King Tut's Wet Nurse May Be His Sister Meritaten Afterall

Archaeologists announced that Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun's wet nurse could actually be his sister Meritaten after all, which is reviving speculations on the identity of King Tut's mother. Researchers have confirmed that pharaoh Akhenaten was Tutankhamun's father through DNA tests, however, his mother's identify has always been a mystery for archeologists.

Egyptian officials and French archaeologist Alain Zivie made an announcement of their findings yesterday. Zivie, an Egyptologist had discovered the tomb in 1996 in Saqqara, which is 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Cairo. Maia was the wet nurse of Tutankhamun whose mummy was found in 1922 in the Valley of Kings in Luxor along with thousands of artifacts

"Maia is none other than princess Meritaten, the sister or half-sister of Tutankhamun and the daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti," Zivie said in a news release.

Zivie made his speculations based on the carvings of Tutankhamun and Maia on the walls of Maia's tomb, which had similar carvings that were in Akhenaten's tomb. Zivie claimed that Tutankhamun and Maia seemed quite similar, where they have the same chin, eyes and family traits.

"The carvings show Maia sitting on the royal throne and he is sitting on her" lap, Zivie said.

Tutankhamun died over 3,000 years ago at age 19 after ruling Egypt for nine years. In 2010, a DNA test confirmed that Tutankhamun was Akhenaten's son. Akhenaten's tomb has carvings showing the death of princess Maketaten, who was the eldest daughter of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, according to Zivie.

"In these scenes there is a woman who is breast-feeding a baby, and this woman shown as a wet nurse is princess Meritaten, the eldest daughter of Akhenaten," Zivie said.

Meritaten's mummy has not been found, however it is possible that Meritaten's mummy is in a secret chamber in Tutankhamun's tomb, according to Mamduh al-Damati, Egypt's Antiquities Minister.

Tutankhamun's tomb is currently being scanned by archaeologists, who believe that it contains a secret chamber that also holds the Queen Nefertiti's remains, which has not been found.

"All these possibilities exist. Step by step we will be able to better understand the time of king Tutankhamun," said Nicholas Reeves, British archaeologist who is involved in the search. 

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