The Younger Lady is the common name for an ancient Egyptian mummy found in tomb KV35 in the Valley of the Kings by archaeologist Victor Loret in 1898. This mummy is also labeled as KV35YL ("YL" meaning "Younger Lady") and 61072. It is now displayed in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. DNA analysis confirmed that this mummy is the mother of Pharaoh Tutankhamun and the daughter of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and his Great Royal Wife, Tiye. Earlier ideas that the mummy was Nefertiti were later proven incorrect because Nefertiti was not given the title "King's daughter" unless this mummy was a cousin of Akhenaten, not his sister. Egyptologists Zahi Hawass and Martin Bommas proposed that the Younger Lady might be Beketaten, the youngest daughter of Queen Tiye and Amenhotep III and the mother of Tutankhamun.
Other researchers questioned this identification because DNA damage and inbreeding during the late 18th dynasty could have made some test results unclear. They suggested the Younger Lady might instead be a granddaughter of Amenhotep III and Tiye, not their daughter.
Discovery
The mummy was discovered next to two other mummies in KV35: a young boy who died at about 10 years old and is believed to be Webensenu, and an older woman identified as Tiye through recent DNA tests related to Tutankhamun's family. The three mummies were found together in a small room near the main part of Amenhotep II's tomb. They were lying naked, side by side, and their identities were unknown at the time. All three mummies had been heavily damaged by thieves from long ago.
Description of the mummy
Dr. Grafton Elliot Smith studied the mummy during his survey of ancient royal mummies in the early 1900s. He noticed the body was a woman, not a man as previously believed by Loret and others. He thought this mistake happened because the mummy’s head was shaved. The body was measured to be 1.58 meters (5 feet 2 inches) tall. Based on the fusion of the iliac crest and the presence of unerupted wisdom teeth, he estimated the woman was no older than 25 when she died. CT scans later suggested an age range of 25 to 35 years based on the condition of the epiphyseal union and the closure of the cranial sutures.
There is a small oval-shaped hole, 3.8 by 3 centimeters (1.5 by 1.2 inches), on the front of the skull. The hole has sharp, beveled, and wavy edges. Bone fragments are inside the skull. These findings, along with no signs of healing or sclerosis, indicate the injury occurred after death. The skull contains her dried brain and dura mater. No embalming material was found inside the cranial cavity, which is unusual because other late Eighteenth Dynasty mummies show evidence of brain removal. Linen packs were placed near her eyes, and packing material was found in her right cheek and mid-face.
The mummy has a large wound on the left side of her mouth and cheek. This wound, which also damaged part of her jaw, was initially thought to be caused by tomb robbers. However, a 2003 study by a team from the University of York, led by Joann Fletcher, and CT scans from The Egyptian Mummy Project showed the injury occurred before death. The wound affected her cheek, left maxillary sinus, alveolar process, and part of her jaw. No healing is visible. Many of her facial bones are missing, and a resin-treated linen pack was placed over the wound, suggesting the injury happened before mummification. Researchers believe the injury was fatal and caused by a heavy object hitting her face. Some, like Hawass, think it was accidental, possibly from an animal kick, while others, like Hermann Schögl, suggest a chariot accident. Ashraf Selim believes the injury was deliberate, and Julian Heath thinks it was caused by an axe blow.
The woman is missing several teeth due to her facial injury, one of which is visible inside her mouth. Her upper wisdom teeth have not erupted, and her teeth show no signs of wear or misalignment.
The front wall of her chest was damaged by ancient tomb robbers, creating a large hole. Her heart remained in place and is still visible. The diaphragm had two holes to remove her lungs. Her internal organs were removed through an incision in the left inguinal region, measuring 56 by 135 millimeters (2.2 by 5.3 inches). The incision was oval-shaped and gaping. The torso was packed with resin-treated linen fibers. A resin-treated pack was placed in the pelvis, and the pelvic floor was open and covered with resin. This may have been used to remove internal organs during mummification, possibly an example of perineal evisceration. Subcutaneous filling was found at the back of her right hip. Her pelvis has postmortem fractures, and both legs are damaged, with the front halves of her feet missing.
Don Brothwell noted a possible puncture or stab wound below her left breast. However, no photos support this claim.
The mummy’s left arm extends beside her body with her hand over her left hip. Her right arm was broken off near the shoulder, likely by tomb robbers. The break has no signs of healing. The missing right arm caused a debate among researchers. Two severed arms were found in KV35, and one was thought to belong to the Younger Lady. One arm was bent with a clenched fist, and the other was straight. Royal Egyptian women were often positioned with one arm bent and the other straight, with the left arm typically bent. Ashraf Selim compared the arms to the mummy’s left hand and found the bent arm was too long and had different bone density. The straight arm matched in length and bone density, so it was likely hers. The newly identified right arm has two breaks, one in the upper arm and one at the wrist, and the hand is missing.
The Younger Lady has a double-pierced left earlobe, and her right earlobe is damaged. Pierced ears were common among New Kingdom women, including royals, so this detail does not help identify her. A wig found in KV35 could have belonged to her, but it cannot confirm her identity. Some researchers linked the wig to Nefertiti due to its style, but wigs were common and do not provide definitive identification.
Identity
There has been much discussion about who the Younger Lady was. When the body was first found, Victor Loret thought it belonged to a young man. Later, Smith examined the mummy and discovered it was a woman. Smith believed she was part of the royal family but thought she lived during the time of Amenhotep II.
In 1999, Marianne Luban, an independent researcher, wrote online that the Younger Lady might be Nefertiti. This idea was repeated in 2003 by Fletcher. DNA tests later showed that this woman was the mother of Tutankhamun. The tests also revealed she was a full sister to her husband, the KV55 mummy, and that both were children of Amenhotep III and Tiye. These family connections make it less likely the Younger Lady was Nefertiti or Akhenaten’s wife Kiya, as no known records give titles like "King’s sister" or "King’s Daughter" to either of them. It is also unlikely she was Sitamun, Iset, or Henuttaneb, because if Akhenaten had married any of them, they would have been the main queen of Egypt instead of Nefertiti. The report suggests the mummy may be Nebetah or Beketaten, daughters of Amenhotep III who are not known to have married their father, though he had eight daughters with Tiye.
Some Egyptologists still believe the Younger Lady could be Nefertiti or Kiya, but Nefertiti was not Akhenaten’s sister. Some researchers think the DNA results show three generations of first cousins married, not a full sibling relationship. No son of Nefertiti is recorded.
Identifying the Younger Lady as Akhenaten’s sister caused some doubt because none of his sisters are known to have held important roles in his court. Joyce Tyldesley suggests the Younger Lady and the KV55 mummy might be full siblings and grandchildren of Amenhotep III and Tiye, not their children. Kara Cooney believes it is unlikely Nefertiti was Tutankhamun’s mother or that the Younger Lady was Akhenaten’s sister. Instead, she suggests Akhenaten may have fathered Tutankhamun with one of his daughters, Meritaten or Meketaten, which would explain the DNA evidence of inbreeding.
Juan Antonio Belmonte notes that while the Younger Lady could be Meritaten, this seems unlikely. If she were a daughter of Amenhotep III, a full sister and wife of Akhenaten, and the mother of Tutankhamun, she would not appear to have been a major figure in her time. No carvings, statues, or writings have been found that are dedicated to her. The tomb of Tutankhamun has items from his life, but none mention his mother. This contrasts with other influential mothers of pharaohs, like Tiye, who had significant roles during their sons’ reigns. It seems Tutankhamun may not have had a mother who held the title of "king’s mother" during his rule, which might mean she died before he became king. Willeke Wendrich thinks the Younger Lady was likely a minor wife or concubine of Akhenaten, as pharaohs often had many wives, leading to competition among their sons for the throne.
Belmonte argues that the man buried in KV55 should be Smenkhkare, who was the son of Amenhotep III and Tiye and the brother-husband of the Younger Lady. This would explain why little is known about the Younger Lady, as she might have been overshadowed by Akhenaten’s main queen, Meritaten, or she may have died before Akhenaten became king.
Facial reconstruction
On February 7, 2018, The Younger Lady was shown in the seventh episode of the fifth season of Expedition Unknown, titled "Great Women of Ancient Egypt." The team, led by Expedition Unknown host Josh Gates, believed the mummy might be Nefertiti. They used the preserved remains, modern technology, and art to create a reconstruction of what The Younger Lady would have looked like wearing royal clothing and jewelry. The bust was made by French artist Élisabeth Daynès, who studies ancient remains.