Tag Archives: egypt

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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Pigments and Inks Typically Used on Papyrus

This is the third blog post on the Museum’s extraordinary New Kingdom papyrus, the Book of the Dead of the Goldworker Amun, Sobekmose.  My colleagues previously posted blogs on what exactly papyrus is, how it was made and formatted into … Continue reading

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The Egyptian Papyrus “Book”

Once a papyrus sheet was formed it was joined together with other sheets to form long rolls. The papyrus roll format dates back to ~3,000 BCE and there is little evidence individual sheets were ever used alone. Smaller papyrus documents … Continue reading

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Making Papyrus in the Conservation Lab

Before we began treatment on the Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sobekmose papyrus scroll, the staff of the paper conservation lab decided to make our own papyrus sheets.  As with any conservation treatment that we do, … Continue reading

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Wilbour and the Stela of the Seven Years’ Famine: Part II

The first part of this story showed the American Egyptologist Charles Edwin Wilbour discovering and translating a long rock-cut text on the island of Sehel. Wilbour was very excited by the text. It described a seven year long famine in … Continue reading

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Wilbour and the Stela of the Seven Years’ Famine: Part I

Wilbour’s letters to his family, kept in the Museum Archives, give a vivid picture of his travels in Egypt and the research he carried out there. Much of this work consisted of his checking earlier publications of Egyptian monuments against … Continue reading

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