It's great that technical progress does not stand still, and today we can look not only at the future, but also in a new way to look at the past.
And, it seems, scientists-anthropologists and bread do not feed, just let "play" modern technology in the work on the reconstruction of the appearance of historical characters. Well, as a token of gratitude, they periodically throw us their discoveries, seeing that you want to go through the school history course again!
Get ready, now you will feel how the skin crawled ...
1. Tutankhamun
That's so, and not a frozen mask of precious metal, in fact, looked Tutankhamen - Pharaoh XVIII Dynasty of the New Kingdom, which ruled Egypt in 1332-1323 years BC. e. His appearance was recreated by British scientists using virtual autopsy. By the way, in their opinion, the famous ruler suffered from genetic diseases and malaria, which finally undermined his health, without letting him live until his 20th birthday.
2. Nefertiti or mother of Tutankhamun
Another mystery is close to unraveling ... In 2003, in the hands of Egyptologist Joan Fletcher, there was a mummy KV35YL, which was identified as Nefertiti - the "main spouse" of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the New Kingdom of Akhenaten. It was then that her appearance was reconstructed. But after 7 years of the results of DNA research this assumption was refuted, recognizing in the mummy KV35YL the sister of Akhenaten or the wife of his predecessor Pharaoh Smenkhkar. Confused? But we also have good news - the only thing the Egyptologists agreed at the moment is that the remains under investigation are in any case belonged to the mother of Tutankhamun himself!
3. Dante Alighieri
Did you ever imagine that you will ever see first hand how black and white engraving comes to life? But thanks to the Italian scientists from the University of Bologna, this became possible. In 2007, they managed to reconstruct the external appearance of the greatest poet, theologian and political figure Dante Alighieri, and even to establish that the author of the masterpiece of world literature "Divine Comedy" suffered narcolepsy - a disease of the nervous system, due to which he was constantly drowsy and could fall asleep.
4. William Shakespeare
No doubt, guesses or assumptions - thanks to the reconstruction of a face performed with a posthumous mask, one can safely say that one of the greatest playwrights of the world, William Shakespeare, looked like this during his lifetime!
5. The Apostle Paul
A scientific study of the sarcophagus found under the altar of the Roman temple of San Paolo-fiori-le-Mura was held recently, in 2009, but the results did not take long to wait - we have a portrait of one of the founders of Christianity, Apostle Paul, who lived in the 5- 67 years n. e.
6. Saint Nicholas
Another saint attracted the attention of scientists, and this time they reconstructed the image of the miracle worker - St. Nicholas of Myra, using as a basis the data of the Italian professor of anatomy, received by him in the 1950s during the restoration in the Basilica of St. Nicholas in the city of Bari.
7. King of France Henry IV
For several years forensic experts and scientists have questioned or recognized as the original mummified head of "Henry IV." But this did not stop them from reconstructing her appearance, and now we have the opportunity to assume that this was exactly what the monarch of the Bourbon dynasty, the king of France and the Huguenot leader, killed by a Catholic fanatic in 1610, looked like during his lifetime.
8. King Richard III
Another surprising discovery was made almost by accident - in the fall of 2012, the remains of the last representative of the male Plantagenet line on the English throne of King Richard III, who ruled from 1483 to 1485, were found and reconstructed under the parking lot in Leicester. It turns out that the monarch died on the battlefield, fighting with the future King Henry VII, having received 11 injuries!
9. Johann Sebastian Bach
You will not believe, but after the remains of a genius German composer of the 18th century were exhumed in 1894, the sculptors repeatedly tried to reconstruct his appearance, relying on numerous portraits. Only, alas, all "attempts" were ridiculed by critics, who thought that this could look like any artist.
But in 2008, for the reconstruction of the appearance of Johann Sebastian Bach, the Scottish anthropologist Caroline Wilkinson undertook, and today there is no doubt that one of the greatest composers of all time and people looked exactly like that!
10. Nicolaus Copernicus
The time is not far off when the portrait of the author of the medieval heliocentric picture of the world, Nikolai Copernicus, will be printed in history textbooks. The remains of the great Polish astronomer, mathematician, mechanic and economist, who made a revolution in natural science, were found where he was buried - in Frombork Cathedral. Well, the scientists of the Warsaw Central Laboratory of Criminalistics did not miss the opportunity to make their own small coup - they reconstructed the face of Nicholas Copernicus by presenting a brilliant scholarly history again!