Hawass: One of the two mummies at the Valley of Kings could be to Nefertiti

CAIRO – 2 November 2019: Acclaimed Egyptian Egyptologist Zahi Hawass announced in London on the side-lines of Tutankhamun exhibition that Queen Nefertiti could be one of the mummies discovered at the Valley of Kings.

Hawass added that using the modern DNA techniques" we can now if Queen Nefertiti is one of the mummies discovered in the Valley of the Kings.


"Tutankhamun: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh" exhibition in London houses more than 150 original artifacts from the golden pharaoh tomb, 60 of which are travelling out of Egypt for the first and the last time before they return for permanent display in the Grand Egyptian Museum.

Minister of Antiquities Khaled Anany, Ambassador in London Tarek Adel and Hawass participated in the official opening ceremony, which also attended by many British officials, public figures, foreign ambassadors, Egyptologists, academics.

Anany as well gave a lecture in the Egyptian Cultural center in London about the latest archaeological discoveries, projects and museums in Egypt.

This lecture came on the side-lines of Anany visit to London to witness the opening of King Tut exhibition which moved to the British capital, London, on November 1, in its third stop after Paris and Los Angeles.

London's main streets, squares, metro and train stations are decorated with pictures of the Golden King's face and some of his belongings.


Walls of shops, buildings and telephone booths are also adorned with banners about Tutankhamun's exhibition, which will be in London after an absence of nearly 12 years, as the last exhibition of King Tut's possessions took place in London in 2007.



The exhibition "Tutankhamun: The Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh" came to an end in Paris on the evening of Sept. 22, breaking a turn-out record in the history of cultural exhibitions in France.

The exhibition was visited by 1,423,170 visitors in the past six months since it was opened by the minister of antiquities on March 23, 2019 at the Grand Hall de la Villette.

The French and international newspapers pointed out that this exhibition and other temporary foreign exhibitions held by Egypt abroad are the best publicity for Egypt, its ancient civilization and unique treasures.

The minister of antiquities explained that in 1967, when France hosted the Tutankhamun exhibition for the first time, it attracted 1,240,975 visitors.

Today, 52 years later, the Golden King's exhibition attracted more than 1.4 million visitors, which indicates how passionate the French people and the visitors of France are towards the ancient Egyptian civilization.

In addition, the minister stated that despite the success of the exhibitions, they allowed the visitors to see only a small simple portion of the treasures of the Golden King.

The minister of antiquities affirmed that this exhibition is an invitation to attract and encourage millions of enthusiastic visitors to Egypt, to see and enjoy its great and unique civilization.

"Tutankhamun: The Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh" includes 150 artifacts from the collections of the young king, including a number of gilt ushabti statues, wooden boxes, canopic pots, a gilded wooden Ka statue and alabaster pots.

It is worth mentioning that acclaimed archaeologist Zahi Hawass has finished the script for Tutankhamun Opera, set to debut in the opening ceremony of the Grand Egyptian Museum in late 2020.

Hawass announced that one of the most important scenes in Tutankhamun Opera revolves around Nefertiti's attempt to kill Tutankhamun and snatch the throne for one of her six daughters.

Composed by Zamboni, the opera's score will be completed this December, according to Hawass.

Hawass previously added that November 4, 2022 will be the centenary of the discovery of Tutankhamun tomb, who is an important king to the whole world not Egypt only.

Hawass stated that the DNA tests will reveal a lot of information about the death of Tutankhamun and that he will announce to the whole world in 2020 how the golden king died.

In his interview with the Italian channel Italia 1, Hawass revealed a number of important facts about the family of the Golden Pharaoh; his father is King Akhenaten and the mummy of his mother is located at tomb number 35 where the grandmother of Tutankhamun, Tiye, was buried.

Hawass added that Tutankhamun was suffering from lack of blood reaching the feet, flatfoot and malaria.

Tutankhamun was born in the 18th Dynasty, around 1341 B.C., and was the 12th pharaoh of that period.

Tutankhamun did not accomplish much himself; he was placed on the throne when he was a child, and Egypt’s prosperous era was beginning to decline with the rise of Pharaoh Akhenaten and his new cult.

Sir Howard Carter, British archaeologist and Egyptologist, had made it his life’s quest to find the tomb of King Tutankhamun.

When Carter had begun to work in Egypt in 1891, most of the documented Pharaohs had their tombs discovered. One, however, proved to be elusive; King Tutankhamun, whose resting place had yet to be found and who Egyptologists knew very little about.

With the end of World War I, Carter made it his goal to be the first to uncover the tomb of Tutankhamun. Carter had worked in Egypt for 31 years since he was 17, using his skills as an artist to copy inscriptions from walls.

He would then become appointed inspector-general of monuments in Upper Egypt. In 1907, he started to work for George Herbert, the fifth earl of Carnarvon, who would aid him in his quest to uncover the lost tomb of Tutankhamun.

Carter was certainly dedicated, spending massive amounts of money and time in order to track down where the tomb might lie.

With Lord Carnarvon as his sponsor, he began working earnestly at excavating the Valley of Kings. Alas, even after five years of work, Carter wasn’t able to report back on anything substantial.

He refused to give up however, tirelessly working to fulfil his quest, and soon enough, Carter would be rewarded beyond his imagination.

The discovery of steps beneath the sand on November 1, 1922 was a breakthrough for Carter. At long last, his tireless search for Tutankhamun would finally bear fruit.

Carter announced the discovery on November 6, and it took three weeks until he could begin work on excavating into the tomb.

Workers exposed all of the steps and the sealed doorway into the tomb, which at one point had been broken in by tomb robbers but resealed again, leading to hope that the contents had not been plundered.

Carter finally entered on November 25, finding evidence of resealed holes but noting that it had likely been thousands of years since anyone had entered again.

When Carter made a hole inside the sealed door and peeked inside, he was left astounded. Gold flooded his senses, and animal statues, rich perfumes, piles of ebony, childhood toys and the Pharaoh himself adorned the room alongside countless other treasures.

It was a bounty of riches the likes of which had never been seen before. Carter couldn’t have anticipated this finding in his wildest dreams.