DOI issue:
Egypt
DOI article:Godziejewski, Zbigniew: Conservation work, 2002: funerary chapel of Meref-Nebef
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.41370#0130
WEST SAQQARA
EGYPT
CONSERVATION WORK, 2002
Zbigniew Godziejewski
FUNERARY CHAPEL OF MEREF-NEBEF
An assessment of the condition of the wall
decoration made upon opening the funerary
chapel of Meref-nebef at the beginning of
the present campaign revealed no actual
losses, but multiple detachments occurring
both in places where fragments of the
decoration had been re-attached last year
(e.g., southern and northern “false doors”)
and in other spots (e.g., band 20 cm high
adjoining the ceiling).
No new salinity concentrations were
observed on the decorated surfaces.
However, salty spots in the form of white
down had appeared on the surface of the
rock in the southern part of the facade, just
beside the southern wall of the shelter.
Data from the ROTRONIC thermo-
hygrometer (which had been reinstalled in
November 2001 in the same spot as the
year before) indicated much smaller
fluctuations in humidity levels than pre-
viously registered11 The lowest humidity
level (45%) was registered in January and
in late March/early April 2002, the highest
(65%) in mid-July 2002. The fluctuation
in the previous year was, for the sake of
comparison, between 30% and 75%. The
temperature fluctuations during the same
period remained at their usual level,
between 14°C in January, 30°C in July and
August, and 29°C on 14 September 2002,
when we re-opened the chapel. Also the
daily fluctuations of both humidity and
temperature have diminished considerably.
It seems that the climatic conditions inside
the chapel have stabilized following the
blocking of ventilation holes in 2001. This
process of controlling the climatic
conditions will be pursued over the
intervening months prior to the next season
as it is absolutely crucial to maintaining the
state of the wall paintings.
Current work in the chapel of Meref-
nebef required foremost a systematic
pasting of all already detached and
endangered places. A water solution (6-
7%) of Primal E330 was applied to
surfaces dampened with 50% ethyl alcohol
(water solution). Wherever, for example,
the detachments were thicker than 3 mm,
the strength of the Primal solution ran to
9-10%.
Air pockets caused by the detachments
and the disintegration of the rocky
substance under the surface were filled
with a putty made from an 8% water
solution of Primal E330 enriched with
calcium carbonate and pure, sifted, fine-
grained sand, colored with small quantities
of pigments (natural sienna and bone
black) to achieve color uniformity. This
procedure concerned the small-sized
fillings in the southern part of the eastern
wall and on the facade. Broader and deeper
degradations in the vizier's representation
on the western wall of the chapel, just
1) Cf. previous report by the author in PAM XIII, Reports 2001 (2002), 143
128
EGYPT
CONSERVATION WORK, 2002
Zbigniew Godziejewski
FUNERARY CHAPEL OF MEREF-NEBEF
An assessment of the condition of the wall
decoration made upon opening the funerary
chapel of Meref-nebef at the beginning of
the present campaign revealed no actual
losses, but multiple detachments occurring
both in places where fragments of the
decoration had been re-attached last year
(e.g., southern and northern “false doors”)
and in other spots (e.g., band 20 cm high
adjoining the ceiling).
No new salinity concentrations were
observed on the decorated surfaces.
However, salty spots in the form of white
down had appeared on the surface of the
rock in the southern part of the facade, just
beside the southern wall of the shelter.
Data from the ROTRONIC thermo-
hygrometer (which had been reinstalled in
November 2001 in the same spot as the
year before) indicated much smaller
fluctuations in humidity levels than pre-
viously registered11 The lowest humidity
level (45%) was registered in January and
in late March/early April 2002, the highest
(65%) in mid-July 2002. The fluctuation
in the previous year was, for the sake of
comparison, between 30% and 75%. The
temperature fluctuations during the same
period remained at their usual level,
between 14°C in January, 30°C in July and
August, and 29°C on 14 September 2002,
when we re-opened the chapel. Also the
daily fluctuations of both humidity and
temperature have diminished considerably.
It seems that the climatic conditions inside
the chapel have stabilized following the
blocking of ventilation holes in 2001. This
process of controlling the climatic
conditions will be pursued over the
intervening months prior to the next season
as it is absolutely crucial to maintaining the
state of the wall paintings.
Current work in the chapel of Meref-
nebef required foremost a systematic
pasting of all already detached and
endangered places. A water solution (6-
7%) of Primal E330 was applied to
surfaces dampened with 50% ethyl alcohol
(water solution). Wherever, for example,
the detachments were thicker than 3 mm,
the strength of the Primal solution ran to
9-10%.
Air pockets caused by the detachments
and the disintegration of the rocky
substance under the surface were filled
with a putty made from an 8% water
solution of Primal E330 enriched with
calcium carbonate and pure, sifted, fine-
grained sand, colored with small quantities
of pigments (natural sienna and bone
black) to achieve color uniformity. This
procedure concerned the small-sized
fillings in the southern part of the eastern
wall and on the facade. Broader and deeper
degradations in the vizier's representation
on the western wall of the chapel, just
1) Cf. previous report by the author in PAM XIII, Reports 2001 (2002), 143
128