What did Avicenna (Ibn Sina, 980-1037 A.D.) look like?

Abstract

We present a reconstruction of Avicenna's face from the only photograph of his skull available today. The photograph is more than 50 years old, and was obtained during the exhumation of Avicenna's tomb in Hamadan for relocation. The reconstruction procedure was performed by the Centre for Anatomy and Human Identification at the University of Dundee, UK. This is probably the first scholarly attempt to reconstruct Avicenna's face. Historians and clinicians who are interested in the history of medicine may find the current craniofacial analysis of Avicenna and the final output interesting and worth recording. The life, achievements and contributions of Avicenna to medical sciences and the influence of his "Canon" on Renaissance medicine are discussed. © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd.