A new computed tomography (CT) scan of the famous Nefertiti bust reveals a hidden face beneath its painted stucco exterior. Researchers report in the journal Radiology today that the bust's inner limestone layer was carefully crafted to resemble the Egyptian queen circa 1330 B.C. They say the findings could help preservation efforts, because the x-rays reveal details such as weak spots in the bust, unearthed in Amarna, Egypt, in 1919 by German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt. 

Slide show: View CT scan images of Nefertiti

4 Comments

1. 1. doug l 05:41 AM 4/1/09

   Beautiful images and surprisingly naturalistic. Many things have changed during the intervening 4 thousand years but our instinctual drive for beauty remains the same. I suspect those ears were just too delicate for limestone and so they were designed to sport some sort of jewelry...but I can easily see them becoming the genesis for a new fashion craze for modified ears.

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2. 2. andrys 04:42 PM 4/1/09

   Why does the caption for the inner face say "the creases of the mouth in the inner layer, which are softer than those etched in the top layer" -- when the pictures show more and deeper creases by far in the inner layer? The creases as shown in these images look considerably more smoothed out in the outer stucco layer. Add that the cheekbones were made more prominent in the outer layer, an almost imperceptible 'bump' on the nose was removed, and all this indicates to me a sort of early 'photoshopping' equivalent of the Queen to add back the bloom of youth. The inner layer as shown in these pictures seems to me more realistic in detail, and to a modern eye could represent someone for whom age was marking the years. Fascinating story.

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3. 3. nfiertel 02:41 AM 4/2/09

   Working in limestone with bronze tools would make it difficult to produce the subtle surface that one could create with an outer layer of stucco. I have no doubt that the artist chose this technique as a technical process much as one would use similar methods with modern materials for this result. Realise that much of Egyptian sculpture is ground to shape by subtractive and very slow painful work with natural abrasives on very resistant stone. This piece is an exception being in soft limestone and then additively worked with stucco. I cannot speak for the reasons for the differences between the inner and the outer image other than for artistic advantage but of these conclusions of mine, I am certain. I am a sculptor and what I see is quite a normal adjusting of the forms leading towards its conclusion as a finished work.

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4. 4. Yahya 06:41 AM 4/4/09

   those old egyptians had much secrets, buried with them......
   hope we add to science as they did but with no secrets

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