Viggen Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 THE bust of Queen Nefertiti housed in a Berlin museum and believed to be 3400 years old in fact is a copy dating from 1912, an expert says. Swiss art historian Henri Stierlin, author of a dozen works on Egypt, the Middle East and ancient Islam, says in a just-released book that the bust currently in Berlin's Altes Museum was made on the orders of Germany archaeologist Ludwig Borchardt on site at the digs by an artist named Gerardt Marks. "It seems increasingly improbable that the bust is an original," Mr Stierlin said... ...full article at The Australian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aurelia Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Haha! So much for the article I posted here a while ago. I'm assuming it's the same bust we're talking about? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maladict Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Pretty feeble stuff for 25 years of research Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 First the Lupa Capitolina; which would be the next one? In any case, I would think the jury is still out; this note has just been published this month by AFP (The Australian). It's interesting to compare this note with the radiologic report of Mr. Huppert, published two months ago also by AFP (Aurelia's post); Mr, Stierlin might not have been aware of this CT scan when he wrote his book. After all, Mr. Stierlin himself admitted that "it was impossible to scientifically establish the date of the bust because it was made of stone covered in plaster" and also that "The pigments, which can be dated, are really ancient"(!?). In fact, after the radioisotopic dating of the metallic Lupa, I wouldn't be so sure about Mr. Stierlin's first statement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klingan Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Shouldn't is be possible (at least in theory) to date plaster? Does anyone know what ancient Egyptian plaster is made out of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maladict Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Shouldn't is be possible (at least in theory) to date plaster? Does anyone know what ancient Egyptian plaster is made out of? I believe Egyptian decorative plaster as used on statues is gypsum-based and contains very low (if any) amounts of carbonates. The story reeks of shameless opportunism, as the statue is about to be moved to its new location. Oddly enough the tabloids don't seem to be interested in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted May 8, 2009 Report Share Posted May 8, 2009 Shouldn't is be possible (at least in theory) to date plaster? Does anyone know what ancient Egyptian plaster is made out of? Even Mr. Stierlin accepts that the pigments are really ancient, so I would infer they have indeed been dated. The problem would be that a modern forgery (early XX century) might have been made using ancient pigments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AEGYPTUS Posted May 9, 2009 Report Share Posted May 9, 2009 (edited) Imagine how annoyed people who invested in the Neues Museum will be if with further research Mr. Stierlin proves to be right lol If its supposed to be its centre piece... Edited May 9, 2009 by AEGYPTUS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viggen Posted May 11, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2009 Zahi Hawass on the claims http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/05/09/72373.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sylla Posted May 24, 2009 Report Share Posted May 24, 2009 (edited) And another lesson from Karl Popper: "You can prove a fake, but you can't prove originals. That's an epistemological problem," Stefan Simon told... A bit of wax was allegedly found in Nefertiti's right eye. When it was carbon-dated a few years back, scientists concluded that might be more than 3,300 years old... The sculpture is composed of the so-called Amarna-mix, a blend of gypsum anhydride plaster applied on top of a limestone base... "This special blend was unknown before 1912," said Simon ... READ MORE in Der Spiegel Online Edited May 24, 2009 by sylla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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