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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Egyptian tombs depict seldom-seen creatures

Imaging technique reveals painted details lost to time.
Image enhancement showed that what was thought to be a hawk carrying an egg is in fact a vulture with a symbol called an ankh.

Image enhancement revealed that this faded painting depicts not a hawk carrying an egg, as previously thought, but a vulture holding a symbol known as an ankh — a rare combination in the art of ancient Egypt. Credit: L. Evans & A. -L. Mourad/J. Archaeol. Sci. Reports

Brightly coloured paintings of pigs and other creatures rarely seen in Egyptian art have been found on the walls of ancient tombs by scientists using image-enhancement software.

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Nature 553, 253 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-00790-3

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