Tomb 55

Tomb 55 was discovered in 1905 by archeologists while working in Valley of the Kings in Egypt. Though the tomb was from a period when burials were highly ritualized and defined, both the tomb’s history and the identification of its single occupant have been problematic. The coffin was made for a woman but altered for a man and a beard was added. The golden death mask was purposely broken, making identification difficult. DNA testing shows the mummy is related to Tutankhamen, but also that it was a young man in his early twenties, ruling out Tut’s father. This could though be the mysterious Smenkhkare, who also, possibly, was Tut’s father, or perhaps the uncle, of Tutankhamen.