The AUB Archaeological Museum opened a special exhibition on January 29, 2014, showcasing a reconstruction of a Phoenician man, whose 2500-year-old skeleton was discovered in Tunis, in 1994.
The reconstruction uses criminal investigation techniques and dermoplasty, a procedure that relies on skin grafts to recreate molds, to produce an impressive, life-like prototype of a Phoenician man, which was accomplished by Elisabeth Daynes, a French dermoplastic sculptor and specialist.
Estimated to be between 19 and 24 years old at time of death, the young man of Carthage was about 170 centimeters tall, and bore physical features that have come to be associated with Phoenicians – a broad forehead, high orbits and long skull. The reconstruction is considered to be 95 percent accurate, since the color of eyes, hair, and skin could not be verified through criminal investigation techniques.
He was named Arish, or “the beloved one,” according to Punic inscriptions.
As is often the case with archaeological finds, his skeleton was discovered by mistake, when the curator of the Tunis National Museum, Abedelmagid Ennable, was trying to plant a tree back in 1994, and while digging, he uncovered a tomb, where Arish was buried.
More information: http://www.aub.edu.lb/news/2014/Pages/carthage.aspx
