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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.
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).
SCRIBE : The Magazine of The American Research Center in Egypt : Fall 2023 | ISSUE12
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Updates on excavation, conservation, and research projects developing across Egypt
Dr. Louise Bertini
Executive Director
ARCE in action on
our 75th year
W elcome to the new issue of Scribe magazine! We
hope you had a great summer and are now ready
to hear the latest interesting news about ARCE?s
ongoing work in Egypt and about our plans for
the final months of our 75th anniversary.
Over the last six months, ARCE staff, officers, members, and
our partners have been organizing and hosting events, developing
our library and online resources, and working with excavators,
academics, conservation experts, officials, and heritage management
teams from Egypt and around the world.
In May, we hosted our 74th Annual Meeting in the Minneapolis
Marriot City Center hotel and conference venue, followed the
weekend after by the virtual online conference. Both events were
very successful. In addition to a slate of outstanding presentations,
attendees were treated to special panel sessions and an exclusive
museum workshop entitled ?Engaging Egypt and Africa in Museum
Settings?. The keynote address was a joint presentation by Dr.
Betsy Bryan and Dr. Fayza Haikal, who recounted deeply personal
stories in their talk entitled ?Women in Egyptology: Long Career
Reflections?. This was delivered at the magnificent Minneapolis
Institute of Art and surely left a lasting impression on all who were
in attendance. Next year, the 75th annual in-person meeting will
take place in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, from April 19th to 21st at the
Omni William Penn hotel.
In Egypt, ARCE hosted the Cultural Property Protection
conference with delegates attending from Egypt, Jordan, Iraq,
Yemen, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, and Palestine. This was
made possible thanks to generous funding from the U.S. Embassy in
Cairo, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
(MoTA), the Council of American Overseas Research Centers
(CAORC), and the US Department of State. The conference focused
on ?Sustainable Documentation and Inventories Management? and
ended on a promising note where recommendations were drafted
based on more than thirty presentations by regional experts. Rec-
ommendations included the formation of an ?Arab World Heritage?
network, increasing collaboration through regional joint projects,
and the development of regional training initiatives.
SCRIBE : The Magazine of The American Research Center in Egypt : Fall 2022 | ISSUE 10
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The Celebrations
Continue!
E
veryone interested in ancient Egypt knows of the events
being celebrated this year in Egypt and throughout the
world of Egyptology. It is of course the centennial of
Howard Carter?s amazing discovery of KV62, the tomb
of Tutankhamun, and also the bicentennial of Jean-Fran?ois
Champollion?s demonstration that ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs
could once again be read and understood. ARCE has thus continued
rolling out its suite of events, bringing the celebrations to fruition!
Programs
In April, ARCE held its 73rd Annual Meeting in Irvine, California
where we celebrated these momentous events with our keynote
speaker, the current and 8th Earl of Carnarvon, Lord George
Herbert. To further mark the centennial, we kicked-off our national
chapter lecture tour in June with Dr. Marc Gabolde, who shared the
fascinating story of the fate of several missing artifacts ?diverted?
away from Tutankhamun?s tomb.
The Virtual Annual Meeting also connected researchers and
members from around the world, to participate and share their
own research findings. Both virtual and in-person lectures were
recorded and are all now online, helping more members experience
the lectures at their own convenience. A sincere thank you to all
the ARCE staff and members who helped make both the virtual and
in-person Annual Meeting such a well-organized and successful event.
We also have a number of exciting events coming up including
the continuation of the Tutankhamun Centennial Chapter Lecture
Tour with Dr. Betsy Bryan, who will be travelling to Chicago, Kansas
City, North Texas, and Atlanta chapters between September 26th
and October 3rd. The special event Transcending Eternity: The
Centennial Tutankhamun Conference carried out in partnership
with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities will take
place in Luxor from November 4th-6th, 2022, and we are honored
to continue our partnership with National Geographic through our
collaboration with their Beyond King Tut: The Immersive Experience
project in providing content and partnership programming. See
their advertisement in this issue for a discount code to visit the
exhibition and stay tuned to ARCE.org for more information!
Fieldwork
In Luxor, the renovations of Howard Carter?s house continue thanks
to the generous donation by long-time ARCE board member Adina
Savin. In this issue of Scribe, ARCE?s Sally El Sabbahy and Nicholas
Warner review the fascinating history behind the construction of
Carter?s house and its use in the years following the discovery of
KV62. In the next issue coming out in early 2023, the team will
review the outcome of the conservation efforts and report on the
grand re-opening of the house scheduled for November of this
year, on the actual centennial of Carter opening the tomb on the
4th of November, 1922.
Media Tour
In June, ARCE hosted a special media tour to highlight ARCE
Antiquities Endowment Fund (AEF) projects, Research Supporting
Member projects, and past USAID-funded projects in Cairo. The
tour included a visit to the Great Pyramid to see the results of the
Ancient Egypt Research Associate?s (AERA) AEF-funded project
to record and better-protect Khufu?s Mortuary Temple. The most
visible change is the installation of a new access walkway encircling
the remains of the temple?s formidable black basalt pavement,
which should provide a more secure and less damaging path from
which to see the surviving monumental remains. The tour also
visited the Fatimid-era Bab Zuwayla gate, one of three surviving
entrances that controlled access to the fortified medieval city of
Old Cairo, where from 1998-2003, ARCE spearheaded an intense
conservation project, with support from USAID and under the
supervision of Nairy Hampikian, to remove, restore, and re-install
the Bab Zuwayla?s sizable wood and iron doors. The final site visited
was the Church of the blessed Virgin Mary, Saint George, and Abu
Sefein to see some of the many Coptic icons that that were restored
thanks to conservation efforts led by ARCE between 1998-2004.
It is so important to revisit these successful projects in
conjunction with the media and our colleagues from the Ministry
of Tourism and Antiquities. They show just how great an impact
the USAID grants, member donations, and endowments funds
have ?in the field?.