Faces of the Pharaohs
A Portrait Gallery
All the portraits downloadable here are reconstructions based on original monuments and human remains of the most important men and women of Ancient Egypt. Click on the images below to get a larger version of them.
Which of us can really be certain what has prompted us to become interested in the study of ancient cultures? As for the lessons that the past has to teach us, I think of history as a voice that speaks endlessly, always listened to but never really heard. Personally, I prefer the study of ancient Egypt above all others. For some reason, I am always delighted when I come across something in my reading that strikes me as being not of historic or political importance but having a timeless, human quality like a letter written by an ordinary man to his family. My delight in this probably indicates that I feel reassured by such things-- that there are certain emotions, needs and strivings that people have always had and likely always will. So, while the lessons of history are seldom learned (although, wouldn't you know, modern military experts have sometimes copied the strategies of the ancients) studying ancient cultures may be our way of getting in touch with our basic, immutable humanity. I believe it is quite safe to say that nothing in Egyptology fascinates us more than the remains of the pharaohs and their ladies. They, like the mummies of Egyptian commoners, are the land of Kemet's noblest and most poignant legacy to us. To all the many questions we have regarding ancient Egypt, these mummies once knew the answers, but now they are forever silent. Still, many things about the mummies speak eloquently about what types of people they were , what they may have died of and how old they were at death. Nevertheless, the royal mummies certainly have presented more puzzles than provided answers. Some of the mysteries connected with them may possibly be cleared up by doing DNA testing on the royal remains. Samples have been taken for such an analysis, but the results or findings have yet to be disclosed. Why do some of us study these long-dead Egyptians so closely and yearn to know as much as possible about them, going so far as to try to make them look still alive in artistic renderings? Even in the horror films, the mummies always get up, often committing mayhem, sometimes searching for lost loves. It is as if these people came from such a magical, glittering, mysterious place that we can't bear for them to be well and truly dead.
Marianne Luban
