Click photo to enlarge
Created through the use of CT scans and computer
technology, this model shows the face of a 2300-year-old
Egyptian mummy, and reveals her to be unlike the image on
her sarcophagus. Photo by Gerard O'Brien.
The face of the mummy has finally been revealed and found
to be . . . well, fairly ordinary.
Fine cheek bones, a sharp nose, and a rather severe look -
but a face that would not be out of place in Egypt today.
The mummy has been at the Otago Museum for 116 years. Before
that, it spent 2300 years entombed in Egypt.
Yesterday, the team of museum and University of Otago staff
that created a scientifically based, plaster representation
of what she looked like while alive, unveiled their
handiwork.
About 200 people saw the face of a 35-year-old, middle-class
Egyptian woman with long dark hair.
She certainly looked nothing like Elizabeth Taylor, who
played Cleopatra in the 1963 movie, or like the mask drawn on
the outside of her sarcophagus.
Art historian Peter Entwisle explained that the woman died
before the Greeks had begun to bring realist influences to
Egyptian art.
He was impressed by the realism of the face.
"She looks like some of the people you see on the streets of
Cairo."
Dr George Dias, who led the team that created the
representation, was pleased with the result brought about
through the use of CT scans and other computer technology.
