Let’s face it, most ancient tombs have been looted at least once.
No matter how scary the rumors could have been, most mummies were opened, too.
But, one.
This is the Bashiri mummy, and it puzzles everyone so much that nobody dares to see what’s inside.
Meet Howard, but you must know him already if you’re into Egyptian history.
He’s primarily famous for discovering King Tut’s tomb back in 1922.
But, few people know that before this revolutionary discovery, he had probably found another mummy.
It happened in 1919, and it goes by several names, either the Bashiri mummy, or the mummy of Pacheri, or the untouchable one.
Some reports say that Howard stumbled upon the Bashiri mummy in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings, just where he would later find Tut’s tomb.
Despite this find, not much is known about this particular mummy.
The reason why it’s still unharmed in any way is not because of some superstitions, but because nobody is sure that they can undo what they do if something goes wrong.
The mummy is so intricately wrapped that researchers never unfurled it for fear of irreversible damage.
The golden rule of anyone who works with antiquities, if you’re not sure you can’t make it better or preserve it unchanged, do not touch it.
History knows many examples of ancient relics ruined beyond repair.
Say Ecce Homo, or smiling statue restoration.
The delicate fabric that covers the mummy’s face has this cool design that kind of looks like a pyramid.
The researchers are not 100% sure, but this might be the only one of its kind with that embalming style.
But, without knowing the ancient technique, it’s next to impossible not to ruin the mummy while unwrapping and wrapping it back.
Back in the day, people, both experts and looters, would unwrap mummies for all sorts of reasons, mostly to study them.
Luckily, these days, we have advanced tech that lets us check out what’s inside a sarcophagus without having to unwrap anything.
After taking a closer look at the Basheri mummy, researchers figured out that it belonged to a man who was around 5.
5 ft tall and lived during the Ptolemaic era, which makes this mummy roughly 2,300 years old.
The Egypt Museum shared that the X-ray scan also uncovered an inscription of the guy’s name, but it’s a bit tricky to tell if it says Pacheri or Nen-ne, adding to the intrigue.
The museum also pointed out that the fancy casing the mummy is in features all sorts of decorated scenes.
You can see the mummy lying on a bed flanked by deities Isis and Nephthys, along with the four sons of Horus.
Plus, there are two images of the funerary god Anubis at the feet of the casing.
By the way, Basheri mummy is not the only one that has remained untouched.
This is Isetemkheb and Gaston Maspero, a French archaeologist, made the decision to leave her mummy untouched, wanting to keep her resting peacefully since she was in such amazing shape.
He did mention, though, that her tomb had been raided long ago.
Thanks to some X-ray work, we learned more about the mummy.
The scans revealed a few artifacts still wrapped up with the wife of a high priest, including amulets around her neck, >> >> right arm, and forehead.
The X-rays also showed she had some dental issues and arthritis in her knees.
While she passed away as an older woman, it’s tough to pinpoint her exact age.
However, various sources from her son’s reign indicate that she was held in high regard in the kingdom.
Isetemkheb served as the sister wife of Pinedjem II.
You got me right.
They were related by blood and were siblings.
But back then, it was pretty common to get married this way to preserve the purity of the bloodline.
Say that to Habsburg, duh.
Their chase for purity only led to inbreeding and the notorious Habsburg jaw.
Right.
I guess we should not judge ancient Egyptian rules and morals.
But what we can say for sure is that both Akhesenamun and Kiya kept were incredibly lucky to stay on top.
The odds were not in King Tut’s favor, though.
The researchers’ work hit him hard.
>> >> The tomb itself was discovered in 1922, but it wasn’t until 1925 that the nested coffins were opened during an excavation.
The outer coffin, held together with silver pins, opened up to show another coffin shaped like a mummy, decorated with colorful glass and flower garlands.
There were worries about the king’s mummy because it had been exposed to moisture.
The middle coffin was pretty heavy and didn’t have any handles, so they had to be super careful taking it out.
Inside the innermost coffin, which was solid gold and wrapped in a red cloth, they found the royal mummy.
And this all went down on October 28, 1925.
Tutankhamun’s mummy, measuring about 6.
07 ft, fit snugly into the innermost coffin, which was 6.
17 ft long.
You can already tell there was a problem, right? Imagine how hard it is to extract something as fragile as an ancient dried-up mummy, especially when there’s not much room for maneuver.
Plus, the mummy looked sus.
It was pitch black.
Howard Carter, the lead archaeologist of the expedition, estimated that around two buckets worth of oils had been poured over the mummy.
But care had been taken to avoid the mask and feet.
It was made to preserve him better.
The body was positioned at a slight angle in the coffin and there was a noticeable difference in the amount of dark oils on the right and left side indicating that the coffin might have tilted while being lowered into the sarcophagus.
This oil created moisture inside the coffins and over time it reacted chemically which Carter described as a sort of slow spontaneous combustion leading to the carbonization of the linen wrappings.
Unfortunately, the combination of heat and moisture took a toll on the mummy’s trappings as well.
The crook and flail fell apart.
The resin scarab cracked and the thread holding the hands and mummy’s bands started to decay making everything quite fragile.
Plus the oils hardened over the years effectively gluing the mummy and mask to the coffin’s bottom.
To try and separate the mummy from the inner and middle coffins, they were placed in the sun for several hours reaching temperatures of 149° Fahrenheit.
Despite this effort, the mummy remained stuck so the initial examination had to be done right where it was.
The first part of Tutankhamun’s mummy the researchers checked out was his lower legs and feet meaning they started the examination from the bottom up.
As they peeled back the bandages, they uncovered the first of many treasures wrapped up with the king.
They took their time to carefully document and photograph everything they found.
The inner layers of bandages were in pretty bad shape mostly turning to dust making it tough to figure out how everything was originally wrapped.
Still, the overall methods matched what was seen in other nobles mummies from that time.
Lots of folded linen pads were used to shape the torso and thighs.
The outer and inner bandages were made from fine linen while the middle layers were coarser.
They had some intricate bandaging around the shoulders and chest with a similar style around the groin.
Each limb, along with fingers and toes, which were fitted with gold caps, was wrapped separately.
Tutankhamun even wore gold foil sandals on his feet.
They hoped to separate the mummy from the coffin by removing the outer bandages, but the resins had stuck the body to the coffin.
So, the researchers ended up chiseling it out.
To do this, they had to cut the torso in half at the hips and disarticulate the arms to continue unwrapping.
>> >> Each part was treated with hot paraffin wax for stability.
And later, the hands and feet were reattached with resin.
Finally, they used hot knives to detach the head from the mask.
To check the teeth, it was decided to make an incision around the jaw and neck, which was later fixed with resin.
So, technically, the scientists did all they could to preserve the mummy, but still, in a way, it ended up being damaged beyond repair.
What do you think? Should they have left it in the coffin? >> >> Or did they do the right thing? Let us know in the comments.
>> For more than 3,000 years, the gold mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun stayed hidden in the Valley of the Kings.
This artifact, which stands about 21 in tall, shows how skilled and artistic the ancient Egyptians were.
But nobody expected that X-rays would reveal its biggest secret.
King Tut was the last ruler of his family during the 18th Dynasty.
>> >> He took the throne at just 9 years old, but ruled for only 10 years before he passed away unexpectedly.
If we’re being honest, back in ancient Egypt, he was mostly forgotten by the rulers who came after him.
His tomb wasn’t a big deal for them.
So much so that even the grave robbers forgot about it.
It might sound a bit sad, but the truth is that it was actually great news for us.
Since his tomb was practically forgotten, it ended up being perfectly preserved.
While the other tombs in the Valley of the Kings were looted, his remained sealed and untouched.
So, when it was discovered back in 1922, it had over 5,000 precious objects inside.
That made Tutankhamun basically an instant celebrity and one of the best-known pharaohs nowadays.
Among the treasures was the most stunning piece, his golden mask.
This mask is said to be an exact image of the king’s face, or at least it was supposed to be, but we’ll get to that later.
The purpose of this accurate representation of his face was to make sure that his soul would recognize him in the afterlife and return to his mummified body.
In ancient Egyptian beliefs, >> >> this would allow him to continue living in the afterlife.
The details of the mask clearly look incredibly difficult to create, but people didn’t realize how complex it truly was until many years later.
The first x-rays of the mask were taken in 1967.
Back then, the main reason for these scans was practical, conservation.
The mask was heading to Paris for an exhibition, and it was the first time it had ever left Paris.
This would help them keep track of any changes during the exhibit.
Plus, the images could give clues about how the mask was made, but back then, they probably didn’t fully realize just how complex its construction was.
I mean, Egyptian goldsmiths didn’t use modern soldering techniques.
So, how did they make this mask? New x-rays taken in 2007 gave us some answers.
It turned out the Egyptians didn’t use pure gold, which is 24 carats.
The mask was actually made of 23 carat gold, meaning it was mixed with another material.
So, specialists discovered that the gold sheets contain a small amount of copper, a reddish-brown metal.
This was likely done to make the material more flexible and easier to shape.
They would then shape the gold sheets by heating and hammering them over and over again.
But, there was one more secret inside the mask that wasn’t discovered until 2015.
The year before, the staff at Cairo’s Egyptian Museum were working on the mask display when the long beard of the mask accidentally got knocked off.
Another theory is that the beard had become loose over time and just fell off.
Either way, the fact that King Tut’s beard came off caused a lot of stress.
After all, we’re talking about one of Cairo’s biggest tourist attractions.
So, the experts had to fix the problem quickly.
The restoration process started with a detailed recording of the mask condition.
To do this, they had to take a full three-dimensional scan of the artifact.
And, by accident, they found something very interesting in the mask.
Inside the royal beard, there is a gold tube, an intriguing structure that the Egyptians likely used to attach the beard to the rest of the mask.
And that proved, once again, that the process of making this mask was even more complex than experts thought.
But, the mysteries don’t stop there.
Remember how we mentioned that the mask was thought to perfectly represent King Tutankhamun’s face? Well, that might not be entirely true.
Some popular theories suggest the mask was never meant for him and was actually made for someone else.
A study published in 2015 suggested the mask was originally made for a female pharaoh, his supposed stepmother, the famous and beautiful Egyptian queen Nefertiti.
The biggest clue comes from an inscription on the mask.
At first glance, it seemed to belong to Tutankhamun.
But, after a close examination, researchers noted that something else was actually written underneath King Tut’s name.
The real name stamp seems to have been altered, and originally, it had something written on it that translates to Queen Nefertiti.
There is another feature of King Tut’s golden mask that was overlooked for years, which adds even more mystery.
As we mentioned earlier, experts believe he wasn’t respected much by the pharaohs who came after him.
And one of the clues that made archaeologists think this is the pierced ears on the mask.
Some researchers believe that King Tutankhamun wouldn’t have worn earrings after he was a kid.
So, according to their theory, by the time he passed away at 18, he shouldn’t have been represented with pierced ears.
This could also support the idea that the mask originally belonged to Nefertiti, or maybe to someone who wasn’t even connected to King Tut.
But, the mask isn’t the only source of mystery.
In fact, his whole tomb is full of puzzles.
Recently, historians found a sign that the place where King Tut was supposed to be buried was changed at the last minute.
For years, experts wonder why a pharaoh who ruled for 9 years ended up in such a simple tomb.
When compared to the grandeur of other pharaohs’ tombs, his tomb seemed, well, a bit plain.
The idea that a king like Tutankhamun would have such an unremarkable resting place just doesn’t match up with the power and importance he must have had in ancient Egypt.
So, what happened? Well, apparently, this might have something to do with his successor, Pharaoh Ay.
After King Tutankhamun passed away, researchers believe that Ay made sure to erase him from Egypt’s history.
So, one theory suggests that he was probably behind the quick decision to place King Tut’s body in a smaller, less impressive tomb.
When experts looked at Ay’s own tomb, they found something interesting.
There is a large wall covered in painted baboons.
This is the same type of artwork found in Tutankhamun’s tomb.
It seems like the same person might have chosen the artwork for both tombs.
Now, the design and decoration of the two tombs are almost identical, suggesting there was a shared hand behind both.
But, there is one key difference.
Ay’s tomb is fit for a king.
It’s much bigger and more impressive, even though the style and artwork are similar to what you see in Tutankhamun’s tomb.
So, the theory suggests that Ay decided what went into both tombs.
Since Tut passed away unexpectedly at a young age, his grand tomb wasn’t finished in time.
Normally, pharaohs start building their tombs while they’re still alive to make sure everything is perfect.
But, Tut passed away when he was just 18, so there wasn’t enough time.
Ay may have taken advantage of the situation, ordering a smaller tomb for Tut, and keeping a larger one for himself.
Experts believe this theory explains why Tutankhamun’s tomb is so simple, and how Ay managed to wipe his memory from history so easily.
But, in the end, the story of King Tut’s mask and tomb is full of mystery and intrigue.
Each new discovery sheds more light on what really happened all those years ago.
But, one thing is for sure, the secrets of ancient Egypt still have much to reveal, >> >> and King Tutankhamun will continue to fascinate people for years to come.
The Sahara Desert is like a Mad Max movie.
Scorching heat, endless dunes, and an overall barren wasteland.
Place where no one could live, right? >> >> Well, forget all you know about it, because 5,000 years ago, the Sahara was a lush paradise of grasslands, lakes, and rivers, and the home of a ghost civilization that vanished without a trace.
Our tale begins in the 1930s, when a Hungarian explorer stumbled upon a cave in the middle of the Sahara.
Inside, he found something bizarre, ancient rock paintings of people swimming in a lake surrounded by giraffes, hippos, and crocodiles.
At the time, everybody shrugged it off as some symbolic depiction of the afterlife, because really, who would imagine a lake in the Sahara? Well, fast forward some 70 years later, when a group of archaeologists made a discovery that flipped the script.
In a rock shelter in Libya, they unearthed 15 mummies, along with baskets, ceramic pots, and other everyday items.
This may look like prehistoric junk to most people, but to archaeologists, ooh, it was like uncovering a key piece of evidence.
Those people weren’t just passing through, they lived here.
You see, those weren’t just any mummies.
>> >> They were some of the oldest naturally mummified humans ever found, dating back over 7,000 years.
Take that, Egypt.
Two of them still had readable DNA preserved thanks to a rare natural mummification process, almost a miracle considering the Sahara’s climate’s ability to turn everything into, well, beef jerky.
Scientists struggled to understand where those mummies came from for a while, because the mitochondrial DNA they recovered was not helpful at all.
But thanks to scientific progress, they eventually managed to do a full genome analysis that revealed some weird secrets.
Those people belonged to a human lineage that was completely unknown, and they lived isolated from the rest of humanity for thousands of years.
For decades, researchers assumed that the place where they lived, the Green Sahara, was like a prehistoric highway, a lush corridor that humans and animals used to migrate between sub-Saharan Africa and the Mediterranean.
But the mummies demolished that theory like a hippo sitting on a sandcastle.
Their DNA showed zero genetic mixing with sub-Saharan and Eurasian migrants, keeping their genes pure for 7,000 years.
Their closest genetic relatives weren’t their neighbors living right below the famous desert, but some ancient hunter-gatherers from Morocco and even some guys that lived in the Czech Republic when it wasn’t even a country yet, 50,000 years ago.
We’re not out of the woods yet because those mummies also carried some teeny, tiny traces of Neanderthal DNA, just 10% of the amount found in modern Eurasians.
Now, if you paid attention in school, then you know that Neanderthals lived in Europe and Asia and early humans only mixed with them after migrating out of Africa.
But those Green Sahara folks never left Africa.
So, how did they get Neanderthal genes? The leading theory is that their ancestors mingled with Neanderthals in North Africa 50,000 years ago before settling in the Sahara and cutting off contact with the outside world.
Archaeologists also found cattle bones and tools made of stone and wood at that rock shelter, proving that those people led a thriving pastoral lifestyle.
This discovery made scientists scratch their heads for a while because, you see, animal domestication was not developed in Africa.
So, how did they learn it if they never mingled with anyone? Did they have ancient YouTube tutorials? Hmm, probably not.
The researchers believe they must have traded knowledge with neighboring groups, but just knowledge, no saliva.
It’s almost too hard to believe that outsiders mixed with them.
After all, who wouldn’t want to live in a thriving civilization in the middle of a green paradise, drinking milk, eating meat, and even using animal blood as a protein source.
Ooh, yummy.
They didn’t have to hunt for every meal thanks to their livestock and the abundant water made life pretty sweet.
And yet, they never married outsiders.
Why? Maybe it was a cultural choice to never date outside their own group.
>> >> Or maybe the landscape itself kept them isolated.
This is where scientists place their bets.
They believe that the dense forests and rivers that existed in the green Sahara acted like nature’s no trespassing sign, creating a geographical barrier that isolates animals, plants, and whole societies.
This isolation is the reason why their genes were so unique.
These guys weren’t swapping spit with anyone else.
But this genetic time capsule almost didn’t survive.
For most of the last ice age, the Sahara was even harsher than today, a true dead zone where humans couldn’t survive.
70,000 years ago, even the toughest people disappeared, retreating to the Nile Valley and the Mediterranean coast.
Why? Because Earth was a climate bully.
Massive glaciers stole all the moisture, weakening monsoons until rain clouds barely reached North Africa.
Then came the knockout punches.
Armadas of icebergs flooded the North Atlantic, triggering devastating droughts each time.
This was the Sahara’s ultimate keep out era.
Now, you’re probably wondering how in the world the Sahara turned green after all this and then went back to being a desert again.
Well, it all started 15,000 years ago.
I wasn’t around then.
When Earth was shaking off the last ice age, our planet’s axis was a bit wobbly and because of that, the northern hemisphere got closer to the sun, getting extra sunlight and heat.
This eternal summer turned North Africa into a giant moisture magnet, pulling water from the Atlantic and making it all rain down on the Sahara.
The result of this ridiculous amount of rain was a lush savanna, complete with lakes the size of small countries.
But the African Humid Period was not just a one-time miracle.
The truth is, this eternal on and off switch between green and desert happened to the Sahara more than 230 times since the desert was born.
During one of these events, the Sahara even expanded, getting bigger than it is today.
So, when the green Sahara showed up, you can bet it brought the ultimate ecosystem glow up.
This wasn’t just a light dusting of grass.
We’re talking full makeover.
The transformation was so complete, it even reshaped animal populations.
Cheetahs suddenly struggled with the new prey dynamics, while rodents like the multi-mammate mouse thrived in the suddenly abundant grasslands.
But don’t pack your prehistoric swim trunks just yet.
This paradise had teeth.
The Sahara was an ecological maze of crocodile-infested rivers, malaria-carrying mosquitoes, and big cats lurking in the tall grass.
Crossing it would have been like playing a real-life game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.
This is probably why more groups didn’t settle permanently.
The Sahara’s climate cycled between wet and dry every 20,000 years, hardly a stable zip code.
For most ancient people, it was smarter to treat the green Sahara like an all-you-can-eat buffet.
Grab resources and leave before the desert returned.
Still, this green Sahara period lasted for 10,000 years, giving our mystery shepherds plenty of time to thrive.
But around 5,000 years ago, Earth’s axis shifted again.
The rains moved away, and the Sahara dried up faster than a puddle in July.
As the desert returned, the shepherds from the green Sahara had no choice but to pack up their livestock and leave.
Some researchers believe they migrated toward the Nile, laying the groundwork for ancient Egypt.
So, I guess their legacy lives on.
Besides, their pure lineage may be extinct by now, but some faint genes of the mummies can still be found in the people that live in North Africa today.
But, the introvert mummies were not the only ones using the green Sahara as an Airbnb.
They actually had neighbors just around the corner in a lakeside village in Niger, to be exact.
Those people thrived for 5,000 years and left behind the oldest Sahara desert cemetery, including a man buried in a turtle shell, a grinning Halloween man with filed teeth, and a heartbreaking family embrace frozen in time, victims of the very waters that sustained them.
Eventually, those people disappeared, too, just like it happened to our antisocial friends.
This proves that this desert outsmarts everyone with a landscape that gives paradise with one hand and takes it away with the other.
>> Over 200 mysterious tombs were found in the desert between the Nile and the Red Sea.
That would make sense if they belonged to ancient Egyptians, except they didn’t.
They were much older.
So, who were these people? And more importantly, what happened to them? This all started when archaeologists were using satellite images to look for strange things in the Atbai Desert.
Then, something stood out.
They kept finding these large circular mass graves filled with the bones of people and animals.
And some of them were carefully arranged around one key person in the center, maybe a chief or another important member of the community.
They found 280 enclosure burials in total, 260 of which have never been documented before.
Some were up to 260 ft wide with humans, cattle, sheep, and goats buried inside.
And now, researchers are more confused than ever.
Because this wasn’t the first time something like this had been found.
Similar large circular burial monuments have already been found in the deserts of Egypt and Sudan.
And now, these newly discovered tombs seem to be part of a much bigger picture.
What once looked like isolated examples is now starting to look like a clear pattern.
And this pattern suggests that a single ancient culture may have spread across this huge stretch of desert.
From the borders of modern Sudan to the slopes of the Red Sea Hills.
Study suggests these people lived roughly between 4,000 and 2,000 BCE.
Just before the Egyptians formed the territorial kingdom we know as Pharaonic Egypt.
And unlike the ancient Egyptians, who were focused on farming and urban life, these people were nomads, moving around the desert and raising herds.
But that doesn’t quite match with the fact that some tombs seem more special than others.
I mean, in some of these enclosures, the main person was buried in the center and other people were buried around them.
This suggests these prehistoric societies probably had some kind of hierarchy.
At some point, an elite class emerged in these communities, but scientists still can’t say exactly when that happened.
So, they were nomads living in the Sahara before the Egyptians, and they had some kind of hierarchy in their culture.
But, what happened to them? Well, no one can say for sure, but we do have some clues.
Many of these monuments were built when the Sahara was starting to dry up.
Yep, a long time ago, this desert was actually green.
But little by little, the summer monsoon started pulling back from north to south.
That meant less rain, fewer pastures, and a much harder life for people who depended on animals.
Because of that, these nomads may have had to change the way they lived, and probably headed south or toward the Nile.
We still need more studies, but for now, it looks like these burial monuments are just one part of a much bigger story.
A story about how humans adapted to climate change across North Africa.
>> The first photograph was taken in 1826.
Yeah, there I am, way in the background.
I’m waving.
From then on, we’ve had countless images taken all over the world.
Back in the day, if you really wanted your portrait taken, you needed a painter to help you with it.
You would have had to stand still for long periods of time, making sure the light was just right.
And let’s face it, these portraits weren’t really as exact.
Maybe you’d have asked for your eyes to be a bit brighter, or your lips a bit poutier.
When it comes to famous people in ancient history, there’s not much we can do in terms of photography.
It’s simple, there aren’t any pictures or famous ancient people.
We can try to imagine what they looked like based on their paintings or on texts written about them by highly regarded scholars.
Fortunately, more and more as years go by, this lack of knowledge will become a thing of the past.
Enter forensic facial reconstruction.
With the help of this amazing science branch, we can now have a better understanding of what ancient celebrities look like.
>> >> But, how are scientists able to do that, you might ask.
Go ahead, ask.
Turns out that a person’s skull can tell a lot about their appearance.
Everything from the brow bone to the distance between the eye sockets can showcase a realistic profile.
>> >> Even the nasal chamber or the shape of one’s chin can influence how your face will end up looking like.
It’s like the skull is a blueprint for the face.
Using these bones, artists and forensic anthropologists can work together to reconstruct your appearance through the magic of forensic facial reconstruction.
It’s like real-life detective work, but with more clay and less drama.
Now, I guess you’re thinking, “How correct can these reconstructions really be?” Well, the finished product may not reflect all the details, sure.
You can’t tell a person’s eye color or skin tone just by studying the skull.
Facial hair is equally hard to tell.
And if you have plump cheeks that make you look so cute, your skull will never tell the secret.
But, even with those limitations, facial reconstruction can still show us what someone in history may have looked like.
The process itself is pretty cool.
A trained sculptor works with a forensic anthropologist to figure out the skeletal features and build up the facial traits using clay.
Anthropologists have to consider things like age, gender, ancestry, and any injuries or tooth loss.
Scientists can also do such tasks digitally these days with the help of computers and design software.
With all these amazing scientific advancements in mind, did you hear the latest news about King Tut’s family tree? Well, apparently, his possible father, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, just got a new face makeover.
And let me tell you, he’s looking regal and serene due to some digital reconstruction magic.
But, even though this is the most correct representation of him so far, we still don’t know for sure who he really is.
This fellow was found in 1907 in the Valley of the Kings, just a few feet away from King Tut’s tomb.
>> >> Scientists have been studying him for over a century and think he might be Akhenaten, King Tut’s daddy, and a very important Egyptian ruler for that matter.
Still, some experts remain skeptical and say we need more evidence to confirm his true identity.
The reconstruction of this ancient pharaoh’s face was a months-long project by a group of brilliant scientists in Sicily.
They even brought in a 3D forensic artist from Brazil to help out.
The new model is different from earlier ones because they wanted to focus on his facial features and not get distracted by his hair, jewelry, or other bling.
On the same note, make way for this latest fashion icon.
>> >> No, it’s not some famous model.
It’s a hunter-gatherer woman who lived in Sweden 7,000 years ago.
And boy, is she fierce-looking in her new reconstruction.
She’s rocking a feather cape, a slate necklace, and a belt made from 130 animal teeth.
Talk about being fashion-forward or backward.
Plus, her dark skin is painted with white patterns, making her look like a true work of art.
But, don’t be fooled by her stunning appearance.
This woman was more than just a pretty face.
She was buried upright in a location dating back to 5500 BCE to 4600 BCE.
And her rich jewelry tells us that she was important in her local community.
Thanks to the work of an archaeologist and sculptor, we can now see what this ancient woman looked like.
They used a CT scan of her skull to piece together her face muscle by muscle, creating a unique expression.
It’s like making eye contact with the past.
While we may never know for sure what her role was in her community, her intricate surroundings suggest that she held a special place for her people.
Now, Ötzi, the 5,300-year-old mummy from the Alps, also got a new makeover thanks to this amazing technology.
He didn’t go to a plastic surgeon if that’s what you’re thinking.
Two Dutch brothers used their skills in forensic science and artistry to recreate his face for a new exhibit in Italy.
Otzi was found in 1991 by hikers who stumbled across his mummified and frozen remains in the mountains near the Italian-Austrian border.
He’s been around longer than Stonehenge or the pyramids of Giza.
And now, thanks to the two skillful brothers, we finally know what he looked like.
They used 3D images of his skull to recreate his face.
A photographer also documented the whole process for half a year.
>> >> Earlier research shows he passed away from a wound caused by an arrow.
He was left in a protected area high up in a cold glacier region, so his body was preserved in the snow.
He is now safely kept in a refrigerated cell at the museum, which mimics the wet cold glacial conditions that kept him preserved.
They even have a unique cooling system that makes it possible for the mummy to be displayed.
Otzi’s last birthday was his 46th, which was a pretty ripe old age for his time.
He was about 5 ft 3 in tall and weighed around 110 lb, so he was on the smaller side.
But hey, size doesn’t matter when you’ve been around for over 5,000 years.
King Henry the VII got a digital makeover as well, and boy does he look good.
A graphic artist used a mask of Henry the VII dating from 1509 to create an impressive and realistic reconstruction.
Why a mask, you might wonder? Well, before photography, people used wax masks to preserve someone’s likeness more accurately than paintings or illustrations.
And let me tell you, the restoration of this Henry was a game-changer.
Henry the VII was the King of England from 1485 to 1509.
A depiction of him, which can be found at Westminster Abbey, was already lifelike, but the new digital reconstruction takes it a step further.
It took the team behind it about 2 months to complete using a combination of software, custom algorithms, and really tedious image adjustments that were done manually.
The project started with a high-resolution image of the mask, which was then used to create a 3D model of the subject’s face.
From there, the lighting was designed.
Lastly, facial markings and hair were added.
But what’s even more fun is that a beard was added to Henry VII’s face, too.
Since men during that era were commonly bearded bearded, you know, wore a beard.
We’ll never know for sure if he was bearded or not, but it’s a hilarious touch that adds to the character of the reconstruction.
The same team has also created facial reconstructions of other historical figures like Mary, Queen of Scots, or Oliver Cromwell.
These masks are like secret passages to another time, if you think about it.
It’s amazing how technology can take us back thousands of years to see faces we’ve only imagined.
And who knows? Maybe in a few hundred years, someone will recreate our faces from a selfie we took.
>> >> This is not a Dune set.
This is a very real desert in Niger.
Gao was probably built by the nomadic Sao people and is filled with ksars, which are fortified houses made of salt and clay with giant walls and secret passages.
Located deep in the desert, it was once a vital stop for trans-Saharan caravans, but is now a hotspot for smugglers and bandits.
The site has been off-limits since 2002 due to its dangers.
The origin of the Khazars remain a mystery.
>> >> No archaeological studies have been conducted, leaving many questions unanswered.
Even today, shifting sands reveal and conceal parts of these ancient ruins, fueling local speculation about what might still be hidden beneath the desert.
Speaking of connective tunnels, scientists were blown away by the discovery of lava tubes in Saudi Arabia.
These underground passages form when molten lava cools down.
Researchers believe that ancient nomadic groups may have utilized these tunnels to survive the super harsh desert climates.
While excavating the tunnels, archaeologists uncovered artifacts, rock art, and skeletal remains.
The art and animal bones show that the people who used the tunnels were probably sheep and goat herders.
They’re still piecing together whether these groups lived in the tunnels for extended periods or just used them as temporary shelters.
The Great Pyramid of Giza has been standing for thousands of years, but it’s still hiding secrets.
Using special scanning technology, scientists found two hidden structures under an ancient burial ground.
The first is a shallow L-shaped structure, and below it is a much larger space that could be a final resting place or a chamber.
The smaller structure was filled with sand on purpose, while the deeper one might be an empty chamber.
Experts believe the two are connected, possibly as an entrance leading to a secret chamber.
This is big news because it might give us some more insight into who built the pyramids and why.
The world is full of ancient writing, but some messages refuse to give up their secrets, like the mystery of the Bash Plamy tablet.
This unusual stone, pulled from a lake in Georgia, is covered in symbols no one can read.
Even with modern technology, experts are completely stumped.
The tablet is about the size of a book with 60 symbols carefully carved into its surface.
But, 39 of them don’t match any known language.
Some resemble scripts from ancient civilizations in the Middle East, India, and Egypt, but none are an exact match.
To make things even trickier, part of the tablet is broken off, meaning a piece of the puzzle is missing forever.
To rule out a hoax, scientists studied the tablet closely.
They confirmed it’s made of vesicular basalt, an extremely tough local rock.
Whoever carved these symbols must have been really skilled.
Based on similar archaeological finds, experts believe the tablet could date back thousands of years, possibly to the late Bronze or early Iron Age.
Some symbols repeat, which could mean they’re numbers.
Maybe it’s an inventory list, a record of battles, or even an offering to the deities.
Until someone cracks the code, the Bash Plamy tablet remains an unsolved mystery from the depths of history.
Experts are still stumped with what this Minoan disc might mean.
The Phaistos disc is one of the most mysterious finds from the Minoan civilization.
This 6-in clay object, discovered in 1908, has strange spiral markings that no one has fully decoded yet.
The disc has 241 symbols on both sides, showing everything from people and animals to tools and plants.
Experts have come up with many theories about what the symbols mean.
Some think it’s an early form of Greek.
Others suggest it’s a prayer or a hymn.
And some even believe it could be a letter from a king in Anatolia to a Greek ruler.
Let’s see who will be the first to figure this out.
It’s always a fun day at an archaeologist’s office when they find something as big as a 2,000-year-old marble head.
A French archaeologist mission went digging inside an old medieval house near Alexandria in Egypt and found a statue’s head depicting an old, possibly ill, man.
This statue dates from the last Egyptian dynasty before it became part of the Roman Empire.
And the site where it was found is associated with the likes of Cleopatra and Mark Antony.
For archaeologists, even the smallest finds at this site means a lot.
You’ve heard of Lucy, right? The Australopithecus that was an early ancestor for us humans.
Well, scientists found some of her species’ footprints somewhere in Tanzania.
The so-called Laetoli footprints are over 3 million years old.
The trail stretched 88 ft and has about 70 footprints left behind when a bunch of early humans walked across some wet volcanic ash.
What’s cool is that these early humans were already walking on two feet like us, not all hunched over like apes.
The close spacing of the prints shows they probably had short legs and a shorter stride than we do today.
In an ancient Egyptian temple, archaeologists uncovered a shrine unlike any other, a place dedicated to falcons and two mysterious deities.
One deity had a falcon’s head, while the other wore a crown with a sun disc and cow horns.
But the most baffling discovery was an inscription that read, “It is improper to boil a head in here”.
At the heart of the shrine, there are 15 headless falcons carefully arranged on a pedestal, >> >> likely as offerings to the falcon-headed deity.
One theory suggests the birds were boiled first, perhaps to pluck their feathers before being placed in the shrine, following the strange rule carved into stone.
Archaeologists also found a 13-in iron harpoon nearby.
Its true purpose remains unknown, although the shrine also held remains of fish, mammals, and bird eggs, suggesting that the rituals may have included feasting.
And speaking of ancient Egypt, meet Hathor.
>> >> Scientists named her after the ancient Egyptian deity of motherhood, music, and singing.
This wooden statue, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, was thought to be just a beautiful artifact until a surprising secret was uncovered.
Using an X-ray machine, experts found a mechanical operating system inside it, with pulleys and axles connecting her shoulder to her left leg.
When activated, the system made her hand raise and lower, >> >> an engineering marvel from over 3,000 years ago.
The statue was created during Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, around 1800 BCE, and is often compared to 19th-century automata >> >> due to its advanced design.
It’s believed the statue was used in religious ceremonies, symbolizing Hathor’s role in dance and music.
An unexpected discovery happened in northern Kuwait, where a Kuwaiti-Polish team uncovered a mysterious 7,500-year-old statue.
The statue features an elongated skull, no mouth, narrow eyes, and a flattened nose.
This figure is thought to be an Ophidian figurine, named after the Greek word for snake.
And it was likely made by the Ubaid culture, a civilization known for their pottery skills.
While no one knows exactly what role this weird statue played, it might have been linked to rituals or symbolic practices.
Some scientists think these figurines found in homes or final resting places were tied to important cultural beliefs.
We couldn’t mention unresolved mysteries of this world without speaking about these elongated skulls.
In the deserts of Peru, researchers uncovered five ancient skeletons, two with unnaturally elongated skulls.
While head shaping was common in many cultures, these skulls defy explanation.
Local legends tell tales of the so-called Gentilas, a mysterious race banished underground by the powerful deities.
Some say this is what the skulls represent.
Others think this is some type of genetic anomaly, which was confirmed after finding an infant skull too large to be artificially shaped.
Over 200 mysterious tombs were found in the desert between the Nile and the Red Sea.
That would make sense if they belonged to ancient Egyptians, >> >> except they didn’t.
They were much older.
So, who were these people, and more importantly, what happened to them? This all started when archaeologists were using satellite images to look for strange things in the Atbai Desert.
Then, something stood out.
They kept finding these large circular mass graves filled with the bones of people and animals.
And some of them were carefully arranged around one key person in the center, maybe a chief or another important member of the community.
They found 280 enclosure burials in total, 260 of which have never been documented before.
Some were up to 260 ft wide with humans, cattle, sheep, and goats buried inside.
And now, researchers are more confused than ever.
Because this wasn’t the first time something like this had been found.
Similar large circular burial monuments have already been found in the deserts of Egypt and Sudan.
And now, these newly discovered tombs seem to be part of a much bigger picture.
What once looked like isolated examples is now starting to look like a clear pattern.
And this pattern suggests that a single ancient culture may have spread across this huge stretch of desert.
From the borders of modern Sudan to the slopes of the Red Sea Hills.
Studies suggest these people lived roughly between 4,000 and 2,000 BCE.
Just before the Egyptians formed the territorial kingdom we know as Pharaonic Egypt.
And unlike the ancient Egyptians, who were focused on farming and urban life, these people were nomads, moving around the desert and raising herds.
But that doesn’t quite match with the fact that some tombs seem more special than others.
I mean, in some of these enclosures, the main person was buried in the center, and other people were buried around them.
This suggests these prehistoric societies probably had some kind of hierarchy.
At some point, an elite class emerged in these communities, but scientists still can’t say exactly when that happened.
So, they were nomads living in the Sahara before the Egyptians, and they had some kind of hierarchy in their culture.
But, what happened to them? Well, no one can say for sure, but we do have some clues.
Many of these monuments were built when the Sahara was starting to dry up.
Yep, a long time ago this desert was actually green, but little by little the summer monsoon started pulling back from north to south.
That meant less rain, fewer pastures, and a much harder life for people who depended on animals.
Because of that, these nomads may have had to change the way they lived and probably headed south or toward the Nile.
We still need more studies, but for now it looks like these burial monuments are just one part of a much bigger story.
A story about how humans adapted to climate change across North Africa.
