deicison made to to rebury Ankhesenamun and Nefertiti in an free tomb within the Valley.

Alas, for now these are all just therories, and like most subjects regarding Ancient Egypt, many people will have their own views on things until solid evidence arises to prove otherwise. We hope you enjoyed this article, please return for any updates in the future.

Regardless of who the female mummies turn out to be, they, like most of Egyptian history have engulfed the imagination for a while, we hope sooner rather than later, we can put names to their memory.

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