Egypt
AP News
This article focuses on the identification of the mummy in KV55 as Akhenaten and also looks at why Akhenaten was more important in ancient Egypt than Tutankhamun. Here's an extract.
- More Re Tutankhamun Dna
ABC News International (Paul Schemm) Four page story. Now experts are planning more tests to uncover further details about Akhenaten's royal family. The new attention could also give a push to a planned new Akhenaten museum that will showcase his...
- More Re Jama Paper On Tutankhamun
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) A useful summary of some of the findings. Journalists from across the globe flocked yesterday morning to the foyer of the Egyptian Museum, desperate to catch a glimpse of the mummies of King Tutankhamun's parents and...
- In The Field: Interview With Barry Kemp Re Amarna
Heritage Key (Malcolm Jack) “There is no other site like it,” states the introductory paragraph on the website of the Amarna Project – the body which, since 2005, has been responsible for excavations and research at Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived...
- Yet More Re Akhenaten's Possible Androgyny
This story seems to have caught the imagination of many of the online world. Here are two thankfully coherent summaries of the main details (see the pages for more details): Suite 101 (Stan Parchin) As reported by the Associated Press on May 2, 2008,...
- New Study Shatters Earlier Picture Of A Pampered Society
MSNBC New evidence of a sick, deprived population working under harsh conditions contradicts earlier images of wealth and abundance from the art records of the ancient Egyptian city of Tell el-Amarna, a study has found. Studies on the remains of ordinary...
Egypt
More re DNA studies - focusing on Akhenaten
AP News
This article focuses on the identification of the mummy in KV55 as Akhenaten and also looks at why Akhenaten was more important in ancient Egypt than Tutankhamun. Here's an extract.
The discovery of Akhenaten's remains lay to rest longtime speculation over his physical appearance. Royal statues of the time show an effeminate figure with womanly hips, elongated skull and fleshy lips - leading to speculation he suffered from any number of rare diseases that distorted his body.
But the mummy and DNA tests showed a normally shaped man without genetic conditions that might given him both masculine and feminine features.
"It ought to dampen down some of the more dramatic interpretations," said Barry Kemp, who has been working on the Amarna excavations since 1977. "But people do love a good story."
Jerome Rose, of the University of Arkansas, who has been working on the site with Kemp, said the discovery "makes our work at Amarna of greater interest."
What the discovery does not resolve, however, is the mystery of how Akhenaten died. Unlike Tutankhamun's well preserved mummy, which showed he suffered from congenital defects and malaria, Akhenaten's remains are little more than bones with no soft tissues to provide clues to his death.
In fact, the difference in preservation between his skeleton and all the other royal mummies could have been due to his different religious beliefs or animosity by those burying him.
- More Re Tutankhamun Dna
ABC News International (Paul Schemm) Four page story. Now experts are planning more tests to uncover further details about Akhenaten's royal family. The new attention could also give a push to a planned new Akhenaten museum that will showcase his...
- More Re Jama Paper On Tutankhamun
Al Ahram Weekly (Nevine El-Aref) A useful summary of some of the findings. Journalists from across the globe flocked yesterday morning to the foyer of the Egyptian Museum, desperate to catch a glimpse of the mummies of King Tutankhamun's parents and...
- In The Field: Interview With Barry Kemp Re Amarna
Heritage Key (Malcolm Jack) “There is no other site like it,” states the introductory paragraph on the website of the Amarna Project – the body which, since 2005, has been responsible for excavations and research at Tell el-Amarna, the short-lived...
- Yet More Re Akhenaten's Possible Androgyny
This story seems to have caught the imagination of many of the online world. Here are two thankfully coherent summaries of the main details (see the pages for more details): Suite 101 (Stan Parchin) As reported by the Associated Press on May 2, 2008,...
- New Study Shatters Earlier Picture Of A Pampered Society
MSNBC New evidence of a sick, deprived population working under harsh conditions contradicts earlier images of wealth and abundance from the art records of the ancient Egyptian city of Tell el-Amarna, a study has found. Studies on the remains of ordinary...