BERLIN, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Using CT imaging, German researchers have uncovered a delicately carved face in the limestone inner core of a 3,300-year-old bust of the ancient Egyptian Queen Nefertiti, according to a study published on Tuesday.

    "We acquired a lot of information on how the bust was manufactured more than 3,300 years ago by the royal sculptor," said lead author Alexander Huppertz, director of the Imaging Science Institute in Berlin. "We learned that the sculpture has two slightly different faces."

    The bust of Nefertiti, the wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten who ruled about 1350 BC, was discovered in 1912 by German archaeologists during excavation of the studio of famous royal sculptor Thutmose. A year later it was taken to Berlin, where it has remained one of the city's foremost cultural attractions.

    The researchers wrote in the April issue of Radiology that they first scanned the bust using CT in 1992, but recent advances in CT technology allowed them to analyze it with greater precision.

    The CT images indicated that Thutmose placed layers of stucco of varying thickness on top of the limestone inner core to create the sculpture.

    In addition, compared to the outer stucco face, the inner face has less depth in the corners of the eyelids, creases around the corner of the mouth and cheeks, less prominent cheekbones and a slight bump on the ridge of the nose.

    The findings "showed the limestone core to be not just a mold, but a skillfully rendered work of art," the researchers said in a press release.

    "Retouching the creases in the corners of the mouth and smoothing the bump on the nose on the outer face may have been ...reflective of the aesthetic ideals of that era," they said.