THE CONSERVATION OF TUTANKHAMUN’S LEATHER SCALE ARMOUR

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Head of Organic lab, conservation center the Grand Egyptian Museum and PhD candidate in Heritage and museum studies doctoral program DHMS, faculty of tourism and hotels management, Helwan university.

2 Professor of Egyptology and Heritage Conservation at Helwan university and UNESCO Chair holder on Cultural Heritage Education

3 Professor vice dean for graduate studies and research faculty of antiquities, Ain Shams university.

4 General Director of conservation, the Grand Egyptian Museum, conservation center.

Abstract

تحديد وكشف لطرق صناعة درع توت عنخ آمون ذو القشور الجلدية بمساعدة عمليات الترميم[Ar]                                                     يتناول هذا البحث ويكشف عن تقنيات صناعة الدرع الجلدي ذو القشور الخاص بتوت عنخ آمون. كان هذا الدرع في حالة حرجة وخضع للعديد من إجراءات الترميم. وقد عانى هذا الدرع من بعض مظاهر التلف الخطيرة مثل: التحطم الى أجزاء، حيث عثر على العديد من القشور الجلديه مبعثرة في صندوق ومنفصلة عن الحامل الكتاني للدرع. مما جعل الحدود الخارجية لهذا الدرع مبهمة وغير مفهومة. لذلك كان الدرع في أمس الحاجة للتدخل بالترميم وإعادة البناء. تم اجراء بعض عمليات التوثيق قبل البدء بإجراءات الترميم. تم تطبيق العديد من إجراءات الترميم القابلة لإعادة المعالجة على الدرع سعيا لتحقيق استقرار في حالة الدرع والوصول إلى حالة مستدامة. وتضمنت عمليات الترميم العديد من الفحوص والتحاليل التي ساعدت في الكشف عن المواد والتقنيات الصناعية المستخدمة في تصنيع هذا الدرع. درع توت عنخ آمون ذو القشور الجلدية يتكون من مجموعة من القشور المتصلة بحامل كتاني. يتكون هذا الحامل من عدة طبقات. افترض هوارد كارتر أن هذا الحامل الكتاني يتكون من 6 طبقات. ساعدت عمليات الترميم المختلفة على الكشف عن العدد الحقيقي للحامل الكتاني الى جانب الوصول لأفضل حالة من الإستقرار. يهدف هذا البحث الى تناول أهمية اجراءات الترميم المنفذة في تحديد و الكشف عن المواد المستخدمة في تصنيع الدرع الجلدي القشري.
[En] This paper discusses and views the conservation procedures of the leather scale armour of Tutankhamun, which was in a critical condition and many conservation procedures had to be conducted. The armour suffered from some serious deterioration aspects, such as fragmentation, losing of its original shape, its parts were scattered inside the box and separations from the linen support. The armour needed conservation and reconstruction. Some conservation treatments and materials were chosen carefully after their evaluation. Documentation measures were done before conservation. Several reversible conservation procedures were applied on the armour to reach stabilization and sustainable condition. The conservation treatments included many investigations and analyses that helped revealing materials and techniques of the making of the armour. The leather scale armour of Tutankhamun consisted of leather scales attached to a linen support of several layers. Howard Carter assumed that the linen support consisted of 6 layers, yet recent conservation treatments revealed that the linen support consisted of 12 layers in the upper part near the suspenders, 6 in chest area, and 3 in abdominal area. UV imaging of the scale armour was achieved to test if the armour was involved in any actual battle or war. This paper aims to view the importance of conservation procedures in identifying and revealing all materials used in manufacturing the leather scale armour.

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