Stunning leopard face reconstructed from ancient Egyptian sarcophagus
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Archaeologists released a gorgeous image showing a digital reconstruction of a colorful leopard's face that once adorned an ancient Egyptian sarcophagus.
The leopard's head would have aligned with mummy's head inside the sarcophagus, researchers from the University of Milan explained in a statement.
That position was likely chosen to offer the deceased the strength necessary to complete their overseas journey and to regenerate.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We made the discovery at the end of January 2019, but just finished the 'virtual' restoration of the fragment," Patrizia Piacentini, director of the excavation for the Egyptian-Italian Mission at West Aswan, told Live Science.
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Archaeologists were able to digitally reconstruct a leopard image from pieces of a sarcophagus cover. (University of Milan)
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The animal itself represented power and determination in ancient Egypt, according to the researchers.
A tomb nearby held something else rather unique: pine nuts.
"We like to imagine that the people buried in the tomb of Aswan loved this rare seed — so much so that their relatives placed a bowl next to the deceased that contained them, so that they could feed on them for eternity," Piacentini said in a statement.