Egyptologists worked for over a year to produce a digital 3D recreation of the face of Cleopatra, using ancient artifacts combined with modern imaging technology. The result is a beautiful face of mixed ethnicity.
Dr Ashton, of Cambridge University, said the images, to be broadcast as part of a Five documentary on Cleopatra, reflect the monarch's Greek heritage as well as her Egyptian upbringing.
'She probably wasn't just completely European. You've got to remember that her family had actually lived in Egypt for 300 years by the time she came to power.'
Link -via Digg
(image credit: Image Foundry Studios, LTD)
Seriously though, a year to come up with that? Meh..
I can never relate the computer generated face to the real world, they are just too cartoonish for me, but I have a friend who has similar features (who is stunning), and with the mixed ethnicity, she has genetic variability on her side.
Did they tap the guys who made the "Mind's Eye" videos for this?
Instead of a graphic representation of her they really should've had a clay or plaster model of her face built as it would be a lot more easier on the eyes versus the shininess that we associate with CG renderings.
Given that her dynasty was very outspoken about their inbreeding (following the familial model of the pharaohs, doncha know), I wonder what evidence led this team of scholars to believe she was anything other than Hellenic.
Of course, it's would be a mistake -- even with her Greek background -- to call her "European" or to claim that she had "European" heritage. In the broadest sense, these people -- Egyptian, Persian, Greek, Roman, Carthaginian -- saw themselves as bound by the Mediterranean. The uncivilized barbarians lived in Europe. That may seem like a fine point, but to call her heritage "European" projects a false identity onto her, one dictated by modern national identities and one that she would not have claimed for herself.
Back to Cleopatra herself: What is amazing is the level of intelligence, charisma, and political savvy that she possessed. She was also, in a time that arguably equated good looks more directly with the favor and endorsement of the gods, quite the seducer, despite her plain appearance. She must have been an amazing woman.
what exactly did they spend the year doing?
just looks like a bland cartoon...
Wow, so you are saying that Greeks or Italian, the people that created most of modern European culture are not "truly" Europeans, that they can't claim an European heritage.
I don't know where you live and what sense of "European indentity" you have over there, but people in Europe (in ALL europe) consider Italians and Greeks as Europeans.
Redphone: You just said what his last paragraph said. Thanks for playing.
Juanjux: you totally missed the point of what he was saying. Europe as we know it, the collective identity (if such a thing exists) of Europeans as they know it NOW did not exist THEN. Those living in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean saw that part of the world as the center of civilization and to say to them that they could be lumped in with the barbaric tribes to the north of them would be a great insult. Fast forward a few thousand years and that is no longer the case. Anyway, reading comprehension is a must, not a luxury, in the werld-wide webs. Try it sometime.
It's weird to think that there were facial characteristics in the past that have pretty much died out. Take my cartoonish bulbous nose, I've never found another with my nose.
And yes, this computer model is underwhelming it its rendering. Too cartoonish!
--TwoDragons
This reconstruction is just a childish flight of fancy.
I know how to read, thank you very much, maybe you should try to read again:
"
Of course, it’s would be a mistake — even with her Greek background — to call her “European” or to claim that she had “European” heritage
"
And while you're at it, and before give lessons to anybody, study a little of history, read a few clasics (you can start by Julius Caesar or Herodotus, they're easy to read), and understand that Italians and Greeks called the land where they lived EUROPA and called themselves (you can search on any clasic source you can find, for example on the accounts of the now famous battle of Thermopylae) and its barbaric friends EUROPEANS (Herodotus, book IV, XLIX), as oposed to Asians or Africans.
And while you're at it take a look at the geographical origin of some of the peoples that composed the greeks.
Did they tap the guys who made the “Mind’s Eye” videos for this?"
/begin rant
I used to work for the company that made this monstrosity (I left a long time before this), and I never thought I would see the day they appeared on Neatorama. I just felt a little bit of puke come up into my mouth.
Anyone with any talent left Image Foundry Studios (which actually does architectural visuals when they aren't attempting bad facial reconstruction) as soon as they had the chance. Those who couldn't leave for greener pastures were soon made redundant when they moved the whole operation off to India. Clearly they haven't improved since.
If you check out their website you'll see that their talentless director compares HIMSELF to Benito Mussolini.
/end rant
How do you recreate a face without using at least part of the skull? Cleopatra has not been identified.
It looks like just another fantasy pic of her.
Asinoue who was recently discovered had a slight skeleton structure that was of a very slender frame for a female, and her skull was reconstructed to give an impression on how her family siblings might of looked.
After seeing her skull reconstruction it was pretty obvious that Cleopatra's family were quite attractive in facial appearance as Asinoue skull proved.