In what is the most important find in Egypt’s Valley of the Kings since the discovery of King Tutankhamun, Discovery Channel’s Secrets of Egypt’s Lost Queen exclusively reveals archaeological, forensic and scientific evidence identifying a 3,500-year-old mummy as Hatshepsut, the queen who would be king of Egypt.

A pharaoh of the famed 18th dynasty, she was Egypt's greatest female ruler and had more power than either Cleopatra or Nefertiti. But, when her rule ended, she and her name disappeared into obscurity.

For years, Dr Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, has been investigating this mystery. Hunting through subterranean crypts and burial chambers beneath the sands of Egypt, Dr Hawass and his team narrowed their search to just four mummies from thousands of unidentified corpses. 

The team conducted forensic analysis through cutting-edge CT scans which produced detailed 3D images of the mummies. For the first time ever, the very latest ancient-DNA testing technology has been used to analyse Egypt's royals. This means that we now have a glimpse of the DNA of the pharaohs and at long last we have definitive answers in the case of the missing queen.

Hers is one of the strangest stories in ancient history. Hatshepsut stole the throne from her young step-son, dressed like a man - even wearing the false beard of kingship - and then called herself not queen but 'pharaoh'. At its height, her power and influence stretched way beyond Egypt - until she vanished. It's not just that Hatshepsut died mysteriously. It's that someone systematically erased every sign of her existence: her name was scratched from the records, her monuments were torn down. Even her body disappeared.

Dr Hawass now hopes that Hatshepsut’s mummy will shed light on her intriguing life and mysterious death.

Play
Put the pieces of the puzzle together to see Hatshepsut's statue