Category Archives: Egyptian Art

What drew you to the Egyptian Galleries?

One morning in late September, I went to Lan Tuazon’s studio in Bushwick with Pierce Jackson, who is making the videos for Raw/Cooked. Lan was talking us through her sculptural combines, which are now on view in the Museum’s 3rd … Continue reading

Posted in Contemporary Art, Egyptian Art | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Repairing the Book of the Dead

Repairing papyrus can be a little like putting a jigsaw puzzle together. In order to make sense of the many small pieces at hand, we take advantage of the various examination techniques we have here in the lab. One method … Continue reading

Posted in Conservation, Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

35 Animal Mummies meet Twitter and Instagr.am

If you read Lisa’s post on the animal mummy field trip to the Animal Medical Center and got as excited as we did, follow us on Twitter and Instagr.am because we are going to accompany the conservators and curators and … Continue reading

Posted in Conservation, Egyptian Art, Technology | Tagged , , , | 19 Comments

Animal Mummies – X-radiography, and coming soon – CT scans!

These past few weeks we have been steadily packing and preparing to transport a group of animal mummies to the Animal Medical Center (AMC) for CT scanning with radiologist Anthony Fischetti, DVM, MS. In earlier blog posts we described the … Continue reading

Posted in Conservation, Egyptian Art | Tagged , | 10 Comments

Lady Gautseshenu goes to the Hospital

Yesterday, a team of curators, conservators, and art packers and handlers took the last of our human mummies to North Shore University Hospital to be CT scanned.  (See Lisa Bruno and Ed Bleiberg’s blogs about the previous mummies). Lady Gautseshenu, … Continue reading

Posted in Conservation, Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments

Name That Bronx Zoo Cobra? “Wadjet” Of Course!

Last Friday, my husband came home with a New York Post article announcing that the young female cobra who escaped from the Bronx zoo, thus becoming probably the most famous snake in the New York area, if not the whole … Continue reading

Posted in Egyptian Art | Tagged , | 14 Comments

Radiocarbon (carbon-14) Dating of Book of the Dead of Sobekmose

Our research to further understand the Book of the Dead of the Goldworker Amun, Sobekmose continues. Carbon-14 (C-14) dating was one of the first scientific analytical techniques that we employed to confirm the date for this piece, thought to be … Continue reading

Posted in Conservation, Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | 14 Comments

The end of a short season

Because of potential unrest, no foreign missions were allowed to work in the field on Saturday, January 29, so we weren’t able to get back to the paving until Sunday. By late morning Abdel Aziz and Mamdouh had taken down … Continue reading

Posted in Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | 8 Comments

Our last full week

This is the posting intended for January 28 but not sent because of the lack of internet service in Egypt at that time. Richard and I have decided to post this dig diary entry as originally written and will follow … Continue reading

Posted in Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Looking for Adhesives and Identifying Binders in the Book of the Dead Using FTIR

Another scientific analytical technique commonly used in art conservation is called Fourier-transform Infrared Spectroscopy, or FTIR.  The Brooklyn Museum’s Paper Conservation Lab employed this technique to continue analysis of the Brooklyn Museum’s Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of … Continue reading

Posted in Conservation, Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Analyzing Pigments in the Book of the Dead Using XRF Spectroscopy

One of the many scientific analytical techniques used in art conservation is called X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy, or XRF.  The Paper Conservation Lab here at the Brooklyn Museum is using this technique to study the Brooklyn Museum’s Book of the Dead … Continue reading

Posted in Conservation, Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

The Second Week

On January 15 we finished removing the baulk stub over the remains of the southern boundary wall of the Taharqa Gate approach. In this view to the northeast, you can now see that we have a single, wide wall that … Continue reading

Posted in Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Season 25 is underway

We began what will be mainly a study season on January 11 with the traditional cutting of the camel thorn. Fortunately there isn’t much as we had arranged with the SCA and Reis Farouk to have our part of the … Continue reading

Posted in Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments

2010 Mut Reports and Dig Diary 2011

The formal report on the 2010 season of work at the Mut Precinct, in English and Arabic, is now available online in the Mut feature on our website. As those of you who followed the 2010 dig diary will remember, … Continue reading

Posted in Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

IR and UV Examination of Egyptian Papyrus

Following Rachel’s previous discussion on pigments and inks used in our Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sobekmose, I will begin here our discussion of the different examination and analytical techniques we employ in conservation and the … Continue reading

Posted in Conservation, Egyptian Art | Tagged , , , | 5 Comments