DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Godziejewski, Zbigniew: Conservation work: in the funerary chapel of Meref-nebef
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41273#0102
_WEST SAQQARA_
EGYPT
Small, very friable fragments of the poly-
chromy (in the zone just below the ceiling
and in the central parts of the "false doors")
were reinforced with Paraloid B72 in
toluene (3%) prior to reattachment. The
same solution was used to reinforce the
falling and crumbling surface of the south-
ern wall in the part which is void of poly-
chromy. Any existing painted fragments
surviving directly on the stone surface were
safeguarded using Japanese tissue paper.
Their fastening to the walls required a spe-
cial mastic which was made of Primal
E33O (10%) with filler containing chalk
and sifted sand (1:1), the substance having
the consistency of a watery paste. Upon
fixed in place, the Japanese tissue paper
was removed from these fragments using
acetone enriched with toluene to dissolve
the Paraloid solution.
Extensive salt efflorescence was the rea-
son why so many pieces of the polychromy
had to be reattached. If the process fails to
be stopped or at least radically reduced,
this procedure may have to be repeated
every year.
In some places (e. g. blocks inserted in
the southeastern corner of the chapel,
inside the hieroglyphs on the "false door"),
the surface of the rock tends to powder. In
order to reinforce it and protect against
detaching, a 6% solution of Paraloid B72
in xylene was applied. This treatment was
repeated twice.
As in the case of the fatjade, structural
lutes were applied, the "bridges" stabilizing
large disconnected surfaces which have been
detached as much as 1 cm from their rock
bedding. This concerns the southern wall
where this type of destmction is consider-
able. The lute used here for the salt-covered
surfaces was composed of: white cement,
chalk, fine sand (1:2:2) modified with
Primal E33O and 2% MORTELDICHT III
(Remers) in 1:2 proportion.
It seems that the exploration of shaft 1
a mere 70 cm from the eastern wall of the
chapel may have a favorable influence on
the condition of the polychromy and of the
rock itself in the northeastern part of the
funerary complex. The ventilation in the
shaft being better than in the chapel, it
would probably cause the salts found in the
rock left between them, and not only there,
to migrate toward the shaft, thus dimin-
ishing the danger of new damages to the
painting layer and the bedrock in the
chapel's north-eastern corner.
100
U. B. HEID:,
EGYPT
Small, very friable fragments of the poly-
chromy (in the zone just below the ceiling
and in the central parts of the "false doors")
were reinforced with Paraloid B72 in
toluene (3%) prior to reattachment. The
same solution was used to reinforce the
falling and crumbling surface of the south-
ern wall in the part which is void of poly-
chromy. Any existing painted fragments
surviving directly on the stone surface were
safeguarded using Japanese tissue paper.
Their fastening to the walls required a spe-
cial mastic which was made of Primal
E33O (10%) with filler containing chalk
and sifted sand (1:1), the substance having
the consistency of a watery paste. Upon
fixed in place, the Japanese tissue paper
was removed from these fragments using
acetone enriched with toluene to dissolve
the Paraloid solution.
Extensive salt efflorescence was the rea-
son why so many pieces of the polychromy
had to be reattached. If the process fails to
be stopped or at least radically reduced,
this procedure may have to be repeated
every year.
In some places (e. g. blocks inserted in
the southeastern corner of the chapel,
inside the hieroglyphs on the "false door"),
the surface of the rock tends to powder. In
order to reinforce it and protect against
detaching, a 6% solution of Paraloid B72
in xylene was applied. This treatment was
repeated twice.
As in the case of the fatjade, structural
lutes were applied, the "bridges" stabilizing
large disconnected surfaces which have been
detached as much as 1 cm from their rock
bedding. This concerns the southern wall
where this type of destmction is consider-
able. The lute used here for the salt-covered
surfaces was composed of: white cement,
chalk, fine sand (1:2:2) modified with
Primal E33O and 2% MORTELDICHT III
(Remers) in 1:2 proportion.
It seems that the exploration of shaft 1
a mere 70 cm from the eastern wall of the
chapel may have a favorable influence on
the condition of the polychromy and of the
rock itself in the northeastern part of the
funerary complex. The ventilation in the
shaft being better than in the chapel, it
would probably cause the salts found in the
rock left between them, and not only there,
to migrate toward the shaft, thus dimin-
ishing the danger of new damages to the
painting layer and the bedrock in the
chapel's north-eastern corner.
100
U. B. HEID:,