Cairo - Egyptian scientists will conduct DNA tests on two mummified foetuses found in Tutankhamen's tomb to see if they are related to the king, Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) said Wednesday. Some experts believe the two female stillborn babies are Tut's children. Tests should prove this and help determine the identity of the mother, the official MENA news agency quoted the SCA statement as saying.
The DNA tests will also seek to establish Tut's family tree, a mystery among many Egyptologists, according to SCA chief Zahi Hawass.
Tutankhamen was one of the last kings of Egypt's 18th Dynasty and archaeologists believe he married his sister. However, there has been no evidence that the monarch, who died around the age of 19 under mysterious circumstances, had any children.
The DNA tests and computerised tomography (CT) scans will be performed at Cairo University, Hawass said.
Egypt has been trying to check the identity of all its royal mummies using DNA and CT scans. Tut's was one of the first mummies to be examined with the technology in 2005.
Tut's tomb was discovered by British archaeologist Howard Carter on the West Bank of the Nile in the Upper Egyptian city of Luxor in 1922.
