Archaeological secrets from thousands of years ago in northeast Africa have been unearthed thanks to modern-day scientific innovations. A process known as chemical imaging recently revealed “hidden mysteries” about ancient Egyptian paintings located in tomb chapels close to the Nile River — and portable devices made it possible to analyze the 3,000-year-old art on-site in its original locations.
As announced in the peer-reviewed publication PLOS One on July 12, the portable devices enabled Philippe Martinez of France’s Sorbonne University, along with a team of international colleagues, to visit the tombs and analyze the paintings dating back to the Ramesside Period, which lasted from approximately 1,295 B.C. to 1,070 B.C. They were located in tomb chapels in the Theban Necropolis, located just west of the Nile, per a press release.
Thanks to the chemical imaging technology, the team gathered detailed information on the paintings, including paint composition and layering, and alterations that had been made to the pictures over time.
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