Posted on 11/04/2007 7:10:10 AM PST by Aristotelian
LUXOR, Egypt - The face of King Tut was unshrouded in public for the first time on Sunday — 85 years after the 3,000-year-old boy pharaoh's golden enshrined tomb and mummy were discovered in Luxor's famed Valley of the Kings.
Archeologists removed the mummy from his stone sarcophagus in his underground tomb, momentarily pulling aside a white linen covering to reveal a shriveled leathery black face and body. The mummy of the 19-year-old pharaoh, whose life and death has captivated people for nearly a century, was placed in a climate-controlled glass box in the tomb, with only the face and feet showing under the linen covering.
"The golden boy has magic and mystery and therefore every person all over the world will see what Egypt is doing to preserve the golden boy, and all of them I am sure will come to see the golden boy," said Egypt's antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass.
Hawass said scientists began restoring King Tut's badly damaged mummy more than two years ago. Much of the mummy's body is broken into 18 pieces — damage sustained when British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered the mummy, took it from his tomb and tried to pull off his famous golden mask, Hawass said.
But Hawass said he fears a more recent phenomenon — mass tourism — is further deteriorating Tut's mummy. Thousands of tourists visit the underground chamber every month.
"The humidity and heat caused by ... people entering the tomb and their breathing will change the mummy to a powder. The only good thing (left) in this mummy is the face. We need to preserve the face," said Hawass, who wore his signature Indiana Jones-style tan hat.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
ping
Clinton: “I’d hit it”
Scientists have carried out the first facial reconstructions of Egypt's most famous ancient king, Tutankhamun. Three teams of forensic artists - French, Egyptian and American - built separate but similar models of the king's face using scans of his skull. The French and Egyptians knew who they were recreating, but the Americans were not told where the skull came from. The models of the boy king, who died 3,300 years ago, reveal a young man with plump cheeks and a round chin.
The French team created this image of the young king
He looks like Boy George in that pic.
lol you beat me to it
Or Xerxes
Looks like he has more of an overbite than that artist’s drawing depicts
There is probably no one who has ever loved his job more than Mr. Hawass does. I enjoy his enthusiastic appearances on TV.
Must be the eye make up
Wait until the Mooselimb fundamentalist take over the New Caliphate. All Egyptian antiquities will be destroyed as symbols of infidel heterdoxy.
> The French team created this image of the young king
He has that Goa’uld look about him.
Thanks. Many of the artifacts from Tut’s tomb have recently been on tour at U.S. museums. I think Philadelphia was the last stop and after a European tour it is coming to the Dallas Art Museum from October 2008-May 2009. I can’t wait to see it.
Yes, he does!
Looks like Boy George with a suntan.
That reminds me to NOT go over to Palm Springs for anything today....they’re having another of their insufferable “pride parades”. I’ll stay away until the streets get bleached and steam cleaned.
yeah if you get your history from 300!
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