This attractive gentleman that you see on the left is approximately 3,000 years old. He is a mummy of Harwa from Egyptian Museum, Torino, Italy.

What makes him interesting is the method that was used to determine what he looked like. One of the problems of archaeology has traditionally been that it is destructive. To see what a mummy was like we needed to unwrap it which essentially destroyed it. Now multidetector computed tomography, that is 3D x-rays folks, are being used as a non-destructive way of examining mummies.

On the right is a sample of the imagery that was used in the reconstruction process.

Harwa was about 45 years old at the time of his death and the multidetector computed tomography images of his face were detailed enough to reveal a mole on his left temple although The Green Man is somewhat uncertain as to why the mole is important.

Dr Cesarani who is pioneering the technique points to it's application in forensics, anthropology and medicine, saying

Police use it for identifying bodies, anthropologists to learn more about individuals in ancient societies and medicine can learn about the diseases that afflicted ancient peoples

To see more pictures and learn about the technique visit The American Journal of Roetgenology