Rick Baudé Wrote:
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> iirc Wasn't it the Good Dr. Hawass who "suddenly"
> had an emergency DNA test performed on the mummy
> that Fletcher said was "Nefertiti" only to prove
> that the mummy was a male and therefore excluded
> as a candidate for Nefertiti?

The PCR DNA test is used to determine sex and is a fairly simple test, requiring minimal tissue for analysis. If you read the test results (PDF), you will see how little tissue was used (though not clear from where this tissue was extracted), and that it was done at the Specialised Genetics Centre at Ain Shams University in Egypt. So, that sort of test is possible, and I know nothing about it being an "emergency" test, BTW.

mtDNA, on the other hand, requires much more tissue and different type of testing, and usually must have other samples to compare it to to establish a maternal genetic line.

As I noted, we have very few known royal females of which we can be sure of their relation from one king to another. If Tiye is the Elder Lady, for example, her mtDNA would only be a direct match for Tutankhamun for certain, for example, since she introduces new mtDNA into the royal line by marriage to Amenhotep III. As she has always been known to be the queen of Amenhotep III, her lineage as ancestor to Tutankhamun is not in dispute.

If Tiye's mtDNA is related to the KV 55 remains, this could mean several things: the KV 55 remains are a) Akhenaten, b) or Smenkhkare, or c) another prince of her union to Amenhotep III, such as Crown Prince Thutmose, or perhaps younger princes of which we know nothing.* All are possibilities, and so, we're no better off than we were before.

If Tiye's mtDNA line is tied to the Younger Lady mummy, for example, this could mean that the mummy is one of her daughters, or her granddaughters (via Akhenaten). If the mtDNA doesn't match, it could be any number of secondary queens of Amenhotep III, Akhenaten, Smenkhkare, Tutankhamun, or even Ay or Horemheb - but in any case, it won't tell us who the "Younger Lady" actually is. I agree that it may be significant that the KV 35 mummies are together - but then again, since they are obviously reburials from other locations, perhaps not.

I tend to think that this reliance on genetic testing "clearing everything up" is something of a tease which may lead nowhere. I suspect we will still be debating which mummy is who even IF an mtDNA line could be established. All one has to do is look at Dodson's book on royal families to see we have myriad amounts of princes and princesses, who could easily be connected with certain kings/queens, and still not be the king or queen one hopes it to be.

Something to think about.

* On the issue of unknown royal sons of the 18th Dynasty, see

Dodson, A. 1990. Crown prince Djhutmose and the royal sons of the Eighteenth Dynasty. JEA 76: 87-96.

Other Reference:

Dodson, A. and D. Hilton. 2004. The Complete Royal Families of Ancient Egypt. London: Thames and Hudson.

HTH.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Doctoral Programme in Oriental Studies [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom