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Flowers, not mummy

Luxor (Egypt): Archaeologists hoped the first tomb discovered in the Valley of the Kings in 80 years would hold the mummy of King Tut's mother. They opened the last of eight sarcophagi, revealing no mummies but finding something almost as valuable: embalming materials and ancient woven flowers. Hushed researchers craned their necks and media scuffled inside the stiflingly hot underground stone chamber on Wednesday as Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass slowly cracked open the coffin's lid — for what scientists believe is the first time in more than 3,000 years. But instead of a mummy, as archaeologists had expected, the coffin revealed a tangle of fabric and rusty-coloured dehydrated flowers woven together in laurels that looked likely to crumble to dust if touched. The flowers were likely the remains of garlands, often entwined with gold strips, that ancient Egyptian royals wore around their shoulders in both life and death. Dug deep into white rock, the tomb is the 63rd found in the Valley, a desert region near the southern city of Luxor used as a burial ground for Pharaohs, queens and nobles between 1500 B.C. and 1000 B.C. — AP

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