Katherine Reece Wrote:
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> The article says its "found not just in people of
> East Asian descent, but also in individuals with a
> number of different syndromes -groups of symptoms
> characteristic of an abnormality- some of which
> are genetically based."

For example, Downs Syndrome creates such an eye structure, among other genetic conditions. Downs children are specifically known for their "oriental" appearance.

FWIW, the use of the Almond shaped eye may be a holdover from the time of Amenhotep III's 3rd Heb Sed, when he is shown in a "rejuvenated" fashion as a god. Portraiture of the king after this period shows not only a young king, but also the almond shaped and epicanthic fold eye of Akhenaten and Nefertiti, as mentioned by Ertman. In Egyptian art it's referred to as the "double folded eye" of Amenhotep III's later representations.

Courtiers, as well as the king, who had not previously been shown with such features adopted them after the 3rd Heb Sed and carried them through the Amarna Period, only to drop the feature after the Amarna period. So, I'm not sure how significant the epicanthic fold eye feature can be said to represent an actual feature when it appears to have been an artistic convention to signify divine transformation, which existed as a royal/divine attribute before Nefertiti appeared with the feature.

Just a thought.

Reference:

Assmann, J. 1996. Preservation and Presentation of Self in Ancient Egyptian Portraiture. In P. D. Manuelian, (ed.), Studies in Honor of William Kelly Simpson, I: 55-81. Boston: Museum of Fine Arts. (Discusses how political and religious influences changed personal portraiture in Egyptian art during the Middle and New Kingdoms.)

Johnson, W. R. 1993. The Deified Amenhotep III as the Living Re-Horakhty: Stylistic and Iconographic Considerations. In Atti, Ed., VI Congresso Internationale di Egittologia, II: 231-236. Turin: International Association of Egyptologists.

_____________. 1996. Amenhotep III and Amarna: Some New Considerations. JEA 82: 63-82.

Müller, M. 1988. Die Kunst Amenophis' III und Echnatons. Basel: Verlag für Ägyptologie.

Spanel, D. 1988. Through Ancient Eyes: Egyptian Portraiture. Birmingham: Birmingham (Alabama) Museum of Art. (This catalog shows a few examples where portraiture of nobles who lived in the pre-Amarna period changed feaures from a regular ---> almond shaped ---> regular shaped eye within the space of about 20+ years of portraiture).

HTH.

Katherine Griffis-Greenberg

Doctoral Candidate
Oriental Institute
Doctoral Programme in Oriental Studies [Egyptology]
Oxford University
Oxford, United Kingdom