Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (10.1998(1999))

_DEIR EL-BAHARI

EGYPT

nal stone. In accordance with approved
principles of reconstruction, the surface of
the new parts of plaster were recessed with
respect to the original. Prior to mounting,
all the elements were protected with
hydrophobic preparations in order to pre-
vent humidity from penetrating. The peel-
ing polychromy was reattached and the lost
fragments of the queen's portrait were
modeled in the plaster. Aesthetic consider-
ations dictated the localization of the recon-
structed statue at the northern end of the
portico, in order for the entire length of the
structure to be uniformly accentuated and a
strong emphasis laid on the central axis of
the entrance to the Upper Court (Fig. 1).

The reconstructed statue constitutes
the last of the monumental pieces of statu-
ary to be set up in the facade of the Upper
Portico. The artistic modeling of details of
the already mounted statues, planned for
the coming season, will complete the
reconstruction of the Upper Portico. Work
on the classification of statuary fragments
in the expedition stores has led to the iden-
tification of some 20 big fragments
belonging to the smaller statues of the
queen once standing in the niches of the
western wall of the Upper Court and in the
Hall of the Bark of the Main Sanctuary.
A provisional project for the reconstruction
of two such statues has been prepared.

MAIN SANCTUARY OF AMUN

HALL OF THE BARK
The conservation work was concentrated in
the rooms of the main sanctuary of the tem-
ple lying at the end of the principal build-
ing axis.4) Earlier egyptological research
permitted further original elements (more
than 40 blocks and pieces of blocks) to be
identified as coming from the northern and
western walls and from the six niches in the
hall of the bark. The niches, which had once
held the statues of members of the royal
family, were blocked during the Ptolemaic
repairs and rebuilding of the sanctuary.5) At
the time, the bottom registers of the walls
were also renovated with decorated blocks
brought from, for instance, the room of the
cult statue, as well as huge floor slabs and
blocks from other parts of the temple which
were fitted into the wall. Among the more
than 20 decorated elements installed in the
niches, there were fragments with a repre-
sentation of priest lunmutef, a list of offer-

ings and a table of offerings with the royal
titles carved above it. The deformed walls of
the niche, which have caused mechanical
pressure, crumbling of the edges and crack-
ing of blocks, were dismantled. The dis-
placed blocks were removed, treated and
replaced in position. The thick layer of dirt
and soot, which had gathered on the paint-
ed surface in Coptic times, was removed by
mechanical and chemical means. The clean-
ing required repeated use of tampons satu-
rated in a solution of ammonia water and
Condrat-2000 preparation to soften the soot
which only then could be gradually
removed using glass fiber sticks, scalpels
and sponges. The peeling painted surface
was reattached to the stone and all the air
pockets and blistering were eliminated. The
joints and losses were filled with mineral
putties.
The conservation of the lowermost
course of blocks and the preparation of the

4) PM II, p. 342ff.
5> The only niche not to be blocked was the one by the entrance to the room of the bark in the southern wall. It is also
why the walls of this niche were covered with a thick layer of soot, cf. Z. Wysocki, {in:} Melanges Gamal Eddin Mokhtar
II. Le Caire 1985, p. 361ff.; J. Karkowski, J.K. Winnicki, E. Brecciani, MDAIK 39.(1983), pp. 93ff.

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