posted
Queen Nefertari, the Royal Spouse of Pharaoh Ramses II: A Multidisciplinary Investigation of the Mummified Remains Found in Her Tomb (QV66) Michael E. Habicht,1
Abstract Queen Nefertari, the favourite Royal Consort of Pharaoh Ramses II (Ancient Egypt, New Kingdom, 19th Dynasty c. 1250 BC) is famous for her beautifully decorated tomb in the Valley of the Queens. Her burial was plundered in ancient times yet still many objects were found broken in the debris when the tomb was excavated. Amongst the found objects was a pair of mummified legs. They came to the Egyptian Museum in Turin and are henceforth regarded as the remains of this famous Queen, although they were never scientifically investigated. The following multidisciplinary investigation is the first ever performed on those remains. The results (radiocarbon dating, anthropology, paleopathology, genetics, chemistry and Egyptology) all strongly speak in favour of an identification of the remains as Nefertari’s, although different explanations—albeit less likely—are considered and discussed. The legs probably belong to a lady, a fully adult individual, of about 40 years of age. The materials used for embalming are consistent with Ramesside mummification traditions and indeed all objects within the tomb robustly support the burial as of Queen Nefertari.
DNA analysis
Mitochondrial sequences were only obtained from Primer Set 3, and only from the left fibula (bone) and the upper right (bone and soft tissue) samples. All samples showed multiple mtDNA sequences, with the soft and bone tissue from the upper right sampling area showing different sequences from each other. This indicated that there are at least two contamination events in these samples. The sexing assay showed a weak amplification of the X-chromosomal target in the left fibula bone sample (twice) and the left femur soft tissue sample (once), and one strong signal in the upper right soft tissue sample. The clear evidence of allelic drop-out, together with the evidence of contamination from the mtDNA data, means that no conclusions can be drawn on these data. The inappropriate genetic behaviour exhibited in these samples (for example, strong amplification of nuclear DNA with no mtDNA amplification as seen in the upper right soft tissue sample) is further evidence that these samples are not suitable for further DNA analysis.
posted