尘封3000年 图坦卡蒙终现真容1
http://www.huanqiu.com 来源：环球网 进入论坛 2007-11-07 13:58
3,000 years old: the face of Tutankhamun
The true face of ancient Egypt went on public display for the first time yesterday, as archaeologists unveiled the mummy of the boy pharaoh Tutankhamun.
The golden death mask of the young king, which covered the mummy, has been a familiar image around the world ever since the British treasure-seeker Howard Carter located the tomb in 1922. But, 85 years to the day since Carter's discovery, the actual face of the 19-year-old monarch was put on view in his underground tomb at Luxor, when the linen-wrapped mummy was removed from its stone sarcophagus for display in a climate-controlled glass box.
Naturally, the face the world can now see is a lot less idealised than the lustrous and splendid golden mask. It is shrivelled and leather-like from the embalming process. But, if less idealised, it is a lot more human and exhibits one very human characteristic in particular: he might have been the lord of all he saw, but young King Tut had buck teeth.
Yesterday's display comes at the end of a two-year restoration of the mummy itself, which was badly damaged by Carter and his staff when they removed the death mask and other jewels decorating the body. It was cut into 18 separate pieces in the process. The restoration, supervised by Egypt's head of antiquities, Zahi Hawass, is intended to protect the mummy for the future as there are fears that its condition is deteriorating with mass tourism and the large number of visitors to the tomb.
"The humidity and heat caused by people entering the tomb and their breathing will change the mummy to a powder," said Dr Hawass. "The only good thing [left] in this mummy is the face. We need to preserve the face."
In recent years, many archaeologists have addressed the lingering questions over how Tutankhamun died and his precise royal lineage. Several books and documentaries dedicated to the young pharaoh, who is believed to have been the 12th ruler of ancient Egypt's 18th dynasty and ascended to the throne at about the age of eight, are popular around the world.
昨日（4号），古埃及的真容首次展现在公众面前——考古学家揭开了法老图坦卡蒙木乃伊的面纱。
自1922年英国寻宝者哈沃德•卡特找到图坦卡蒙法老墓地位置后，这位年轻法老木乃伊身上的黄金面罩从此成为公众熟悉的形象，风靡世界。然而，距离卡特发现他85年后，这位19岁法老的真容才在他卢克索的墓地中公之于众。由亚麻层层包裹的这具木乃伊被从其石棺中移入温控玻璃箱中展出。
当然，比起光彩华丽的黄金面罩来，世人所看到的这张面孔远非那般理想。经过药物保存处理的面部干瘪如皮革。然而即便没有那般理想，它却更具人性，展现出人类的突出特点：或许他曾是万物之尊，但年轻的图坦卡蒙法老的确长着龅牙。
昨日的展示为两年来木乃伊复原工作划上了句号。卡特和他的同事在移除面具和法老身上的装饰珠宝时严重毁坏了这具木乃伊——木乃伊身体裂成了18块。此次复原工作由埃及最高文物委员会主席扎希耶•哈瓦斯指导，旨在进一步保护该木乃伊。专家担心大批游客和参观者涌入古墓会加速破坏木乃伊的保存环境。
哈瓦斯说：“游客进入古墓参观、呼吸都会造成墓内湿度和热度变化，这将使木乃伊变成一堆粉末。这具木乃伊唯一保存完好的只有脸部。我们需要保护好这张脸。”
近年来，诸多考古学家曾就图坦卡蒙死因及准确的家族血缘等悬而未决的问题展开讨论。关于这位年轻法老的书籍和文献已有数部，世人所共知的是：这位法老据信为古埃及18世王朝第12任法老，8岁登基。（沈珺）
