An Egyptian bust acquired by a Berlin museum over two decades ago may be a forgery. Scientists at the Technical University of Berlin had discovered the Hatshepsut stone was rich in the minerals magnesite and siderite. No other bust from the Nile region was made of such rock, suggesting that the 16.5-centimetre-high figure might be a modern fake

Egyptian archaeologists uncovered a statue of pharaoh and a bust of pharaoh Hatshepsut in the southern city of Luxor, the state MENA news agency reported.

Preliminary results from DNA tests carried out on a mummy believed to be Queen Hatshepsut is expected to support the claim by Egyptian authorities that the remains are indeed those of Egypt’s most powerful female ruler. Dr Angelique Corthals, a biomedical Egyptologist at the University of Manchester (UK), says that DNA tests she helped carry out with colleagues at the National Research Centre in Cairo have promising preliminary results suggesting the identity of the queen.

Months after Egypt boldly announced that archaeologists had identified a mummy as the most powerful queen of her time, scientists in a museum basement are still analyzing DNA from the bald, 3,500-year-old corpse to try to back up the claim aired on TV.