'Find of century' for Egyptology

Egyptologists say they have identified the 3,000-year-old mummy of Hatshepsut, Egypt's most powerful female ruler. Egypt's antiquities chief Zahi Hawass made the official announcement at a packed news conference in Cairo. It is being billed as the biggest archaeological find in Egypt since the 1922 discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb. Archaeologists hope the mummy, which has lain unrecognised for decades, will yield clues about the mystery of her death and subsequent disappearance. Mr Hawass has set up a DNA lab near the museum with an international team of scientists to verify the identification. The study was funded by the US television channel Discovery which is to broadcast a documentary on the subject in July. An important piece of the evidence is said to be that the mummy has a missing tooth, and the gap matches exactly an existing relic, a preserved tooth engraved with Hatshepsut's name.

Some archaeologists have expressed scepticism about the possibility of using DNA technology to identify the queen."It's a very difficult process to obtain DNA from a mummy," US molecular biologist Scott Woodward was quoted as saying by AP news agency. "To make a claim as to a relationship, you need other individuals from which you have obtained DNA, to make a comparison between the DNA sequences." DNA is the molecule that contains genetic information in all organisms and can be used to establish family relationships.