Hawass explained this action in an article in the newspaper Al-Ahram: 'There are more than 300 foreign expeditions currently working in Egypt, and they all follow the same guidelines. Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) labeled the idea ' pure fiction.' Moreover, he disinvited Fletcher from future work in Egypt. The discussions will surely continue to rage, but there can be no doubt in the mind of any Egyptologist or educated Egyptology buff that the identification of the mummy in question as Nefertiti is balderdash (good manners prevent me from using a stronger term).' Susan James's article in the fall issue was a good summary of the evidence, most of which flat-out contradicts the conclusions drawn by Dr. And, following the broadcast, Barbara Mertz wrote to the same journal (winter 2003-2004) about 'the notorious television special which should have been titled 'Nefertiti Re-invented.' It surely reached new heights-or depths-of misinformation, sensationalism and really tacky costuming. James-who had earlier proposed another mummy might be Nefertiti-picked apart Fletcher's evidence in the pages of the journal KMT (fall 2003 issue). Few Egyptologists accepted that the mummy, found in a sideroom of the tomb of Amenhotep II is that of Nefertiti, the wife of the late 18th Dynasty pharaoh Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten.

While studying Egyptian royal wigs, she read a brief mention of an unidentified and mummified body, discovered long ago and believed to belong to an Egyptian of little importance.to the astonishment of her colleagues she identified this body as the missing remains of Queen Nefertiti.'Īuthor Joann Fletcher's identification probably did astonish her colleagues when it was announced in a June 9, 2003, Discovery Channel press release. Joann Fletcher has answered the questions countless researchers before her could not. Here's how the publisher sums it up: 'After years of intense research, Dr.

The identification was promoted in the Discovery Channel's two-hour documentary 'Nefertiti Resurrected.' According to a Washington Post article, 5.5 million viewers tuned in to the documentary when it aired August 17, 2003, putting it in the top ten programs ever for the cable channel.ĭue out in October, The Search for Nefertiti: The True Story of an Amazing Discovery (William Morrow & Co., $25.95) is the American edition of a companion book to the documentary. Last year, the public was hit by a media barrage touting an amazing Egyptological find: a long-neglected mummy was none other than the famous queen Nefertiti.

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