"Surprise" Scientists rediscover the facial features of the greatest and most powerful pharaoh of Egypt before his death at the age of 90

A team of scientists have uncovered the "wise" facial markings of ancient Egypt's most powerful pharaoh, Ramses II, claiming they reveal the distinctive features of his appearance moments before his death.

Ramesses II, who ruled in the 13th century BC, was the nation's greatest ruler, famous for his colossal statues and military exploits during his reign from 1279 to 1213 BC.

To achieve their feat, the scientists used a 3D model of the king's skull, and layered soft tissue and skin to reconstruct his appearance at the time of his death, at the age of 90.

The end result revealed a frail old man with tired facial features, some of which resembled the giant statues of Ramses that still stand in Egypt.

“In the current study we conducted a very broad analysis, comparing the reconstructed face to statues of Ramses II,” said Cicero Moraes, the Brazilian graphics expert behind the facial reconstruction. “The goal was to understand how reliable the statues were, as many would imagine that the fit would be good. But we saw that the statues indicated a good fit with the shape of the nose, and even in some cases, with the shape of the face.”

“We analyzed anthropometric and DNA data from ancient Egyptian populations,” Morais said.

The team chose a skin color palette seen in ancient Egyptian art, as the true color is unknown.

He also designed a grayscale version that shows the pharaoh's eyes closed, to avoid making judgments about his skin and appearance.

“There is always criticism about any work that is published on the Internet, just look at the comments on the news and the discussion on social networks,” Moraes said.

The team also used information from a 1976 study of the mummified remains of Ramesses, which were found in 1881.

The new study determined that Ramses II's teeth were noticeably worn.

The pharaoh also suffered from poor dental and bone health, mainly due to an abscess, which would have caused him a lot of pain.

Scientists collected data from hundreds of contemporary Egyptians to reveal the likely thickness of the pharaoh's skin at different places across his skull.

They followed the anatomical deformation method, where the face and skull of the living donor were digitally altered to match the dimensions of the mummy.

The end result revealed what Morais called “the wise face.” It also looked similar to the previous 2022 reconstruction, created by Sahar Selim of Cairo University and Caroline Wilkinson of Liverpool John Moores University.