3,500 years later, the pharaoh was once again popular, as the legendary name was now associated with an analytically structured face.
A recent study attempted the facial reconstruction of King Amenhotep III, also known as ‘The Magnificent’ who ruled over Egypt for nearly four decades. The team used Forensic Facial Approximation to reconstruct a face from the mummy's skull. Two images of the mummified head of the pharaoh were used and the skull was modeled with the aid of anatomical deformation technique. To construct a face, a computed tomography scan of a person was deformed to fit the skull. The soft tissue was modified to fit the face and the data provided details on the projection of various parts like nose, eyeballs, ears, eyelids, etc. Readymade facial approximation used as the base, was deformed and adjusted to generate face structure data. The final stage involved modeling the clothes and blue crown, sculpting face details, and developing the bust.
— The African History School (@_africanhistory) September 13, 2024In 2024, Cicero Moraes, published 'the first' facial reconstruction of Pharaoh Amenhotep III
He called it a "gift to all those who appreciate history."
But it seems he forgot to look at the original statues and paintings...
Whose going to tell him?👀 pic.twitter.com/RQxTOJ0CWO
According to the study, two types of results were generated. One was a more objective image, which was without any hair, with the eyes closed, and in a greyscale format. The hair was not generated due to difficulty in establishing exact distribution. Eyes were closed as it was difficult to know the shape of the eye. The second one had more subjective and artistic elements, as reported by Ancient Origins. The hair was crafted, eyes were open, eyeliner marks were visible, and skin color was established. The clothing was adjusted to fit the time as well as the crown was detailed. The data collected to aid the project mentioned that the cranial length was first measured wrong in the data and was later rectified. The study was published in the journal Clinical Anatomy.
Knewz.com explored that a multinational team of experts, which included Cicero Moraes, unveiled the facial approximates of this legendary ruler. Amenhotep III was one of the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt and reigned during the height of Egypt's power 3,400 years ago. He was known for his unparalleled wealth and grand architectural achievements and was a topic that interested researchers, archaeologists, and historians. “If we are not mistaken, this is the first facial approximation of Amenhotep III,” Brazilian graphics designer Cicero Moraes, who reconstructed the Pharaoh’s face, commented about the groundbreaking project. “‘It is our gift to all those who appreciate history,” reported the New York Post. “Based on historical knowledge, Amenhotep III had a robust appearance, which is why we used data from individuals with a high body mass index,” he added about the digital doppelganger.
The most famous monuments created in Amenhotep III’s honor included his memorial temple at Kom el-Hettan, which was guarded by two large statues known as the Colossi of Memnon. Though he remained famous and constantly studied, Amenhotep III’s mummy was unfortunately in a really bad and deprived, as it was damaged by grave robbers and humidity throughout several millennia. The extent of the decay was obstructive to the progress of the project and the authors of the new study that documented the facial reconstruction explained that “the largely skeletonized head does not allow direct conclusions to be drawn about the individual's facial appearance intra vitam [during life] by mere observation, as is the case for well-preserved mummies,” according to IFLScience.
Archaeologist Michael Habicht from Flinders University in Australia stated that Amenhotep III looked quite different from the pharaoh images on ancient statues. Though the ruler was rich and great, his body height was rather smaller than anticipated. This made him one of the smallest known pharaohs with their preserved mummies, as per The Science Times. This aspect of the ancient Egyptian was not visible in art as every image or monument created in his honor was large, gigantic, and enigmatic, as reflected in the mortuary temple in western Thebes and a major temple at Soleb in Nubia. The researchers also reported that it was difficult to know the cause of the pharaoh's death with just the analysis of his available remains.
