Egypt ? A tooth found in a relic box led archaeologists to identify a long-overlooked mummy as that of Egypt’s most powerful female pharoah – possibly the most significant find since King Tutankhamun’s tomb was uncovered in 1922, experts said Wednesday.

The mummy shown above was identified as Queen Hatshepsut, who ruled for 20 years in the 15th century B.C., dressing like a man and wearing a fake beard. A monumental builder, she wielded more power than two other famous ancient Egyptian women, Cleopatra and Nefertiti, who unlike her never took the title of pharaoh.

But when she died, all traces of her mysteriously disappeared, including her mummy.

In 1903, a mummy was found lying on the ground next to the sarcophagus holding the mummy of the queen’s wet nurse in a tomb in the Valley of Kings burial ground in Luxor. For decades, that mummy was left unidentified and remained in the tomb because it was thought to be insignificant.

A year ago, Egyptian antiquities chief Zahi Hawass began a search for Hatshepsut’s mummy. Two months ago, the unidentified mummy was brought from Luxor for DNA testing. Hawass said his first clue that it could be the lost queen was the position of the left hand on her chest – a traditional sign of royalty in ancient Egypt.

Experts then made a stunning match. A tooth that had been found in a relic box displaying Hatshepsut’s insignia fit a gap in the mummy’s jaw. Still uncompleted DNA testing also has shown similarities between the mummy and the mummy of Hatshepsut’s grandmother, which was identified previously.