Facial Reconstruction of Amenhotep III

[djehuti]

^ Ironically, Brazil is the nation with the largest population of people of African descent in the entire Western hemisphere. People like to complain about Afrocentrics but they do have a point that Egypt is in Africa and the ancient natives of that country were not exactly the fair-skinned types people portray them to be which holds true for their modern descendants. At the same time I don't think these Afrocentrics do themselves any favors when they use West African models to portray Egyptians when there are plenty of modern Baladi and Nubians who fit the part. Again, if they would use modern Baladi as models the Eurocentrics will be the ones looking stupid.

[archaeologist]

It is also a bit ironic that Zahi Hawass accused Cicero Moraes of being influenced by Afrocentric groups.

Hawass said that he does not rule out that this Brazilian designer was motivated by Afrocentric groups, to show the owners of the Egyptian civilization as having black skin. He pointed out that when he raised this issue in the United States of America, demonstrations were held against him in several American cities, organized by Afrocentric advocates who falsify the origins of the Egyptian civilization. He stressed that he will continue to stand against these attempts and that he will organize a campaign to respond to them in the international press and all international forums.

At the same time Moraes got heat from for example King's Monologue who says that his reconstructions are whitewashed.

I once read that Tom Björklund when he made his portrait of the Danish WHG girl Lola got accused by some to have whitewashed her, and by others to have black painted her.

Seems reconstructions and artistic representations of ancient people can sometimes be sensitive stuff.


Lola, a hunter gatherer girl from Lolland, Danmark whose DNA was retrieved
from a "chewing gum" made of birch resin. She lived about 5700 years ago. 
The depiction was considered too dark skinned by some and too light skinned
by others.

When it comes to the Baladi and Nubians in Egypt it seems that many have more or less forgot that they exist.

[archaeologist]

Here is a site where you can find many of Cicero Moraes facial reconstructions

Forensic Facial Reconstructions

He also got some heat from Egyptians who thought his reconstruction of Nazlet Khater 2 was "black painted"

[thelioness]

Oct 9, 2024 18:00:11 GMT -5 archaeologist said:

It seems that Cicero Moraes reconstruction of Amenhotep I also stirred some controversy

BRAZILIAN PHARAOH'S FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION CAUSES CONTROVERSY IN EGYPT

Brazilian designer Cicero Moraes has refuted claims of a lack of scientific rigor when promoting facial images of Amenhotep I

LUIZA LOPES PUBLISHED 2024

Cícero Moraes, a Brazilian graphic designer who became known for making several 3D facial reconstructions of historical figures, refuted the allegations in the article “Images of Amenhotep I in the balance of science”, written by reporter Rania Saber Rafaee , which features statements by former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass and Sahar Saleem , a professor of radiology at Cairo University.

In the published article, experts accused Moraes of lacking scientific rigor and disseminating inaccurate facial images of ancient Egyptian figures , especially in the case of Pharaoh Amenhotep I.

Saleem claimed that the designer's drawing was "nothing more than an artistic work inspired by his imagination" and lacked scientific foundation. Furthermore, experts insinuated that Moraes had no relevant publications or significant experiments related to Amenhotep I, questioning the credibility of his work.

They also criticized his previous attempts at facial reconstruction, arguing that these efforts were not well documented in scientific publications. Another accusation raised by Hawass was that the author was being influenced by Afrocentrist groups, claiming that his reconstructions were motivated by a specific agenda.

Finally, Saleem argued that the images of real mummies used by the author should not be used to create "imaginary representations", claiming that this compromises the scientific accuracy and integrity of the work.

Defense

In a response published on the website ReseachGate and sent to the website Aventuras na História , Moraes argues that his facial approximations are based on scientific methods and academic publications.

The Brazilian highlights that the rigor that Saleem and Hawass demand in some of their work, they themselves do not apply or follow. He mentions the use of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) in their work, ensuring that their use of images and data was in accordance with this license.

Furthermore, the designer highlights the importance of accurately representing the facial features of ancient Egyptians, citing the need for ethnographic information and collaboration with experts in different fields to ensure the accuracy of the reconstructions.

He emphasizes that his work is recognized in the academic community, with publications in high-impact journals and roles as a guest reviewer. “I didn’t start this today, nor am I unknown in academic circles,” he points out.
The author concludes by emphasizing his respect for Hawass and Saleem 's research , expressing the wish that scientists would be more cautious when discussing the work of others, to maintain academic integrity 

“I would like to see scientists who are so beloved by the public being more careful when talking about the work of others, especially when such words are not compatible with the facts,” he concludes.

BRAZILIAN PHARAOH'S FACIAL RECONSTRUCTION CAUSES CONTROVERSY IN EGYPT


Facial reconstruction of Pharaoh Amenhotep I - Disclosure/Cicero Moraes


Facial reconstruction of Pharaoh Amenhotep I / Credit: Disclosure/Cicero Moraes

Amenhotep I was the son of Ahmose I and Ahmose-Nefertari.

The Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities  is the Egyptian government organization which serves to protect and
preserve the heritage and ancient history of Egypt. In December 2019 it was merged into the Ministry of Tourism
with Khaled al-Anani retaining his function. He was replaced by
Ahmed Issa as Minister of Tourism and Antiquities in a cabinet reshuffle on 13 August 2022.



History

It was formed from the Supreme Council of Antiquities in 2011[2] during the presidency of
Hosni Mubarak to deal with the security and theft of Egyptian antiquities.

Past ministers
Zahi Hawass 31 January 2011 – 3 March 2011
Mamdouh Eldamaty June 2014- March 2016
Khaled al-Anani 23 March 2016 August 2022


Cicero Moraes makes many reconstructions for magazines of billed as so and so's "appearance revealed for the first time".
He does tons of them for magazines, all different time periods and places. 
The Egyptian government does not allow Morares access to the mummies so he often works from photos and then uses them
to create 3D imaging on the computer.
As we can see above there were some CT scans for Amenhotep I  
It's hard for me to look his Amenhotep I here because it is just kind of cheesy looking just on an artistic level. 

[Brandon S. Pilcher]

Oct 10, 2024 0:08:28 GMT -5 djehuti said:

^ Ironically, Brazil is the nation with the largest population of people of African descent in the entire Western hemisphere. People like to complain about Afrocentrics but they do have a point that Egypt is in Africa and the ancient natives of that country were not exactly the fair-skinned types people portray them to be which holds true for their modern descendants. At the same time I don't think these Afrocentrics do themselves any favors when they use West African models to portray Egyptians when there are plenty of modern Baladi and Nubians who fit the part. Again, if they would use modern Baladi as models the Eurocentrics will be the ones looking stupid.

Nobody in Egypt today is probably what we would call "pristine" due to all the foreigners the country has absorbed over millennia, but I agree that dark-skinned Upper Egyptians (and maybe some North Sudanese) are probably our best modern proxies for the original Kemetians (i.e. predynastic Upper Egyptians) in terms of physical appearance. I can't think of any population living today who would come closer. Sometimes, you gotta work with what's the best available.

BTW, I wish there artists attempted more reconstructions of predynastic Egyptian specimens. New Kingdom and later mummies get all the attention with these reconstruction efforts.

[djehuti]

^ You bring up another excellent point. Some people try to play stupid and pretend that the general populace of a modern nation represents what the ancient populace looks like. They pretend the average Cairene Egyptian today would look like what the average ancient Egyptian from Menefer (Memphis) would look like, yet nobody expects the average person in Brazil's capital of Brasília to resemble the average person who lived in that area just 1,000 years ago! Yet you have folks like certain trolls from Egyptsearch who would use Alexandrian Egyptians to represent the ancient people of Kmt! LOL

[Brandon S. Pilcher]

Anyway, has anyone checked out the work of a dude on Instagram named usiriah? His Egyptian portrayals are just dope!

[kel]

usuriah ? still too arabized.


Kings monologue and Nidia are the best of class.

AE were Indigenous Black Africans.

best approximations for them are Afar,Beja, Nubian, Sudanese, and West Africans.

The reconstructions must reflect that or cannot be taken seriously.

many modern Baladí look mixed with Turk/Arab.

[kel]

Still not "African" enough.

but a step in the right direction.....I guess

There is still this trend to try and make them racially ambiguous/indeterminate using "North African" as cover.

Oct 6, 2024 22:22:24 GMT -5 djehuti said:

Reconstruction of KV55 Skull



^ The Nefertiti is almost perfect, just the ears don't match.

[thelioness]

Oct 6, 2024 22:22:24 GMT -5 djehuti said:

The Nefertiti is almost perfect, just the ears don't match.

Nidia has two versions

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8TJSbYmvBw&t=35s




I made the ears even larger to match the sculpture ears . This reminds me of some of the 
depictions of the Buddha with large ears
Note the chin on the sculpture is a little more masculine, that bulge at the bottom is wider.
 Another thing is the brow ridge on the sculpture is very thick, thicker than in the reconstruction 
the cheeks are a little less defined than in the reconstructions, slightly fatter but  it overall has 
a good degree of likeness to the sculpture.
  I'm not sure how they determined the identity here how certain it is

[thelioness]

(upper left  colorized version of upper middle sculpture) 


Nefertiti, various 



Cicero Morares doesn't use the art just photos of the skull 
Nidia and King's Monologue pick one or more pieces of art 
but as we can see the art varies. King's Monologue also refers 
to mummy photos if there are any. 
Other reconstructions artists may have access to the skull 
and have a CT scanned skull made in a 3D printer and develop
a real 3D model
But what they build on in it, the fleshier parts of the face,
skin tone and hair can be speculative in any reconstruction case.
I think if you are going to use art colorize the actual art and stay 
true to it, don't make the ears smaller, etc or try to make it more attractive
or catering to a demographic 

One of the two female mummies found in KV21 has been suggested as the body of Nefertiti. DNA analysis did not yield enough data to make a definitive identification but confirmed she was a member of the Eighteenth Dynasty royal line.[49] CT-scanning revealed she was about 45 at the time of her death; her left arm had been bent over her chest in the 'queenly' pose. The possible identification is based on her association with the mummy tentatively identified as Ankhesenamun. It is suggested that just as a mother and daughter (Tiye and the Younger Lady) were found lying together in KV35, the same was true of these mummies.[50]


 

[maverick5]

Oct 11, 2024 23:32:19 GMT -5 kel said:

usuriah ? still too arabized.


Kings monologue and Nidia are the best of class.

AE were Indigenous Black Africans.

best approximations for them are Afar,Beja, Nubian, Sudanese, and West Africans.

The reconstructions must reflect that or cannot be taken seriously.

many modern Baladí look mixed with Turk/Arab.

Not West Africans (outside of maybe Fulani) as @djehut correctly pointed out as all the available craniometric data point to the Ancient Egyptians best resembling Nubians and Horners.....

[kel]

First. Bullshit.

Secondly, the issue is not just one of solely craniometrics but is multidisciplinary.


Nile Valley Basin physiognomy is the best way to describe them with depending on the dynasty localization in Nubia/Sudan

ultimately of so called 'Niger Congo's origin.

So. Yes. West African. this is why Ramsés III paternal haplogroup E1b1a is shared with 90% of modern West Africans

[kel]

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ajpa.1330830105



"Multivariate analyses of crania demonstrate wide variation but also suggest an indigenous craniometric pattern common to both late dynastic northern Egypt and the coastal Maghreb region. Both tropical African and European metric phenotypes, as well intermediate patterns, are found in mid-Holocene Maghreb sites. Early southern predynastic Egyptian crania show tropical African affinities,...."

[maverick5]

Oct 12, 2024 17:34:46 GMT -5 kel said:

First. Bullshit.

Secondly, the issue is not just one of solely craniometrics but is multidisciplinary.


Nile Valley Basin physiognomy is the best way to describe them with depending on the dynasty localization in Nubia/Sudan

ultimately of so called 'Niger Congo's origin.

So. Yes. West African. this is why Ramsés III paternal haplogroup E1b1a is shared with 90% of modern West Africans

Haplogroups alone don't mean much when it comes to overall ancestry and phenotype. Plus Ramses III is only one A. Egyptian pharaoh who got e1b1a it's not like 20 of them got e1b1a. As I mentioned previously we have decades   of craniometric data to help us determine what the Ancient Egyptians looked like and Nubians and Ho  rners are our best candidates.