Hello kitty! Leopard face reconstructed from ancient Egyptian sarcophagus

By Mindy Weisberger - Senior Writer 11 hours ago

Archaeologists discovered the painting in a network of tombs in Aswan, Egypt.



Archaeologists digitally reconstructed the leopard image from fragments of a sarcophagus cover.
(Image: © University of Milan)

Excavation of an ancient city of the dead in Aswan, Egypt, recently uncovered pieces of a sarcophagus lid that had been decorated with the colorful face of a leopard. Now, archaeologists have released the first image showing a digital reconstruction of the artwork fragment, found in a necropolis containing 300 tombs and dating to the seventh century B.C.

In the image, most of the big cat's wide-eyed face is visible. When the lid rested on the sarcophagus, the head of the leopard would have aligned with the head of the mummy inside, representatives of the University of Milan said in a statement.

In ancient Egyptian society, leopards represented determination and power; the animal's representation in the tomb was likely intended to strengthen the spirit of the recently deceased for the journey to the land of the dead, according to the statement.

The necropolis that housed the leopard sarcophagus was in use for approximately 1,000 years — until the fourth century A.D. — and the excavation was carried out by an international team of experts with the Egyptian-Italian Mission at West Aswan, according to a statement published in April 2019.

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