*By PATRICK McGROARTY*
, *AP*
posted: *18 HOURS 25 MINUTES AGO*
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BERLIN (March 31) - Researchers in Germany have used a modern medical
procedure to uncover a secret within one of ancient Egypt's most treasured
artworks — the bust of Nefertiti has two faces.
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Ancient
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Fritz Reiss, AP
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Call it an ancient touch-up. After performing a computed tomography, or CT,
scan on the famous bust of Nefertiti, German researchers found a "hidden"
stone face under the stucco exterior. The findings were reported Tuesday in
the monthly journal Radiology.
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A team led by Dr. Alexander Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science
Institute at Berlin's Charite hospital and medical school, discovered a
detailed stone carving that differs from the external stucco face when they
performed a computed tomography, or CT, scan on the bust.
The findings, published Tuesday in the monthly journal Radiology, are the
first to show that the stone core of the statue is a highly detailed
sculpture of the queen, Huppertz said.
"Until we did this scan, how deep the stucco was and whether a second face
was underneath it was unknown," he said. "The hypothesis was that the stone
underneath was just a support."
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The differences between the faces, though slight — creases at the corners of
the mouth, a bump on the nose of the stone version — suggest to Huppertz
that someone expressly ordered the adjustments between stone and stucco when
royal sculptors immortalized the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten 3,300 years ago.
"Changes were made, but some of them are positive, others are negative,"
Huppertz said.
John H. Taylor, a curator for Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the British Museum
in London, said the scan raises interesting questions about why the features
were adjusted — but that answers will probably remain elusive.
"One could deduce that the final version was considered in some way more
acceptable than the 'hidden' one, though caution is needed in attempting to
explain the significance of these changes," Taylor wrote in an e-mail.
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Gregory Bull, AP
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*Aztec Burial Site: *Archaeologists in Mexico City announced Feb. 10 that
they found a "massive funeral complex" likely dating back to the 16th
century. The grave, seen above, was unearthed in the capital's Tlatelolco
area, which was once a political and religious center for the ancient Aztec
elite.
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The bust underwent a similar CT scan in 1992. But the more primitive
scanner used then only generated cross sections of the statue every 5
millimeters — not enough detail, Huppertz said, to reveal the subtlety of
the carving hidden just 1-2 millimeters under the stucco.
Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt discovered the bust in 1912 and added it to
Berlin's Egyptian collection on Museum Island, a cluster of five
neoclassical art halls that make up one of the city's most familiar
landmarks.
Currently on display at the Altes Museum, the bust will move next door when
the Neues Museum reopens in October after a lengthy restoration by British
architect David Chipperfield.
In 2007, Wildung denied a request from Egypt's antiquities chief to borrow
the bust for an exhibition, saying it was too fragile to transport. Huppertz
said the results of his scan added credence to that claim.
Taylor, the British Museum curator, said the better understanding of the
bust's structure will also help preserve it.
"The findings are particularly significant for the information they shed on
the constructional process and the subsurface condition of the bust, which
will be of value in ensuring its long-term survival in good condition"
Taylor said.
--
"I'm selfish, impatient, and a little insecure. I make mistakes, I am out of
control, and at times hard to handle, but if you can't handle me at my
worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best." ~Marilyn Monroe
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