Discovery Channel will premiere Sunday, July 15 at 9 p.m. a documentary -- Secrets of Egypt’s Lost Queen -- about the excavation of a 3,500-year-old mummy recently identified as Hatshepsut, one of history’s few female pharaohs.
After stealing the throne from her stepson, Hatshepsut dressed herself as a man and declared herself pharaoh. Though she was largely erased from Egyptian history through the destruction of records, monuments and her tomb, Hatshepsut was thought to be more powerful than Cleopatra or Nefertiti.
The find was announced Wednesday in Cairo, Egypt, by Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities Dr. Zahi Hawass, who used computed tomography scanning and DNA testing to confirm the pharaoh’s identity. Discovery’s documentary tracks Hawass and his team as they explore the crypts of Egypt and contents of the Egyptian Museum.
Lost Queen was produced for Discovery by Brando Quilici Productions.
Applied Biosystems, a global provider of DNA-analysis technologies, and Discovery Quest, Discovery Channel’s initiative to support scientific research, enabled the construction of the first-ever ancient DNA testing facility located in the Cairo Museum in Egypt.
