Editing Tutankhamun (section)

===Facial appearance===
[[File:Tutankhamun's mummified head.jpg|thumb|Close-up of Tutankhamun's mummified head]]

The appearance of ancient Egyptians, especially Tutankhamun, has remained an area of inquiry and debate.<ref name="e467">{{cite web | last=Lesso | first=Rosie | title=Were Ancient Egyptians Black? Let's Look at the Evidence | website=TheCollector | date=2022-02-09 | url=https://www.thecollector.com/were-ancient-egyptians-black/ | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref> Multiple attempts have been made to reconstruct a computerized image of Tutankhamun's face. In 1983, [[forensic artist]] [[Betty Pat Gatliff]], alongside [[forensic anthropologist]] [[Clyde Snow]], developed a reconstruction image of Tutankhamun's face from a plaster cast of his skull.<ref name="a498">{{cite web | last1=Magazine | first1=Smithsonian | last2=Katz | first2=Brigit | title=Forensic Artist Betty Pat Gatliff, Whose Facial Reconstructions Helped Solve Crimes, Dies at 89 | website=Smithsonian Magazine | date=2020-01-16 | url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/forensic-artist-betty-pat-gatliff-whose-facial-reconstructions-solved-crimes-has-died-180974001/ | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref>

In 2005, an extensively [[news|media-covered]] study by the [[Supreme Council of Antiquities|Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities]] and ''[[National Geographic]]'' employed three different research teams (Egyptian, French, and American) to develop a facial image using [[CT scans]] of his skull. The Egyptian and French teams were informed that their subject was Tutankhamun, while the American team was not informed who the subject was, thereby working blindly. Results were generally similar, although the reconstruction did not resemble [[effigy]] artifacts of Tutankhamun.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna7806495|title=CT scans reveal King Tut's face|date=10 May 2005 |publisher=NBC News}}</ref>{{sfn|Hawass|Saleem|2016|p=252}} The depiction sparked controversy, particularly for its skin color, which also did not resemble painted effigies of Tutankhamun, such as the [[Head of Nefertem]] artifact or the [[mannequin]] artifact.<ref name="s890">{{cite web | title=Mannequin of Tutankhamun | website=ARCE | date=2023-02-15 | url=https://arce.org/mannequin-tutankhamun/ | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref> Throughout the years, the image's light-skinned representation has ignited numerous [[picketing]] protests outside multiple Tutankhamun exhibits that included the depiction.<ref name="l899">{{cite web | title=Tutankhamun was not black, says Hawass | website=Dailynewsegypt | date=2007-09-27 | url=https://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2007/09/27/tutankhamun-was-not-black-says-hawass/ | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref><ref name="j212">{{cite web | title='Tutankhamun was not black': antiquities chief | website=Brisbane Times | date=2007-09-26 | url=https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/world/tutankhamun-was-not-black-antiquities-chief-20070926-ge94td.html | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref><ref name="t153">{{cite web | last=Radford | first=Tim | title=The Shadow King, by Jo Marchant – book review | website=the Guardian | date=2014-01-16 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/jan/16/shadow-king-tutankhamun-jo-marchant-review | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref> Terry Garcia, executive vice president for mission programs for National Geographic in response to protests purported that Tutankhamun's exact skin tone is unknown and that they aimed for a middle skin tone.<ref name="q652">{{cite web | last1=Press | first1=Associated | last2=(EDU) | first2=cmaadmin | title=Black Activists Upset Over King Tut Portraits | website=Diverse: Issues In Higher Education | date=2005-09-27 | url=https://www.diverseeducation.com/demographics/african-american/article/15081071/black-activists-upset-over-king-tut-portraits | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref>

In 2007, amidst more exhibition protests, anthropologist [[Nina Jablonski]] addressed what an educated guess of Tutankhamun's skin tone might be:

<blockquote>"Our best guess is that he was neither lily white nor ebony black. He was probably somewhere in between... When we look at the representation of the Egyptian royalty on the walls of tombs, we see a range of sort of moderate, [[Fitzpatrick scale|tan-colored skin]] on the royalty. This probably is a fairly close approximation of what skin color these people actually had."<ref name="v125">{{cite web | last=Rose | first=Joel | title=King Tut Exhibit Prompts Debate on His Skin Color | website=NPR | date=2007-08-28 | url=https://www.npr.org/2007/08/28/13992421/king-tut-exhibit-prompts-debate-on-his-skin-color | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref></blockquote>

In 2008, Egyptologist [[Stuart Tyson Smith]] criticized the skin-tone choice of the 2005 study, stating that the light skin tone was indicative of a bias, elaborating that ancient Egyptians were generally of darker skin tone, especially in more southern regions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Stuart Tyson |title=Review of From Slave to Pharaoh: The Black Experience of Ancient Egypt by Donald Redford. |url=https://www.academia.edu/43275262 |website=Near Eastern Archaeology 71:3 |date=1 January 2008}}</ref> In 2022, bioarcheologist Andrew Nelson used CT scans and the 3D bioimaging software, Dragonfly, to create a virtual model of Tutankhamun's face. The result was distinct from prior reconstructions from skull CT scans. Nelson stated that the skull anatomy guided the project which made for a more realistic reconstruction.<ref name="d066">{{cite web | title=Bioarcheologist comes face to face with King Tut | website=Western News | date=2022-11-24 | url=https://news.westernu.ca/2022/11/king-tut-face/ | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref><ref name="i685">{{cite web | last=Rivers | first=Heather | title='Mummy guy': Western University scientist digs up new King Tut secrets | website=London Free Press | date=2022-11-25 | url=https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/mummy-guy-western-university-scientist-digs-up-new-king-tut-secrets | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref> Nelson's study did not overlay a skin tone on the facial reconstruction. In 2023, researchers developed a new version of Tutankhamun's face using further [[CT scans]].<ref name="q598">{{cite web | last=Egypt | first=Ancient | title=Tutankhamun's face | website=The Past – History / Archaeology / Heritage / Ancient World | date=2023-08-06 | url=https://the-past.com/news/tutankhamuns-face/ | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref><ref name="v511">{{cite journal | last1=Moraes | first1=Cicero | last2=Habicht | first2=Michael E. | last3=Galassi | first3=Francesco Maria | last4=Varotto | first4=Elena | last5=Beaini | first5=Thiago | title=Pharaoh Tutankhamun: a novel 3D digital facial approximation | journal=Italian Journal of Anatomy and Embryology | volume=127 | issue=1 | date=2023-08-28 | issn=2038-5129 | doi=10.36253/ijae-14514 | doi-access=free | pages=13–22 | url=https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/ijae/article/download/14514/13485 | access-date=2025-03-22| hdl=10447/646773 | hdl-access=free }}</ref> Results greatly resembled the results of the CT scan reconstruction performed in 2005.<ref name="v703">{{cite web | last=Georgiou | first=Aristos | title=Tutankhamun's face revealed in stunning detail in new 3D reconstruction | website=Newsweek | date=2023-06-05 | url=https://www.newsweek.com/tutankhamuns-face-revealed-stunning-detail-new-3d-reconstruction-1804501 | access-date=2025-03-22}}</ref> The skin tone was also akin to the skin tone chosen in the 2005 study.

Depictions of Tutankhamun deemed [[Afrocentrism|Afrocentristic]] have repeatedly generated protest and tension. In 2023, an exhibit titled ''“Kemet: Egypt in Hip-Hop, Jazz, Soul and Funk”'' at the [[Rijksmuseum van Oudheden|Dutch National Museum of Antiquities]] in [[Leiden, Netherlands]] depicted a statue of rapper Nas's (1999) ''[[I Am... (Nas album)|I Am...]]'' album cover, which portrays Nas's face in the Mask of Tutankhamun.<ref name="t487">{{cite web | last=Méndez | first=Chris Malone | title=Museum's Nas-inspired King Tut statue sparks debate about Egyptians' race | website=REVOLT | date=2023-05-25 | url=https://www.revolt.tv/article/2023-05-25/304702/nas-inspired-king-tut-statue-sparks-debate-at-european-museum | access-date=2025-03-27}}</ref> Egyptian antiquities expert Abd al-Rahim Rihan accused the exhibit administrators of promoting Afrocentric [[pseudohistory]] by displaying the Tutankhamun mask with black facial features, indirectly advocating the [[Ancient_Egyptian_race_controversy#Black_Egyptian_hypothesis|black Egyptian hypothesis]].<ref name="u121">{{cite web | last=Independent | first=Egypt | title=Dutch museum claims Tutankhamun was black | website=Egypt Independent | date=2023-05-17 | url=https://egyptindependent.com/dutch-museum-claims-tutankhamun-was-black/ | access-date=2025-03-27}}</ref> Similarly, Ahmed Belal, an Egyptian member of parliament, accused the exhibit administrators of “distorting Egyptian identity” and “attacking Egyptian heritage and civilization.”<ref name="r538">{{cite web | last=Yee | first=Vivian | title=Egypt Is Upset by a Dutch Exhibit About Afrocentrism | website=The New York Times | date=2023-06-18 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/06/18/world/middleeast/egypt-african-dutch-museum.html | access-date=2025-03-28}}</ref> The exhibit administrators denied the accusations, stating that the exhibit takes a neutral position on the race of ancient Egyptians. Daniel Soliman, the exhibition curator, who himself is half-Egyptian, stated that some Egyptians feel an exclusive possession to the pharaonic heritage, while the African diaspora's artistic envisioned of ancient Egypt has been ignored.<ref name="z153">{{cite web | last=Cascone"] | first=["Sarah | title=A Sculpture Depicting King Tut as a Black Man Is Sparking International Outrage | website=Artnet News | date=2023-05-22 | url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/black-tutankhamun-dutch-museum-controversy-2306709 | access-date=2025-03-27}}</ref> Museum director Wim Weijland stated that the exhibition is about art, not racially classifying ancient Egyptians.<ref name="u235">{{cite web | last=Boztas | first=Senay | title=Dutch exhibition on Black culture and ancient Egypt faces social media backlash | website=The Art Newspaper - International art news and events | date=2023-05-19 | url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/05/19/dutch-exhibition-on-black-culture-and-ancient-egypt-faces-social-media-backlash | access-date=2025-03-27}}</ref>

Egyptian journalist, [[Shahira Amin]], in a 2023 article titled ''"Egyptians aren’t racist. They’re frustrated with Western appropriation of their ancient history"'', wrote that "many Egyptians shun their Africanness, preferring to associate themselves with the Middle East and identify as Muslims and Arabs".<ref name="r221">{{cite web | last=Dagres | first=Holly | title=Egyptians aren't racist. They’re frustrated with Western appropriation of their ancient history. | website=Atlantic Council | date=2023-06-29 | url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/menasource/afrocentrism-cleopatra-netflix-egypt-racist-appropriation/ | access-date=2025-03-27}}</ref>