This latest Zahi Hawass evidence doesn't seem to add anything to what
is already known about this block and the wording upon it. We have
known for some time that it states Tutankhamun was the son of a king
but it still doesn't prove beyond doubt his father as Akhenaten.

I don't have a set oppinion myself on Tutankhamun's parentage but
agree it seems likely he was Akhenaten's son, but only DNA evidence
may provide more conclusive proof.

However I have always been very against the claim often stated as fact
that Tutankhamun's mother is Kiya. There is just no firm evidence for
this at all and thinking Nefertiti would be depicted mourning over
Kiya as a dead secondary wife in the Royal Tomb at Amarna is just
nonsensical.

That's not to say I don't think Kiya is not a candidate, but this is
just another theory like the rest. Nefertiti could just as easily have
been Tutankhamun's mother.

It was more traditional for princesses to be depicted with their
parents than princes, as can be seen in the reliefs and statues from
the reign of Amunhotep III.

So it is no surprise that only the six daughters of Akhenaten are
shown with him and Nefertiti at Akhetaten and elsewhere. There could
quite easily have been sons born to this couple as well who were never
depicted with them.

We cannot be certain when the daughters of Akhenaten and Nefertiti
were born, we only know from when they first appear. It is not clear
if these first depictions are their birth years or just when they were
old enough to participate in ceremonies.

If the later then eldest daughter Meritaten could have been born a
handful of years before the start of her father's reign. This also
creates a greater time period for more pregnancies for Nefertiti in
the possible parentage of Tutankhamun, and perhaps Smenkhkare.

However even if Meritaten was born in year one, and I think off-hand
that the last princess Setepenre appears between year nine and twelve,
there could easily have been another pregnancy in Tutankhamun during
this shorter period.

I look forward to seeing the results of the DNA tests on the mummified
infants from Tutankhamun's tomb and the results of the tests on all
the other royal mummies. I think there could be quite a few surprises
in store.

Jon Wicken