Chemical imaging reveals the hidden secrets in Egyptian paintings

Researchers using cutting-edge technique have discovered hidden details in two ancient Egyptian paintings in the Necropolis of Thebes, near the Nile River, which date back more than 3,000 years. The paintings are located inside tombs, in chapels where people gathered to commemorate the dead.

Using portable chemical imaging technology, the researchers identified changes made by the artists that are rare in Egyptian paintings, commonly thought of as the product of highly formalized workflows.

The study is also trying to overthrow the tradition of Egyptology, as the analysis was carried out in the tombs with advanced portable devices, whereas most studies are traditionally carried out in museums or laboratories.

“What is new is the way we are trying to use these tools,” said Philippe Martinez, an Egyptologist at the Sorbonne University in Paris and lead author of the study published on Wednesday (12) in PLOS ONE magazine.

“The way these artworks were treated before was mostly, purely analogue, and they were somewhat assumed – nobody really looked at them from the artists’ point of view. We want to understand how these paintings were made.”

Chemical imaging technology involves x-ray fluorescence. X-rays, which are most commonly used in fracture checking, create a map of the paint surface down to the molecular level, including its chemical properties.

Another process, hyperspectral imaging, analyzes the painting at various wavelengths, such as ultraviolet or infrared, revealing more than is visible to the human eye. Digital technology was used in two tombs dating back to the Ramesside period (1292 BC to 1075 BC) in ancient Egypt.

disappearing hands

The first painting in the study is in the tomb chapels of Menna, an official who served Pharaoh Amenhotep III. The work is considered “the pinnacle of ancient Egyptian painting”, the study noted, and the observed alteration is currently visible to the naked eye – possibly as a result of chemical change over time – but was hidden when the painting was new.

“Menna is a bit like the Mona Lisa of Egypt,” said Martinez. “It is one of the best tombs, known for 200 years, very well preserved”.

In one scene, Menna and his wife are worshiping Osiris, one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt, and Menna raises her hands in front of her face. A third hand, however, is hidden under the layer of white background, making it clear that the figure has been airbrushed.

“We already knew it was there. We have a very clear view of the secondary arm that was later changed. But we can’t say when it was changed, or even why it was changed,” Martinez said.

“What’s interesting is that even though it was seen as just a bug to be fixed, the way it’s fixed differs very, very strongly from the original. Either the owner of the tomb, or the group of artists, or whoever was directing the process, saw this as something wrong, but it was corrected with materials and artistic means that show completely different thinking.”

This small detail could hint at new clues about the painting process. While the tomb decorations are generally believed to be the work of several people working in parallel, these modifications open up the possibility that the paintings were done by different groups at different sessions, the study noted.

The other painting is in the tomb of Nakhtamun, a cleric. Unlike those in Menna’s tomb, these works are underrated and “simply inaccessible”, according to the study. Analysis of the painting of Pharaoh Ramses II revealed several alterations to his crown, necklace and other royal items, likely due to some change in symbolic meaning over time.

“This depiction of Ramses II, interestingly enough, shows him with a growing beard,” said Martinez.

“And this is very strange because we have almost no images of unshaven pharaohs – they often look dreamlike, like superheroes, shown in positions that are timeless in a way. But showing someone with a beard means showing someone at a point in their life, and that’s very rare.”

Some of the details the chemical images reveal are especially intriguing, Martinez added. “Chemical imaging was giving us not only different colors but also different shapes for the king’s neck; the Adam’s apple is never shown in Egyptian art, but here we have one clearly visible. The fixes also show a picture that wasn’t perfect.”

“The Egyptians liked perfection and beauty, but that’s not it, because the shape of the scepter is a little strange: it touches the king’s face. It shows how the artist was really working and how corrections can lead to something less perfect than before. It must have a meaning, but it still eludes us,” he said.

turning over the tradition

By highlighting these hidden details through an on-site analysis, Martinez and his colleagues want to challenge traditionally held assumptions about Egyptian art.

“As an Egyptologist, I am trying to forget what I know, because the knowledge accumulated over the last 200 years is preventing us from seeing what is in front of us,” he said.

“We have to relearn Egyptian paintings and look at them in a new way, because the colors are now very different than they used to be – we hope chemical analysis will help us to really redefine them.”

He adds that digital tools also speed up an otherwise excessively slow process. “Studying a tomb usually takes about 10 to 15 years,” he said. “We think it’s too long because there are about 500 of these monuments, so we would never finish.”

In this way, even works that receive less attention, perhaps because they are in worse condition, can also be documented. “Of the 500 tombs at Luxor, perhaps 50 have had a published analysis, and some of the less well-preserved have been left out. The mission is to make the documentation as accurate and complete as possible every time we open a tomb, whether it is broken or in very good condition.”

Joann Fletcher, an Egyptologist and professor in the department of archeology at the University of York, UK, who was not involved in the research, said: “The results of this new study are exciting as they clearly demonstrate the potential of employing such cutting-edge cutting-edge scientific techniques. situ (on-site) to better engage with ancient Egyptian material.”

Lorelei Corcoran, professor of art history and director of the Institute of Egyptian Art and Archeology at the University of Memphis in Tennessee, who was also not involved in the research, said the work is an example of a welcome trend.

“This demonstrates the potential value of quantitative data, obtained through scientific analyses, for a more comprehensive and less subjective interpretation of ancient Egyptian art,” she said. “And the adaptation of portable (x-ray) instruments as mobile devices designed for use in the field is a very exciting advance in the study of ancient Egyptian wall paintings.”