DNA Shows that KV55 Mummy Probably Not Akhenaten

Kate has reviewed the JAMA article and has come to a different view of the KV55 mummy than that proposed by the authors. Here’s the abstract, but the complete article is available at the above address.

The paper Ancestry and Pathology in King Tutankhamun’s Family by Hawass al. (Journal of American Medicine, 2010 – JAMA. 2010;303(7):638-647), states that the mummy in KV55 is “probably” Akhenaten – hereafter “the JAMA paper”. The media has accepted the attribution as affirmed fact, although the attribution has attracted considerable comment and debate with a number of writers questioning the forensic data. I believe, however, that the correct focus of dissent to the attribution should be the STR analysis which shows that the KV55 mummy is highly unlikely to be Akhenaten and that an alternative family tree is a better fit to the genetic findings of the Hawass study.