King Tut: CT Scans

Flap showed the reader yesterday what you can do with some new scanning equipment from Hitachi. Now, we have CT Scans and facial reconstruction images of King Tut. Read the story here:

The first CT scan facial reconstructions of King Tutankhamun’s mummy have produced images strikingly similar to the boy pharaoh’s ancient portraits, with one model showing a baby-faced young man with chubby cheeks and a round chin.

That model, a photo of which was released Tuesday, bears a strong resemblance to the gold mask of King Tut found in his tomb in 1922 by the British excavation led by Howard Carter. The beardless man depicted has soft features and a weak chin, and his eyes are highlighted by thick eyeliner.

Three teams of forensic artists and scientists – from France, the United States and Egypt – each built a model of the boy pharaoh’s face based on some 1,700 high-resolution photos from CT scans of his mummy to reveal what he looked like the day he died nearly 3,300 years ago.

“The shape of the face and skull are remarkably similar to a famous image of Tutankhamun as a child where he was shown as the sun god at dawn rising from a lotus blossom,” said Zahi Hawass, secretary-general of the Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The CT scans – the first done on an Egyptian mummy – have suggested King Tut was a healthy, yet slightly built 19-year-old, standing 5 feet, 6 inches tall at the time of his death.

Flap can hardly wait until the King Tut exhibit comes to Los Angeles in June.

Update # 1

The Huffington Blog has this photo:

Update # 2

Here is a gold death mask:

Update # 3

Yahoo News has the story of Tutankhamun’s ultimte demise: gangrene as a result of a broken leg.

Read the story here.

Update #4

The Los Angeles Times (free registration required) has a good piece here:

Computer-generated rendering shows a model of King Tutankhamun made by an Egyptian team based on facial reconstructions from CT scans of the boy pharaoh’s mummy.

A model of King Tutankhamun made by a French team based on facial reconstructions from CT scans of the boy pharaoh’s mummy.

A model of King Tutankhamun made by a French team. Three teams of forensic artists and scientists from France, the United States and Egypt built models of the boy pharaoh’s face based on some 1,700 high-resolution photos from CT scans of his mummy to reveal what he looked like the day he died nearly 3,300 years ago.