Egyptian queen Nefertiti's remains might already have been discovered 200 years ago

Has the beautiful and mysterious Nefertiti been found yet? According to a famous Egyptologist, the answer is yes. In an interview with a Spanish newspaper, Zahi Hawass explained that the mummy of Akhenaten's wife was (re)discovered several centuries ago and that she will be officially identified very soon.

'The perfect one has arrived'

Few Egyptian queens are as admired as Nefertiti. A thick cloud of mystery surrounds the life of this woman, who was born on an unknown date. It is estimated that she was born around 1370 BC and that she died around 1334.

Wife of Akhenaten, she has the reputation of being of unparalleled beauty, as evidenced by her name, which means 'the beautiful one' or 'the perfect one has arrived'. But the reason Nefertiti made history, is mainly because she helped her husband, the pharaoh Akhenaten, to start a great cultural and religious revolution in Egypt, for the people passing from a polytheistic religion to the cult of the solar disc Aten.

Along with Cleopatra, Nefertiti is one of the greatest queens of Egypt, and it seems that one of the greatest mysteries of her existence (the place of her last residence) was solved somewhat by chance, 200 years ago.

Tomb KV21

Egyptologist Zahi Hawass is convinced that Nefertiti's remains were found in 1817. That year, the explorer Giovanni Battista Belzoni discovered two mummies in the tomb 'KV21'. For Zahi Hawass, there is no doubt that they are Nefertiti and her daughter, and technology will soon make it possible to formally identify these mummies. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Indepediente, the Egyptologist said:

We already have the DNA of the mummies of the 18th dynasty, from Akhenaten to Amenhotep II or III and there are two unnamed mummies labelled KV21a and b. In October we will be able to announce the discovery of the mummy of Ankhesenamun, wife of Tutankhamun, and her mother, Nefertiti.

This article was translated from Gentside FR.

Sources used :

Geo, 'Egypte : un célèbre archéologue annonce la découverte de la momie de Néfertiti'

El Independiete, 'El próximo mes anunciaré el descubrimiento de la momia de Nefertiti'

National Geographic, 'Néfertiti : portrait d'une grande reine'

Read more:

⋙ World's first mummified pregnant woman had unusual markings that showed signs of cancer

⋙ Skeletal remains of a 'vampire' woman from the 17th century discovered (PHOTO)

⋙ Skeletal remains of 100 children found in a holy site in Wales