In side chamber Jc of KV35, the Younger Lady mummy and two others were discovered. Again, priests from the Third Intermediate Period placed this cache of New Kingdom mummies that had been stolen there. The Elder Lady and a young boy’s mummy were discovered next to her. The Senior Woman has now been distinguished as Sovereign Tiye, spouse of Amenhotep III, and the little fellow is thought to either be Ruler Tuthmose or Webensenu.

None of these three mummies had any clothing on and were not in a coffin. Other mummies in this cache were identified by linen dockets or by being found in coffins with labels on them. Naturally, this adds to the mystery surrounding how these three mummies were treated in contrast to the rest of the cache. The More youthful Woman is additionally called KV35YL or 61072, the last option of which is her promotion number at the Cairo Exhibition hall.

Mummy

Loret, the archaeologist who found the tomb, initially thought the Younger Lady’s mummy belonged to a man. The mummy’s shaven head, which was typical of male Egyptians, is likely what led to this error. Later, when the mummy was inspected by G. Elliot Smith, he discovered that it belonged to a woman.

When she passed away, she was between the ages of 25 and 35. She was 5 foot 2 inches tall and very slender. Although only a few of the wounds were examined by postmortem, the mummy is in very poor condition.

Face-based injuries are the only perimortem (before death) injuries. The More youthful Woman has a vast injury on the left half of her mouth and cheek. The embalmers placed a roll of linen that had been soaked in resin inside the wound, which is missing some fractured facial bones. Scholars know that this wound probably would have killed someone, but they don’t know how it got there. It might have been the consequence of a weighty article hitting her face, the More youthful Woman getting kicked in the face by a creature like a pony, or a chariot mishap. Additionally, there are theories of deliberate violence, such as her ax attack.

The looters are to blame for the other injuries. In the front of her skull, there is a small oval hole where bone fragments were discovered. Because it has shrunk inside her skull, it would appear that there was no attempt to embalm or remove her brain. Additionally, almost all of her chest’s front wall is missing. Her heart was left in place, and it can still be seen in her chest. During the embalming process, the lungs were removed through two holes in the diaphragm. Additionally, she carried a lot of linen on her torso.

Her pelvis was broken, her legs harmed, and the front portion of both of her feet are absent. She likewise had a twofold piercing to her left side ear cartilage. At last, her right arm is absent. KV35 had two severed arms that were compared to the body. The one with the straight arm would have covered her chest and was bent at the elbow. Right away, the bowed arm was accepted to be hers, however being too lengthy corresponding to the connected arm was demonstrated. In this way, it is accepted that the other straight arm which is of equivalent size is the matching arm.

Identity

The identity of this mummy has been the subject of numerous speculations. G. Elliot Smith accepted that she lived during the rule of Amenhotep II, yet large numbers of the later hypotheses push this toward the rule of Amenhotep III and his child.

In 1999, Marianne Luban proposed the theory that the Younger Lady was Queen Nefertiti. Since then, this theory has become its own thing. She primarily based this on the very similar measurements between the mummy and Nefertiti’s statue. She also mentioned the double ear piercing, the shaved head, and the impression of a headband on her forehead, all of which could indicate a royal mummy. You can check out her piece here!

Joanne Fletcher upheld this case in 2003 calling attention to overall the very proof that Luban did. In fact, she was permitted to examine the Younger Lady, which is when one of her detached arms was discovered wrapped in bandages by her legs. However, the flexed arm in question most certainly did not belong to the Younger Lady, as previously stated. The fact that female royal mummies have one arm flexed over the chest and one arm down was used by Fletcher as evidence that the mummy was royal. In any case, this is definitely not a conclusive component as there are illustrious female mummies who have the two arms down.

Dennis Forbes suggested that Sitamun, a daughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye, was the mummy. This hypothesis depended on the two different mummies found with the More youthful Woman, the Senior Woman, and the little fellow. Again, the Elder Lady has been identified as Tiye, Sitamun’s mother; Prince Tuthmose, Sitamun’s brother, is one of the main theories regarding the identity of the young boy’s mummy.

DNA Tests

The mummy’s DNA was tested extensively for the other theories. These were carried out for the Family of King Tutankhamun Project at the Cairo Museum between 2007 and 2009. We learned from these results that this woman was the daughter of Tiye and Amenhotep III, the full sister of the mummy in KV55, which is probably Akhenaten, and the mother of King Tutankhamun!!

In light of the DNA results (which you can peruse more about here), most researchers accept that the mummy isn’t Nefertiti or Kiya, one more spouse of Akhenaten who had been viewed as Tutankhamun’s mom. This is on the grounds that neither one of the ladies was at any point alluded to as the Ruler’s Sister or Lord’s Little girl. Even after they got married, they would have continued to use these titles. Therefore, Nefertiti and Kiya have been excluded as potential daughters of Amenhotep III and Tiye because they are never depicted with these titles.

Amenhotep III’s three daughters, Sitamun, Isis, and Hennuttaneb, have been considered but also ruled out due to their titles. At the end of their father’s reign, these three daughters were united in marriage. If Akhenaten had wanted to marry them, they would have been his primary wives because of that prestigious title. That is, they would have presided over Nefertiti, who was not a royal, which, as far as we know, did not occur. Nebptah and Beketaten are likely candidates because they are two other daughters of Amenhotep III who were not married to their father.

However, despite the fact that she was a king’s daughter, sister, wife, and mother, she does not appear to have been a well-known figure during her lifetime. No engravings, reliefs, or sculptures have even been found of her. Nothing in Lord Tutankhamun’s immense burial place even references her. All of the evidence indicates that she was Akhenaten’s minor wife and that she passed away before he succeeded to the throne. Additionally, there is a small chance that this woman was not married to Akhenaten but rather a member of his harem.

Facial Reconstruction and Controversy

In 2018, the mummy of the More youthful Woman was highlighted on the seventh episode of the fifth time of Endeavor Obscure, named “Extraordinary Ladies of Antiquated Egypt.” The Younger Lady was believed by Josh Gates, the host, and his guests to be Nefertiti’s mummy, a belief that is still held by some scholars. A reconstruction of the Younger Lady’s appearance was presented by utilizing the preserved remains, contemporary technology, and artistic skill. The bust was made by French paleo-specialists Elisabeth Daynes.

Again, the reconstruction wore Nefertiti’s recognizable crown and broad collar because they thought the mummy was Nefertiti. The reconstruction was met with numerous disagreements, including the contentious decision to portray the mummy as Nefertiti after DNA tests had most likely ruled her out.

She had a lot of people upset because her skin tone was too light. Many were concerned that she was being whitewashed, but the artists claimed that it was compared to modern Egyptian skin tones. A few researchers concurred, however different researchers brought up that there would have been an extraordinary combination of races in the regal collections of mistresses, including Caucasians. However, the Younger Lady would undoubtedly have been darker in color.

It is claimed that the face matches the Younger Lady’s face forensically, with the exception of the royal regalia and her skin color.