The Bottom Line
Recommended if you enjoy women's history, Egyptology, archaeology, or a good mystery, or if you'd just like to know more about this powerful woman, Hatshepsut. The usual hype tone of cable TV documentaries is present but the natural excitement of the investigation takes over from the hype pretty quickly. I loved that the results of the investigation were not what were expected -- the means by which the mummy is identified, and that Dr. Hawass' initial guess (published by him in 2006) is open to question.
Pros
- an interesting historical mystery - with an unexpected outcome
- good mix of hard archaeology and historical story-telling
- gender issues inherent to the story are presented gently and clearly
- on-screen presence of Dr. Hawass and Dr. Cooney adds personality
- cientific aspects are presented clearly and, I think, convincingly
Cons
- usual "hype" tone of made-for-cable documentaries - especially near beginning
- a huge amount of detail presented; may take multiple viewings to "get" some of it
- press reports of the findings misrepresented the DNA connection
- a few edits leave information unsaid or unsure
- documentary implies that Hatshepsut's father really did groom her to rule
Description
- Documentary first air date on Discovery Channel: July 15, 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT); July, August, fall in other locations
- Two related stories: scientific archaeology via DNA and CT scan analysis; cultural archaeology looking at Hatshepsut's life
- Takes viewer into tombs, temples, archaeological sites, and dusty museum storage - vivid images with story-telling
- Figuring prominently: Dr. Hawass, controversial and dramatic Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities
- Also figuring prominently to unfold what we know (and don't) about Hatshepsut's life: Dr. Kara Cooney, Stanford University
- Four mummies identified as candidates for Hatshepsut - shows many different issues involved in identifying a mummy
- Scientific process of proposing hypotheses and then testing them experimentally is made clear; willing to be proved wrong
- King Tut story had beautiful gold and painted objects; this has less dramatic objects, more story-telling and science
- Takes on gender issues, unlike most made-for-cable documentaries, and in a way that may convince at least some skeptics
- Discovery Channel helped provide a permanent DNA lab to the Cairo Museum; expect more to be announced via this partnership
Guide Review - Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen - Discovery Channel Hatshepsut Documentary
High school kids 25 years ago probably never heard of Hatshepsut in history classes; today, she's a standard subject in high school world history courses.
The closing sentence of Joyce Tyldesley's excellent book, Hatchepsut, hauntingly notes that Hatshepsut's mummy has not been found. Maybe now, that's changed. If the evidence presented in this documentary holds up, then what the documentary calls a "3500-year-old cold case" has been solved.
Hatshepsut's story is one that is unfolding before us, in the sense that Egyptologists continue to piece together the evidence. New ways of looking at the evidence -- including through a women's history or gender issues lens -- are influencing not only what evidence is noticed, but how old conclusions are questioned. Not least is that Hatshepsut's mummy had not been identified, though those of most of her male ruling relatives had.
I'm one of those people who watches several different cable networks just for the historical and scientific documentaries. Some I like; some I'm willing to watch once a month if they're repeated that often; for some I rush to switch channels. I do get irritated that so little is presented related to women's role in history, or that looks with any seriousness at gender issues. Discovery Channel's Secrets of Egypt's Lost Queen is definitely one of those I can watch over and over -- and not just because I write about women's history and the subject is one of the most interesting mysteries about women in history.
