第 77 期： Egypt: Nefertiti and the Lost Dynasty

It is one of Egypts enduring mysteries. What happened to Nefertiti and her husband, the pharaoh Akhenaten, the likely father of King Tut?

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The Valley of the Kings, a team of ___1____ is on the trail of Nefertiti and that lost Amarna dynasty. Led by Doctor Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities and Explorer-in-Residence for National Geographic, they’ve come to a dark and mysterious tomb known as KV35. Inside a small, side chamber, two mummies. They have been there for centuries ___2___. Some believe they were moved from their original resting place hidden away by priests to protect them from tomb raiders. Both of these mummies have at times been identified as Queen Nefertiti. Some have claimed that she is the body on the right, the so-called “Elder Lady”. But recently in press reports around the world, she’s been identified as the mummy on the left, known as the “Younger Lady”.
 
“Some  of scholars , they believe that this mummy is for Queen Nefertiti. If you’re a scientist, you can not announce a discovery unless you’re sure 100% that this is mummy for Queen Nefertiti. We’re now in the beginning of scientific research to find out for the first time through the ____3_____ that can go inside the mummy.”

Tonight, the team has come for answers. Their goal: to get the scientific evidence that will establish whether either of these mummies could be Nefertiti. It’s a ground-breaking investigation using the latest technology: a CT scan machine brought in by National Geographic specifically for this purpose -- 21st century diagnostics for a mystery 3, 000 years old. As part of the first set of CT scans ever performed on the royal mummies of Egypt, this ___4___technology allows scientists to look inside a body in unprecedented 3-dimensional detail without doing any harm. Doctor Hawass has called in two expert radiologists, Dr. Ashraf Selim and Dr. Hany Amer to help in the investigation.

“It is a mysterious mummy, but today maybe we’ll be able to find out exactly that this mummy is for Queen Nefertiti and maybe is not for the Queen.”

The idea of this so-called “Younger Lady” as Nefertiti has been a source of controversy in recent years. Some scholars made the claim based on several clues. The most important: a broken arm found in nearby wrappings, ___5___, the symbol of ultimate power in ancient Egypt, the sign of a ___6___or a queen. Other clues in the identification: ____7____. All seem to match the last known images of the queen. But many scientists have argued the case is purely circumstantial.

“My reaction when the news broke that Nefertiti had been discovered was complete rubbish. As far as I can see, it’s absolutely no possibility whatsoever that mummy could be Nefertiti.”
 
“There’s a lot of princesses at this time, probably a hundred. So it can be any of these princesses.”

Nefertiti wasn’t just any princess. To track her down, you have to understand who she was: one of the great icons of the world. Born into nobility, growing into a beauty, she was chosen by the Pharaoh Akhenaten to be his bride. Their love became the ___8___, literally carved into the stone of Egypt. They had six daughters together. According to some scholars, Akhenaten may have raised his love to a position of real power, not just wife and queen but eventually ____9____.

“Akhenaten wanted to present Nefertiti as somebody who was sharing power with him. There’re a few reliefs in which very unusually indeed she is shown smiting Egypt’s enemy as if she’s on the same military footing as her husband.” But whether or not they ruled together, both shared the same fate, disappearing into the sands of Amarna.