Ancient Egyptian mummy ‘digitally dissected’ to reveal striking features

A DIGITAL dissection of Ancient Egypt’s Pharaoh Ramses II has revealed some surprising features.

Radiologist Sahar Saleem of Cairo University teamed up with researchers from Liverpool John Moores University to digitally reconstruct the face of Ramses II.

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One of Egypt’s greatest pharaohs, Ramses II reigned during Egypt’s 19th dynasty, from 1279 to 1213 BCE.

His mummy was uncovered in 1881, however, historians have never been quite able to pinpoint what he looked like.

Over the years, scientists have speculated a variety of noses, face shapes, and hair colors.

But now, thanks to powerful CT scan software and photographs, the aforementioned team has been able to digitally create the pharaoh’s face, per ScienceAlert.

The advanced tools were able to correctly identify facial features and differentiate between the mummy’s face and the embalming material placed inside the skull.

“The software identifies the properties of the various layers of materials on the mummy’s face, such as overlying linen bandages, and allows for the digital unwrapping of the pharaohs,” Professor Shahar said, per AuntMinnieEurope.com.

“The visualization of fine facial features such as ear piercings and hairstyle was also made possible by modern image reconstruction software,” she said.

The team found that Ramses II may have possessed some rather striking features.

The mummy possessed a very strong jaw and a pronounced and wide nasal bone.

Ramses II also likely had a brownish skin tone – this is based on what would have been common in Egypt at the time.

Most notable perhaps is that the Pharoah eventually might have possessed a full head of red hair.

This assessment was conducted using microscopic studies of the locks of Ramesses II and other fair-haired mummies.

ScienceAlert notes that having red hair in Ancient Egypt was considered to be a “godly trait”.

And this may have explained why Ramses II is so often portrayed as a deity in drawings.

Despite the use of advanced technology to form an assessment of Ramses II’s features, the researchers noted that it’s impossible to know for certain what the ruler once looked like.

Ramesses II is believed to have passed at the age of 92, after the second-longest reign in Ancient Egyptian history.