Ever
wondered what Jesus really looked like? An answer may have emerged on
popularmechanics.com from an exciting new field of science “forensic
anthropology”.
This follows a discovery from British scientists,
assisted by Israeli archeologists, of what they believe is the most
accurate image of the most famous face in human history.
While
this field of science, “forensic anthropology” is usually used to solve
crimes, Richard Neave, a medical artist retired from the University of
Manchester in England, realized it also could shed light on the
appearance of Jesus.
British scientists discovered the “real” face of Jesus
This
is not Neave’s first discovery as he has ventured into controversial
areas before. Over the past two decades, he had reconstructed dozens of
famous faces, including Philip II of Macedonia, the father of Alexander
the Great, and King Midas of Phrygia.
In order to create an
accurate portrait of Jesus, Neave and his research team’s first step was
to acquire skulls from near Jerusalem, the region where Jesus lived and
preached.
With three well-preserved specimens from the time of
Jesus in hand, Neave used computerized tomography to create X-ray
“slices” of the skulls, thus revealing minute details about each one’s
structure.
Special computer programmes then evaluated reams of
information about known measurements of the thickness of soft tissue at
key areas on human faces. This made it possible to re-create the muscles
and skin overlying a representative Semite skull.
