Hawass on KV64, pyramids and other hopes for 2011

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Thanks to Kate Phizackerley's News from the Valley of the Kings blog for this link. Rossella Lorenzi (Discovery News) interviews Zahi Hawass about excavation work being carried out at the moment and his hopes for 2011. The sound quality is poor, mainly due to the context of the environment which was a busy room full of people. There's a helpful summary on the Discovery News website.

Exciting news is that satellite images have revealed the foundations of a pyramid buried in the sand at Dashur, currently under excavation and thought by the excavators to belong to the 13th Dynasty.

One of the suggestions he makes is that the yet-to-be-excavated tomb named KV64 in the Valley of the Kings will emerge as the tomb of Ankhesenamun, a daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti and possibly half sister and wife to Tutankhamun. Here's an excerpt from the Discovery News website:

Born as Ankhesenpaaten around 1348 BC, she was the third daughter of the Pharaoh Akhenaten and Nefertiti.

She probably changed her name into Ankhesenamun when she became the Great Royal Wife of Tutankhamun, most likely her half brother, at the age of 13.

Recent DNA tests have established that the two female fetuses buried in the tomb of Tutankhamun were most likely his offspring.

The mother is not yet genetically identified, although the data obtained from KV21A, one of two late 18th dynasty queens buried in tomb KV 21, pointed to this mummy as the mother of the fetuses.

Unfortunately, the researchers were not able to identify her as Ankhesenamun.

If KV64 is indeed Ankhesenamun’s tomb, new light might be shed on the family lineage of King Tut, especially if the Queen’s mummy is found.

“I hope this will be an intact tomb for Queen Ankhesenamun,” Hawass said.