Polish Archaeology in the Mediterranean (9.1997(1998))

condition in the lower parts (just above the paving) where the
bricks had been washed out by water which had apparently stood
there for some time, leaving practically only half of the original
thickness of the wall. The preservation of the walls to their present
height is due to a layer of compact mud that had filled the empty
spaces. Immediate conservation consisted of a gradual
reconstruction of the missing parts of the walls. All the
reconstruction works employed original building material
(mudbrick or redbrick and in the arches), or new red-brick (filling
the missing parts in walls) joined by a special mortar (mud and
sand in equal proportions, mixed with a 10% dilution of gum
Arabic. The same mortar but in liquid condition was used to fill the
vertical fissures in the walls. Plaster was fastened to the walls with
homogenous injections of 10% hydropropylocelulosis (Klugel G)
mixed with water and mud. Surface destruction of paints and
whitewash resulting in peeling was treated with the same
hydropropylocelulosis but in a 15% solution diluted in ethanol.
Painted surfaces were cleaned with 2% Liquid PH 11
(Contrad 2000), neutralized by later treatment of the surface with
a 0.5% vinegar and, subsequently, with water. The entire painted
wall surface was protected with a 2% dilution of resin -Movilit 50
in ethanol. Conservation measures also consisted of fastening to the
wall small fragments of painted plaster in order to restore as much
of the mural as possible. Fragments the place of which in the
composition could not be identified with any precision were
gathered together on a special panel on the appropriate wall, below
the mural. A new roof was built over the entire complex of Room
27, 29 and 31, supported on walls of new red-brick erected on top
of existing ones to reach an uniform height of ca. 4.5 m with the
required sloping to the south and west. The roof was made the
traditional way, as was the case in previous seasons, i.e., a structure

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