Not the Healthiest Clan
Good health did not bless Hatshepsut's family. Tuthmosis II was physically weak, and Neferure, Hatshepsut and
Tuthmosis II's daughter, died at about 16 years of age.
Another ailment — a rather disgusting skin disease on the face and neck — might have added
to Hatshepsut's health problems.
"We found numerous tiny spots within Hatshepsut and the Tuthmose family which could indicate a skin disease," Selim said.
However, Selim believes that the spots were more likely caused by the mummification process than dermatosis.
Certain aspects of the resins could be responsible for the eruptions found on the skins of Thutmose I, Hatshepsut's father, Thutmose II, her half-brother and husband, and Amenhotep II, Thutmose I's grandson.
One thing, however, is certain: Hatshepsut had cancer, cancer that had metastasized.
"The type of cancer we discovered is affecting the pelvic bone, specifically the left iliac bone. From its location, character and the few tiny foci of bone rarefaction in the spine, we concluded that this tumor is a metastatic deposit rather than a primary tumor," Selim said.
Though bone cancer could not be totally ruled out, Selim said he believed it was more likely that another kind of tumor spread to the bone.
"It could have been a tumor affecting the lung, breast or kidney," Selim said.
Whatever the tumor's origins, it is very likely that Queen Hatshepsut spent her last days in pain.
"A bone tumor is certainly painful. The picture emerging from the mummy is not only unflattering, but would indicate rather poor health. But with the data at our disposal, I think any diagnosis is merely speculative," Gino Fornaciari, professor of forensic anthropology at the University of Pisa, told Discovery News.
Experts hope that DNA testing on the 3,000-year-old mummy and mummies from Hatshepsut's family will confirm her identity.
The tests will take place at a new DNA testing facility located outside the Cairo Museum in Egypt, funded by the Discovery Channel.
