A little backstory before we address the question raised in the last blog (why King Tut was born with a cleft and a clubfoot?) and the question of photoshopping Nefertiti, playing fast and loose with her looks.
I Luxored out and got to see Tut’s Treasures.
I liked King Tut before I learned he shared a cleft and other birth defects with me. I guess it was all that gold leaf associated with his funeral mask, and buried art treasures found in his tomb. Can’t remember why I missed Tut’s first visit to San Francisco in 1979 (probably too poor for the $30 tickets). I made a special effort therefore to catch his triumphal return to S.F. 30 years later.
“The exhibit, which features more than 130 artifacts from the 18th Dynasty king’s opulently appointed tomb and other ancient Egyptian sites, is expected to be a blockbuster. Museum officials hope to exceed the 1 million visitor mark set by “Treasures of Tutankhamun” in its 1979 engagement of four months at the old de Young.
Every piece in the show is at least 3,300 years old. Many of them never traveled outside of Egypt before this tour. They document the life, times and postmortem enshrinement of the “boy king” who died, at age 18 or 19, in 1323 B.C., nine years into his reign.
About 50 of the pieces come from Tut’s remarkably well-preserved tomb… Highlights include a gold crown found on the head of his mummified form, a lavish bejeweled pectoral inscribed with the hieroglyphic for infinity, and a pair of coffinettes that contain the fetuses of what may have been the king’s children. DNA research on that question is under way.”
Needless to say, the show wowed me to the max.
Now on to our questions.
Reasons for Tut’s cleft and health issues.
In the last blog, we covered some of the basics, with Wiki’s help, that “among other deformities, Tut suffered from scoliosis, cleft palate, a severe overbite, brachycephaly (short head), Kohler disease which left him with a severe limp, chronic malaria, and temporal lobe epilepsy. In short, he was not physically attractive nor was he physically healthy. In fact, when he married his half-sister, they had two children who died in the womb and were entombed with Tut.
Genealogy
[More specifically, in] 2008, a team began DNA research on Tutankhamun and the mummified remains of other members of his family. The results from the DNA samples finally put to rest questions about Tutankhamun’s lineage, proving that his father was Akhenaten, but that his mother was not one of Akhenaten’s known wives. His mother was one of his father’s five sisters, although it is not known which one.[22] The team was able to establish with a probability of better than 99.99 percent that Amenhotep III was the father of the individual in KV55, who was in turn the father of Tutankhamun.[23] The young king’s mother was found through the DNA testing of a mummy designated as ‘The Younger Lady‘ (KV35YL), which was found lying beside Queen Tiye in the alcove of KV35. Her DNA proved that, like his father, she was a child of Amenhotep III and Tiye; thus, Tutankhamun’s parents were brother and sister.[24] Queen Tiye held much political influence at court and acted as an adviser to her son after the death of her husband. Some geneticists dispute these findings, however, and “complain that the team used inappropriate analysis techniques.”[25]
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Wooden bust of Tut fromn his tomb.
Here’s one take on Tut’s lineage.
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Amenhotep II |
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Thutmose IV |
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Yuya |
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Amenhotep III |
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Akhenaten |
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Some Egyptologists claim Nefertiti is “The Younger Lady” mummy associated with Akhenaten Tut’s father.
Regardless of the possible ironic genetic linkage between a historic “beauty” and Tut, the “beast,” blockbuster news about Nefertiti has just come out.
Has Nefertiti been “photoshopped?”
A National Geographic story by reporter Christine Dell’Amore suggests that Nefertiti’s real, wrinkled face was recently found within the famous bust?
Nefertiti Wiki Cmns, Pikart
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A carefully carved limestone face in the inner core of theEgyptian queen’s famous bust (above, right) has emerged in new images, a new study says.
The object, currently on display in Berlin’s Altes Museum, was discovered in 1912 during an excavation of the studio of Egyptian royal sculptor Thutmose. The artist had sculpted Nefertiti—wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten—more than 3,300 years ago.
Scientists first scanned the sculpture in 1992, but advances in the technology have now allowed scans of greater precision, according to Alexander Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science Institute in Berlin.
These new images show that Thutmose placed stucco layers of varying thickness on top of a limestone core.
Nefertiti’s “hidden” visage is more realistic, with creases around the corners of her mouth (above, bottom left) and cheeks, less prominent cheekbones, and a bump on her nose.
“CT [scans] impressively demonstrated that the inner core was not just an anonymous mold, but rather a skillfully rendered work of quality art,” Huppertz said in an email.
In the final stucco layer (above, top left), Thutmose smoothed over the creases and nose bump, possibly to reflect the “aesthetic ideals of the era,” said Huppertz, whose research appears in [the 2015] April in the journal Radiology.
Such glimpses into Thutmose’s artistry will help conservators “prevent damage of this extremely precious art object,” Huppertz said.
That’s because the scans also revealed areas where the stucco is most vulnerable and requires the most careful handling.”
My take on all this recent news.
Based on just the three pics supplied by the National Geographic , I have my doubts about conscious “photoshopping.”
From the pics in the article, the wrinkles could just be tool marks left by her famous sculptor. And the bump on the nose may be just two lateral “swollen” areas. Not sure it qualifies as ancient photoshopping yet. Would need to see a side view of the inner and outer busts. BTW, I have heard that the elongated headgear was the sculptor’s effort to “balance” the weight of the entire work since he knew it was of uber fragile material.
Egyptians did love to embellish and “mannerize” their royalty, who in the Pharaohs’ cases were seen as gods. Who among us hasn’t embellished our god/s or God?
This doesn’t mean, however, that the Egyptians didn’t go overboard with their images of King Tut, making him one handsome dude in his various busts and his funeral mask.
Your turn: If you have seen any of the Tut artifacts, Nefertiti’s bust in Germany, or the recent miniseries called “Tut,” please share your feelings about same in the Comments.
My latest book, PRIVILEGED KILLERS, is a true story about a half-dozen Dark Triad people in my everyday life - narcissists, manipulators, and psychopaths. Three of 'em murdered people, and one came after my wife and me. Print and e-book versions of this (and CLEFT HEART) available at Amazon and elsewhere online. Also at your local bookstore.
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