Nefertiti Bust Found to Have Been Retouched

Queen Nefertiti is one of the most famous of all the women pharaohs of ancient Egypt. Her fabulous face is considered one of the most beautiful and some people have even tried to look like her through plastic surgery. But is the Nefertiti bust really a realistic depiction of the ancient queen? New research based on the results of a CT scan appear to show that it could be a beautified version. This, in spite of the scant knowledge we have on the ideal facial features considered beautiful and suitable for royalty in that age.

Science researchers in Germany have discovered a hidden stone sculpture underneath the external public stucco face of Nefertiti after a modern CT scan uncovered it. Previous scans weren't as reliable as the latest one and thus did not reveal the hidden artwork. The hidden face showed creases on the sides of the queen's mouth and there's also a noticeable bump on the bridge of the nose. It seems reasonable to assume that queen Nefertiti's face was modified to be more ideal as depicted by the original artist.

At left is the science-reconstructed face of the queen (front and side) based on the actual mummy remains, courtesy of the Discovery Channel. See how it compares to the bust and the hidden face underneath. The artists appear to have made her face more square with a fuller jaw.

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Queen Hatshepsut's Large Breasts Indicate Obesity

Queen Hatshepsut, the most powerful of female pharaohs in ancient Egypt was obese, say scientists. Paleopathologist Bob Brier says "Breasts are one clear indication of obesity in female mummies. It is fairly simple: fat is deposited there, the skin stretches and that skin does not retract with mummification. So it is easy to see excess skin in the area of the breasts." Zahi Hawass, Egypt's secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, says Hatshepsut's breasts are "huge and pendulous" even for a mummy's.

Click here to view Queen Hatshepsut's headshot.

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Mummy of Queen Hatshepsut Identified

The mummy of ancient Egypt's most powerful female pharaoh, Queen Hatshepsut, has been identified. The mummy has lain in the tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor where it was originally found in 1903. It was on the ground next to the sarcophagus of another female mummy, which later turned out to be that of the queen's wet nurse.

A few months ago, the unidentified mummy was brought to the basement of the Egyptian museum in Cairo for DNA testing. It was then that the mummy's DNA was matched with that of a tooth which was found in a relic box with Queen Hatshepsut's insignia. The tooth also fit perfectly in a gap in the mummy's jaw. The DNA also showed similarities with another mummy's previously identified as Hatshepsut's grandmother.

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Salted Man From Iran Surfaces after 1,800 Years

This man, a miner from northeastern Iran, was buried in a salt mine 1,800 years ago in a tunnel accident. Buried by rock, soil, and salt, his body was preserved by the antibacterial and drying properties of the salt in the mine. He is the sixth salt man to be unearthed by archaeologists from the Chehr Abad mine in Zanjan province. Hassan Fazeli Nashli, director of Iran's Archaeology Research Center, says that they have always had a problem in maintaining the preservation of the other "salt men."

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