Contributions > By author > Taha Akram

 Abstract:

Mummification is considered one of the most important for giving lot information about history of ancient Egyptian civilization. The Ancient Egyptians believed in the possibility of attaining life after death as well as eternity of their next life. Beside human corpses, the ancient Egyptians mummified animals and pets held a special significance in the afterlife for ancient Egyptians, Mummified animals were quite common in Egypt and included all sorts of animals and birds thought to represent various divinities, and were buried with the dead as offerings to the gods and to help their owners in the journey to the afterlife. Horus the falcon god was Egypt's first national god worshiped by all of Egypt and one of the most important gods of ancient Egypt, Horus was not only a god of the sky but the embodiment of divine kingship and protector of the reigning pharaoh.

The mummy of a falcon represents the god Horus, the falcon is wrapped in the shape of a human mummy, the wrappings constructed with much skill, the head and face constructed of a fine, tan colored tightly woven cloth and has markings in black ink, the artificial eyes and beak of embossed linen, on the chest area the elaborate linen wrappings carefully arranged using two different weaves of light and dark brown cloth, the mummy of falcon inside a wooden coffin, Late Period falcon mummy housed in the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Cairo, Egypt.

The mummies were examined by visual assessment in order to determine the manifestations of deterioration. They were covered by dense dust, and the linen wrappings were slightly dry with darkness, fray, pits and remains of black resin layer on the back side as well as loose textile strips with small missing parts. It has been recorded so by drawing program AutoCAD 2D. It is likely to be the cause of the deterioration of the manifestations of poor storage and insects. Various investigation methods were carried out to identify the fibers, and other materials, which are part of the selected object. X-ray diffraction analysis was used to identify the material used in the black ink. Conservation and restoration were done with mechanical and chemical cleaning for removing of the surface dust and dirt, fixation of loose linen strips, and consolidation. Through the conservation processes, the mummy falcon recovered its aesthetic value.

Keywords: falcon; Mummy; Deterioration; investigation; restoration