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Conservation of a severely damaged Ibis mummy
Venice Attia  1@  
1 : grand egyptian museum conservation center
giza -  Égypte

In the processes of conservation and restoration of any given piece of Archaeological heritage it is important to gather a lot of data about the given object concerning its history, identity, nature, etc., thus helping and completing work execution in well planned, explained, simple clear and well understood method.

Thus in our study concerning the conservation and restoration of an Ibis mummy it is important to have a background about birds in Ancient Egypt and their species.

The Ibis bird in Old Egyptian cult is considered as the Trickster, Record-keeper, and Sage of Ancient Egypt named Thoth, Tehuti or Djehuty the god of wisdom, writing, measurement, the moon, and magic.

Ibises were reared specifically for sacrificial purposes ,thus in Saqqara area archaeologists found a Serapeum containing about one and a half million mummies of ibises, taking in consideration that Sacred ibises were mummified during the Late Period and Ptolemaic times, and buried in large numbers in different catacombs through Egypt.

Mummification of the ibis included desiccation and evisceration, and the head and neck of the bird were bent backwards and pressed on the body, then dipped in tar and wrapped tightly with linen, knowing that there are different styles of linen wrap.

The conserved Ibis mummy under study has the GEM No: 32222 & other: 1262, its conservation process involved several steps including investigation, documentation, scientific analysis performed & its results as well as used method of sterilization, disinfection, used instruments, materials and techniques during the conservation process.

In conclusion conservation and restoration is a mission of studying, maintaining and keeping of archaeological heritage for generations to come.

 



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