Following the recent interesting discussions regarding the Amarna period of Egyptian history, it semed that now may be prudent time to start another post re the mysterious tomb 55.In posting thuis, please note that the following information comes from both my website and book, and is therefore subject to copyright.
--------------------------
In 1907 the American Archaeologist, Theodore Davis claimed to have discovered Akhunaton’s tomb, known as Tomb 55, in the Valley of the Kings. The fact that it is in the Valley of the Kings though, rather than Amarna is by itself enough to raise questions. Excavations revealed two wooden doors at the entrance to the tomb bearing the name of Akhunaton’s Mother, Queen Tiye, lying on the floor, as if discarded in haste. Four alabaster jars were also found, intended to hold the internal organs of the tomb’s occupant. The name of the occupant appeared to have been deliberately removed from both the coffin and jars.
In ancient Egyptian belief, if someone was buried without their name, they could not enter the afterlife and existed simply in a no mans land, between worlds. It seems then, that the tomb was not just a final resting place, but also a prison. In the eyes of his or her contemporaries, the occupant must have committed a crime so heinous that even oblivion was insufficient punishment.
On the right, near an open niche lay a bier where the coffin had once stood. The bier had collapsed, throwing the coffin off, and jerking to the lid to one side, revealing the mummy within. When the bandages were unwrapped the arms were found to be embalmed in a pose normally reserved for Queens, with one folded across the chest, and the other by the side. The body was therefore tentatively identified as Queen Tiye, Akhunaton's mother. However, DNA tests on a lock of Tiye’s hair from the tomb of Tutankhamun have since disproved this theory.
It was then claimed that the mummy may be Akhunaton himself. However, when Sir Grafton Elliot Smith, Professor of Anatomy at the Cairo School of Medicine examined the bones, he claimed that they belonged to a male, aged around 25 years at the time of death, far too young for it to have been Akhunaton considering the length of his reign.
RG Harrison from the University of Liverpool re examined the remains in 1963. After extensive investigations, it was found that the skull bore a striking resemblance to that of Tutankhamun, believed by some to have been Akhunaton’s son. The measurements of the 2 skulls were found to be identical, leading Harrison to believe that the two bodies must have been related. The jury is still out as to exactly who the mummy is, but its male gender, combined with its age, would point very much to Smenkhare, Akhunaton’s Co Regent and successor, who mysteriously disappeared, together with his wife, Akhunaton's eldest daughter, Meritaten after a few years on the throne.
In the meantime Akhunaton’s intended tomb has been discovered at Amarna, cut from the rock during the sixth year of his reign. The outer part of the mummy casings was also found, with none of the internal casings that would have housed the mummy itself. An alabaster chest, complete with four compartments ready to receive the jars that housed the internal organs was also found, without the jars, and showing no signs of having been used. All the signs indicate that the tomb was never used. The sense I got during my recent visit to the tomb was completely devoid of any feeling or energy at all. It was almost like walking into a brand new building that never been used, which I most strange and a little disconcerting.
There are some who suggest that Smenkhare and Nefertiti were one and the same, due tot the similarity in their throne names. Given JoAnn Fletcher's theories re the possible identification of the mummy of Nefertiti, DNA tests comparing her find with the body in tomb 55 would I feel be very interesting.
-------------------------------------------------
June
RE: Tomb 55
If Smenkhare and Nefertiti were one and the same that would mean that person was a cross dresser, hiding their true sex from the public. The DNA test possibly may show Nefertiti was Smenkhare's daughter?
RE: Tomb 55
Very much doubt it, as Smenkhare was thought to be a young man in his 20's, whereas Nefertiti, who remember gace birth to 6 children, must have been in her late 30's at least by the time she died, if not older. Whoever it is in tomb 55, it is definately a young man, no older than 25, which completely rules out Nefertiti or any of her daughters. The cross dressing point is interesting though, as I have always thought that the strange statues of Akhunaton depicted his own internal conflict in a way, and were meant to show that both men and women have male and female constituents to their personality, which need to be integrated and worked with.
See my earlier post on this here.
June