Mysteries of Ancient Egyptian Artworks Revealed After 3,000 Years

Hidden details of ancient Egyptian paintings from around 3,000 years ago have been revealed by researchers.

A team of scientists used portable devices to perform chemical imaging on artworks in their original context, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE. The chemical imaging techniques used in the study provide a glimpse of what lies under the visible surface of a painting.

They enabled the team to "discover things that were right in front of our eyes but remained unseen because of the blinkers we are wearing without knowing it," Philippe Martinez of Sorbonne University, an Egyptologist and lead author of the study, told Newsweek.

The researchers analyzed two paintings in detail, both of which are located in tomb chapels within the Theban Necropolis, revealing previously unseen alterations and details about their composition.

This Necropolis, located on the west bank of the Nile River opposite the ancient city of Thebes, was used for ritual burials and is considered one of the most important Ancient Egyptian sites.

The two paintings that the researchers studied in detail both date to Egypt's Ramesside period, which spanned the years between 1292–1069 B.C.

"From the point of view of art history...these tombs have been somewhat ignored by science, as deemed of lesser quality but also because, being from the Ramesside period, their representations are mainly ritual and religious in essence. They lack the so-called 'scenes of daily life' that so entranced the lovers of Ancient Egypt," Martinez said.

"During the Ramesside period, the decoration focuses on...the ritual life of the [deceased] and his family and show the funerary practices necessary for their survival and the stages of their progression into the netherworld."

With the first painting, researchers identified alterations made to the position of a figure's arms, though the reason for this relatively small change is not clear.

The team's analysis revealed on the second painting several adjustments to the crown and other royal items shown on a portrait of Pharaoh Ramesses II. This series of changes probably can be explained by a shift in symbolic meaning over time, according to the researchers.

Alterations like these are thought to be rare in such Ancient Egyptian artworks. Experts have traditionally thought that paintings from this culture were produced as a result of a highly formalized and regulated workflow.

"Far from being restricted by what we suppose were heavy conventions, we discover that their art was a lot freer than appeared before," Martinez said.

Many questions remain about when exactly the alterations were made by ancient artists and the reasons behind them, although future research may shed light on these issues.

The study has also yielded information about how the passing of time over the course of millennia has affected the paintings.

"These paintings give us the impression that they are unchanged, almost pristine. Entering these tombs would be like viewing a piece of eternity, the artists having left their workplace barely a few hours ago," Martinez said.

"The molecular distribution maps that we are able to gather prove quite the contrary: the pigments have suffered from degradation simply resulting from the passing of time [and] some molecules have migrated from one layer to the other. The fragile binder has dissolved, freeing the dark-colored pigments used for the texts...that have simply vanished.

"What seems unfinished has often only aged badly. What seems to be unchanged is completely different from what the ancient artist saw at the end of his work," he said.

The study also demonstrates the utility of portable chemical imaging technology that allows researchers to study such artworks in their original location. Most studies to date on ancient Egyptian paintings have taken place in museums or laboratories.