Around 1878- 1840 BC, the face of the Egyptian Pharaoh Sunvoslet III. Most Egyptian rulers chose to make their portraits look young and strong, but Sunvoslet III chose to show a more realistic face, showing his heavy eyelids, thin lips and diagonal wrinkles. Like many other Egyptian statues, the nose of this statue was later broken. Purchase, gift from Edward S. harkness,1926; CC0 1.0 Universal) The ancient Egyptians were art champions, who carved countless statues, representing the pharaohs, religious figures and wealthy citizens of this society. However, although these statues depict different people or creatures, many of them have one thing in common: a broken nose.

This infectious disease of broken nose is so common that you wonder whether these sniffers caught are the result of an accident or something more sinister is happening.

Therefore, in most cases, the answer is the latter.

The noses of these statues are all broken, because many ancient Egyptians thought these statues had vitality. Adela oppenheim, director of the Egyptian Art Department of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, said that if an opposition force encounters a statue, the best way to paralyze it is to break its nose. [How were the pyramids in Egypt built? ]

However, the ancient Egyptians did not think that statues could stand and walk even with their life force, because they were made of stone, metal or wood. Egyptians don't think these statues are really breathing. "They know they're not inhaling air-they can see it," oppenheim told Life Science. On the other hand, statues have vitality, and vitality comes through the nose. This is the way you breathe.

It is common to hold ceremonies on statues, including the "opening ceremony", in which the statues are painted with oil and different objects are held on them. Oppenheim said, "This ceremony gives the statue a kind of life and strength." Oppenheimer said, "This belief holds that the statue has vitality, so that when necessary, it will inspire opponents to destroy this power." . For example, if people demolish, reuse, rob or desecrate temples, tombs and other sacred places, they may think that statues have vitality and may hurt intruders to some extent. People will even believe hieroglyphics or images of other animals or people.

"You basically have to kill it," oppenheim said. One way is to cut off the nose of a statue or image so that it can't breathe.

However, sometimes the enemy doesn't just stay on the nose. Oppenheim said that some people also smashed or damaged their faces, arms and legs to relieve their vitality.

In some cases, the statue is likely to fall down naturally and the protruding nose will be broken. Due to the erosion of wind and rain, the noses of some statues may also be worn off. But you can usually tell whether the nose is intentionally damaged by observing the cutting marks on the statue, oppenheim said.

In order to let people who want to know more, the Pulitzer Art Foundation in St. Louis has an exhibition to explore how pharaohs and early Christians destroyed Egyptian statues so that they could "kill" any life force they represented. This exhibition is held in cooperation with Brooklyn Museum and will last until August 20th19, 1 1.

How did Egyptian pharaohs come to power and how did Egypt work? Photo: The statue of ancient Egypt found in the pit was first published in Life Science magazine.