Aslam al-Silahdar Conservation and Documentation
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The mosque of Aslam al-Silahdar was built in 1344 by a Mamluk prince and features jewel-toned inlaid marble and glittering glass mosaics. The American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) and the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) carried out the comprehensive conservation of the monument directed by Christophe Bouleau. ARCE and skilled laborers from the surrounding neighborhood worked on the structural and aesthetic conservation of the mosque.
Repairs first began on the exterior of the mosque and the interior was used as a workspace to clean and conserve smaller movable components like doors, wooden paneling, metal grilles, and windows. A geotechnical survey assessed the mosque’s structural stability and cleaning and documentation work began on the exterior façades, roof, dome, and minaret. A new ablution was also constructed to replace the original one, which had posed a conservation risk to the mosque due to water leakage.
The team removed and replaced decayed stones and cleaned the minaret and dome with micro sandblasting. They replaced the wooden roofing and then carefully insulated it against the weather and moisture. Inside the mosque, the project plastered and repainted walls, installed new windows, and conserved and reinstalled original inlaid doors and wooden paneling. Cracks in the walls were consolidated and new brickwork fitted where necessary to reinforce the walls and fill gaps. Finally, conservators cleaned and fully restored all of the mosque’s stunning gypsum and stucco decorations to their original vibrancy.
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Conservation of the monument was funded through the American Research Center in Egypt's Egyptian Antiquities Conservation Project (ARCE-EAC) under the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Agreement No. 263-A-00-04-00018-00, the Aga Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC), and the U.S. Ambassador's Fund for Cultural Preservation.
Red Monastery Architectural Conservation
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The Red Monastery Church conservation project is one of ARCE’s longest and most successful endeavors in preservation. Architectural conservation and site presentation work was carried out at the Red Monastery Church under the supervision of Michael Jones and Nicholas Warner. The work was executed by Nicholas Warner with his team of local, skilled craftsmen.
Among the tasks completed were: the installation of new limestone paving and a new electrical network with LED lighting throughout the church; installation of new wooden doors and cupboards; replacement of sections of timber damaged by termites; roofing work; re-erection of fallen columns in the nave; installation of displays of archaeological finds; installation of a new altar in the sanctuary; and repair and conservation of the interior and exterior of the tower adjacent to the church.
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Conservation of the monument was funded through the American Research Center in Egypt's Cultural Heritage Tourism Project in Egypt (Annual Program Statement) United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Agreement No. 263-A-15-00007.
Akhenaten Talatat Project Conservation
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Talatat blocks, possibly derived from the Arabic word talata meaning “three,” measure roughly three handspans long. Characterized by their Amarna style and smaller size compared to conventional building blocks, they are the result of King Akhenaten’s (1352-1336 BC) goal to urgently erect religious buildings for his “new supreme god” Aten, first in Thebes (ancient Luxor) and later the new city of Akhetaten in Middle Egypt. The talatat blocks were first discovered in the late 19th century and increasingly excavated from then onwards. There are currently approximately 60,000 known blocks, believed to be only a fraction of what exists.
The largest repository of talatat blocks resides in the Pennsylvania Magazine in the Karnak Temple complex in Luxor. The Magazine is directly adjacent to the west wall of the Khonsu Temple and stores approximately 16,000 blocks, the majority of which are sandstone (with a few limestone examples). Used to construct temples for the god Aten, the blocks were subsequently dismantled by Akhenaten’s successors, who reused them in other structures. Previously, from the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, the blocks were photographed and documented in situ by Akhenaten Temple Project staff, under the auspices of the Penn Museum (also referred to as the University Museum, Pennsylvania).
From 2008 to 2012, the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE) Akhenaten Talatat Project Conservation staff cleaned, conserved, photographed, and recorded approximately 16,000 talatat blocks in the Magazine. The blocks had sustained damage which included dangerously leaning stacks; collapsed stacks; dust and bird droppings due to gaps in the roof; hornets’ nests and damage caused by animal burrowing. Matjaž Kačičnik photographed the preliminary conditions of the 28 stacks in the Magazine before project staff proceeded with removing, cleaning, and conserving blocks; some of the shattered blocks were reassembled with steel pins. Documentation included the use of digital photography and database recording. After structural interventions that addressed damage incurred from animal activity and dust accumulation, the blocks were restored in the Pennsylvania Magazine.
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Conservation of the Akhenaten Talatat blocks in the Pennsylvania Magazine was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Agreement No. 263-A-00-04-00018-00 under the Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP), and through the administration and facilitation of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).
Conservation and Documentation of the Tomb Chapel of Menna (TT 69)
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The Tomb of Menna, Theban Tomb number 69, is located in the Theban necropolis of Sheikh Abd el-Qurna in Luxor, Upper Egypt. The rock-cut tomb is famous for the completeness and superb quality of the paintings that adorn its walls. Structurally, the tomb chapel takes the form of an inverted T, with a forecourt, broad hall, and inner hall leading to a statue shrine. The painted decoration is organized symbolically along a central axis that reflected the deceased’s transition from the land of the living in the east to the land of the dead in the west. As such, the walls in the broad hall are concerned primarily with the official duties and celebrations of Menna’s life, while the walls in the long hall depict scenes of his transition to and life in the hereafter.
Menna was an elite official recognized and honored by King Amenhotep III with the Gold of Honor collar, a collar of golden disc-shaped beads, which he wears in most scenes. Menna’s official titles reveal that he was a Scribe, and Overseer of the Fields of the Lord of Two Lands and the Temple of Amun. These titles indicate that Menna administered both state and temple fields, which was an unusual occurrence in the 18th Dynasty. The Broad Hall Near Left wall, abbreviated as BHNL, is also known as the “Agricultural Wall,” and depicts some of Menna’s official responsibilities. Menna’s wife, Henuttawy, appears alongside him on most of the tomb’s walls and bore the titles of “Chantress of Amun” and “Mistress of the House.” Also notable is the intentional damage inflicted on Menna’s likeness in an act of damnatio memoriae, and later destruction to the name of Amun by the agents of Akhenaten.
The project, directed by Dr. Melinda Hartwig, set an unprecedented standard for the conservation and non-invasive documentation of ancient Egyptian tombs. Dr. Hartwig led an interdisciplinary team of experts that undertook the conservation, archaeometric examination, and digital recording of the tomb. The project resulted in an invaluable collection of high-resolution, digital images that were stitched together to create an exact copy of the tomb walls, which were then traced as vector drawings to create line drawings of the decoration. The collection also includes reports, slides, and digital images shot with raking light and ultraviolet light.
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The conservation of the Tomb of Menna was made possible with funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Agreement No. 263-A-00-04-00018-00 and administered by the Egyptian Antiquities Conservation Project (EAC) Agreement No. EAC-11-2007 of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE). The Interuniversity Attraction Poles Program provided additional financial support.
Shunet el-Zebib Documentation and Conservation
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The funerary monument of King Khasekhemwy in Abydos is also known as the Shunet el-Zebib. Little is known about King Khasekhemwy, the last king of the Second Dynasty, but his reign ended in 2686 BC, making Shunet el-Zebib among the oldest surviving mud-brick structures in the world and the best example of Egypt’s earliest tradition of royal mortuary building. Funding from the Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP) between 1999 and 2006 resulted in documentation and conservation of approximately 50% of the 200-meter perimeter using newly made mud bricks of the same size and originally sourced materials to re-establish structural integrity.
Follow-up funding provided under a subsequent USAID grant in 2010 enabled team members to continue with the stabilization and conservation of the enclosure, parts of which still risked collapse. The precarious situation at the Shunet el-Zebib was evidenced by its inclusion in the World Monuments Fund’s 2008 Watch List of the World’s 100 Most Endangered Sites.
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Conservation of the monument was originally funded through the American Research Center in Egypt's Egyptian Antiquities Project (ARCE-EAP) under United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Agreement No. 263-G-00-93-00089-00 (1999-2006) and subsequently funded through ARCE's Egyptian Antiquities Conservation Project (ARCE-EAC) under USAID Agreement No. 263-A-00-04-00018-00 (2010-2012).
Ramesses VI (KV9) Sarcophagus Conservation
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From the destruction of the sarcophagus in antiquity until its restoration beginning in the summer of 2001, the hundreds of fragments making up Ramesses VI’s inner sarcophagus remained scattered around the burial chamber of KV 9. Over the millennia they had been moved from the sarcophagus pit to the platforms at the north and south ends of the burial chamber. Project Director, Dr. Edwin Brock and his team’s goal was to finally reassemble the box and lid. This set, made of green conglomerate and mummiform in shape, is one of two sarcophagi found in the tomb. The other, outer sarcophagus was broken into two pieces and remains in the sarcophagus pit.
The second box is decorated with painted figures and texts. These were documented by the project’s archaeological illustrator, Lyla Pinch-Brock. The decoration is similar to that found on royal sarcophagi of the 19th Dynasty. The decoration was partially obscured by the remains of a resinous substance poured over the sarcophagus as part of the funeral ritual. Test cleaning was carried out but yielded varying results. Due to the inconsistent results and the coating’s ancient context, it was decided not to remove any more of the material.
The face on the lid of the second sarcophagus was missing; it had been taken to England by Giovanni Batista Belzoni who collected antiquities on behalf of the British Consul, Henry Salt. Installed in the British Museum in 1823, the project commissioned a fiberglass replica. This was matched up with the lid fragments and the assembly is now on display in the back of the tomb.
In the spirit of maximizing the informative potential of the artifact by preserving it in its original context, all the work on the sarcophagus was carried out within the tomb. This included conservation, restoration, and final display. Keeping the objects in situ also minimized handling and potential wear. As a result, a significant part of the pilot season was geared towards site preparation -- the installation of an air system to reduce the circulation of dust and other irritants, temporary platforms, an overhead winch, and ramps. All fragments, their surfaces, joins and conservation, were recorded before final assembly. The sarcophagus box was built with the floor laid first, then the sides. Fragments not included in the assembly were displayed nearby.
KV 9, with the restored sarcophagus of Ramesses VI, was re-opened to the public by the Egyptian Antiquities authority on March 21, 2004.
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Ramesses VI (KV9) Sarcophagus Conservation project was made possible with funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Grant No. 263-G-00-93-0089-00 (formerly 263-0000-G-00-3089-00) and administered by the Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP) of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).