The burial chamber of a "mysterious" queen from Egypt's Old Kingdom of more than 4,000 years ago has been discovered outside of Cairo, according to French archaeologists, who made the announcement last week.

The archaeologists announced the finding of Queen Behenu's burial chamber, which contained "Pyramid Texts," consisting of green hieroglyphics picked out on white stone. Though the mummy of the queen had previously been destroyed, the pyramid texts remained. The team are unsure of whether Behenu was the wife of King Pepi I or II - both pharoahs of the Sixth Dynasty.

The French team, headed by Philippe Collombert, who have been working in Egypt since 1988, and have since then unearthed numerous pyramids belonging to queens of the Sixth Dynasty, note the significance of their recent findings. Collombert, who called the queen "mysterious," expressed to The Associated Press his excitement with the findings:

"We are excited because the texts are well conserved."

Egypt has remained a place of intrigue for those not only fascinated by the pyramids, particularly those in Giza, but also those in the scientific community interested in constructing an image of ancient Egypt as it once existed.

In discussing Egypt's relation to the rest of Africa, British historian Basil Davidson once noted that, "If the history of early Africa is unthinkable without Egypt, so too is the history of early Egypt inexplicable without Africa. Ancient Egypt was essentially an African colonization." Archaelogical finds at Igbo Ukwu in Anambra State, a state in southeastern Nigeria, have challenged the idea of an isolated Egypt from the rest of Africa, particularly those civilizations south of the Sahara.

In their article on genetic African diversity, "Interpreting African Genetic Diversity," biological anthropologist Dr. S.O.Y. Keita and biologist Dr. Rick Kittles (1999) note that, "Various populations in Africa have interacted via migrations during past history" (p. 88).

Calling in to question the approach of some genetic studies on African populations, they explore such considerations for genetic variation in Africa as evolutionary factors.

"Invoking admixture to explain human variation is related to another polemic generally seen in many genetic studies of African populations. This is the persistence of the socially constructed normative view of the African as only the "Forest Negro" type, or the so-called "Pygmy" from Central Africa, in line with Coon's (1962, 1965) thinking. These populations are used as the representative African in many studies (see Bowcock et al., 1991, 1994; Cavalli-Sforza et al., 1994). Northern African populations are rarely used in research under the designation 'African'" (Keita & Kittles, 1999, p. 88).

The accounts of Greek historian Herodotus have often been cited to support theories of origin for Nile Valley civilizations.

The Nile River, the longest river in the world, has served as the heartbeat of Nile Valley civilizations, who have depended on the Nile for sustenance, since ancient times. The Nile flows from south to north, from the mountains of Ethiopia and the Great Lakes region of Central Africa, through Sudan and Egypt.