The Queen Who Would Be King - Discovery Channel's "Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen" Reveals Egypt's Most Significant Find Since 1922

In what is the most important find in Egypt's Valley of the Kings since the discovery of King Tutankhamun, Discovery Channel's "Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen" reveals exclusive new archaeological, forensic and scientific evidence identifying a 3,500-year-old mummy as Hatshepsut, the queen who would be king of Egypt. Follow a team of top forensic experts and archaeologists, led by Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, as they use - for the first time ever - the full range of forensic technology available today to identify Hatshepsut.

More powerful than Cleopatra or Nefertiti, Hatshepsut stole the throne from her young stepson, dressed herself as a man and in a shockingly unprecedented move, she declared herself pharaoh. Though her power stretched across Egypt and her reign was prosperous, Hatshepsut's legacy was systematically erased from Egyptian history - historical records were destroyed, monuments torn down and her corpse removed from her tomb - and her death is shrouded in mystery.

The investigative journey of Dr. Hawass and his team leads them through the massive crypts beneath Egypt and into the depths of the Cairo Museum. Using knowledge of royal Egyptian mummification and clues from two known tombs linked to Hatshepsut, the team narrows their search for the lost queen to just four mummies from thousands of unidentified corpses.

Computed tomography (CT) scanning allows the scientists to link distinct physical traits of the four mummies to those of Hatshepsut's known relatives. The search further narrows to two possibilities - both from the tomb of Hatshepsut's wet nurse - but the final clue lies within a canopic box inscribed with the female pharaoh's name. A scan of the box finds a tooth that, when measured, perfectly matches a missing upper molar in one of the two mummies.

"The discovery of the Hatshepsut mummy is one of the most important finds in the history of Egypt," said Dr. Hawass. "Her reign during the 18th Dynasty of ancient Egypt was a prosperous one, yet mysteriously she was erased from Egyptian history. Our hope is that this mummy will help shed light on this mystery and on the puzzling nature of her death."

Applied Biosystems, the leading global provider of DNA analysis technologies, and Discovery Quest, Discovery Channel's initiative to support the scientific community's work, enabled the construction of and equipment for the first-ever ancient DNA testing facility located in the Cairo Museum in Egypt. The DNA testing facility will not only be used to extract and compare nuclear and mitochondrial DNA of the Hatshepsut mummy and mummies from her family, but will be used by scientists to examine future finds in Egypt and attempt to clarify familial relationships amongst the royal families. The Discovery Quest fund reaffirms Discovery Channel's commitment to support groundbreaking research and inventions that change our world.

"Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen" is produced for Discovery Channel by BQ Productions. Brando Quilici is the executive producer for BQ Productions. Allan Butler is the executive producer for Discovery Channel.