Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (16.2004(2005))

BANGANARTI

SUDAN

The environmental conditions inside the
church of Banganarti were improved after
the building had been partly roofed in the
previous season. Nonetheless, several pro-
blems still remain to be solved.
In many places the supporting walls are
cracked due to earth subsidence; there are
pockets between the plaster and support-
ing wall, the paint layer is flaked and pow-

dered. The holes in the mural surface are
due to termite action inside the plaster,
and wasp nest were found adhering to the
painted surfaces. Salt efflorescence appeared
also on pillars of the Upper Church rebuilt
later and also on the plaster of the Lower
Church. Damage caused by wiping occur-
red often in the past and can be observed in
many places of the church.

CONSERVATION TREATMENT

The two transferred paintings were first
cleaned carefully with soft brushes, scalpels
and cotton swabs with acetone. The surface
was consolidated with a 2% gum arabic
solution in water with a small addition of
ethanol for better penetration of the
consolidator. Flaking parts of the paint
layer were consolidated with PRIMAL AC
33 solution (1:3 in water) [Figs. 2,7].
The facing (two layers of Japanese tissue,
two layers of cotton gauze and a layer of
linen canvas) was attached with a 20% solu-
tion of Mowilith 30/60 in ethanol. It was
provided with a wooden frame support and
suspended from the metal bars of the ceiling
[Fig. 7}. The bricks of the supporting walls
were dismantled to provide access [Fig. 6].
Parts of the painting still adhering to
the wall were cut with saws and detached
onto a wooden table prepared earlier for this
purpose. One of the murals was transferred
in three pieces, the division imposed by
a cracking of the supporting wall in the
past. The paintings were then transported
to workshop facilities for further treatment.
After the murals were transferred, the
walls that once supported the paintings
were dismantled down to the ground,
exposing the earlier paintings in the niche

behind them [Fig. 3}. Unfortunately both
layers of paintings were poorly preserved.
The mud mortar joining the bricks was
attached to the paint layer and it had even
dissolved it in some parts. Its firm at-
tachment to the original mud plaster made
it impossible to rescue the original paint
layer [Fig. 4]-
The surfaces of both paintings were
cleaned carefully with soft brushes, Wishab
sponges, scalpels and cotton swabs soaked
in acetone and consolidated with a 2% gum
arabic solution in water with a small ad-
dition of ethanol for better penetration of
the consolidator. The gum arabic solution
consolidated the powdered fragments well,
but increased the flaking of the delaminated
paint layer. Consequently, the flaking parts
were consolidated with a PRIMAL AC 33
solution (1:3 in water) with better result.
To fill in the pockets in the plaster, kaolin-
sand mortar was used with a small addition
of gum arabic for better adhesion to the
original support [Figs. 5, 8-9}. The new
paintings that had been unearthed on the
walls of the Lower Church were first
cleaned carefully with soft brushes, Wis-
hab sponges, scalpels and cotton swabs
with acetone and consolidated with a 2%

1 For the results of fieldwork in 2004, see report by B. Zurawski in this volume, pp. 297-308; for previous conservation
activities, cf. PAM XIV, Reports 2002 (2003), 251-252; PAM XV, Reports 2003 (2004) 242-243.

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