On creating the myth: the relics came from Egypt

from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2007-04-04-fake-joan-relics_N.htm#

Definitely not Joan: 'Relics' turn out to be fake
By John Leicester, Associated Press
PARIS — Supposed remains of 15th century French heroine Joan of Arc are, in fact, those of an Egyptian mummy, says an international team of researchers, who used high-tech science to expose the fake.

The rib bone, along with a piece of cloth and a cat femur, were said to have been recovered after Joan of Arc was burned at the stake in 1431 in the Normandy town of Rouen. Scientists in 1909 — the year Joan of Arc was beatified — had declared it "highly probable" that the remains were hers.

 A portrait of Joan of Arc. Researchers found that supposed remains of
15th century French heroine are, in fact, those of an Egyptian mummy.

But starting last year, the 20 researchers from France, Switzerland and Benin took another look. Their finding — that the bone came from an Egyptian mummy — surprised even them. Their best guess is that the fake was cooked up in the 19th century, perhaps to boost the process of Joan of Arc's beatification. She went on to be canonized as a saint in 1920. . . . . [article continues]