by As a teenager, Eid Mertah would book books on King Tutankhamun pores who pursued hieroglyphs and dreamed of holding the golden mask of the young Pharaoh in his hands.
Years later, the Egyptian conservator stormed gently in centuries-old dust from one of the gilded ceremonial shrines of Tut-a piece that he had only seen in textbooks.
“I studied archeology because of it,” said Mertah, 36, AFP. “It was my dream to work on his treasures – and this dream came true.”
Mertah is one of more than 150 conservators and 100 archaeologists who have worked calmly for over a decade to restore thousands of artifacts before the long-awaited opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (Gem)-a project of $ 1 billion on the edge of the Giza plateau.
The start was originally planned for July 3 and was postponed again due to regional security concerns – now expected in the last months of the year.
The opening of the museum has been exposed to delays over the years, from political upheaval to Covid-19 pandemic.
But when it is finally opened, the jewel will be the largest archaeological museum in the world dedicated to a single civilization.
More than 100,000 artifacts will accommodate, with more than half of the public, and a unique feature contains: a live natural protection laboratory.
Visitors can watch from behind glass walls in real time, as experts work in the next three years to restore a 4,500 -year -old boat near Pharao Khufu’s grave, and intends to ferry his soul with the sun god.
But the star of the museum remains King Tut’s collection of more than 5,000 objects – many that are to be exhibited together for the first time.
Among them are his golden funeral mask, gilded coffins, golden amulets, pearl collar, ceremonial characters and two mummified fetuses, which are believed to be his deadborn daughters.
– ‘riddle of the gold’ –
Many of these treasures have not restored them since the discovery of the British archaeologist Howard Carter in 1922.
The maintenance methods used by Carter’s team should protect the objects, but over a century later they have made challenges for their modern successors.
For example, “it kept the objects at the time,” said Bayoumi conservator, “said conservator Hind Bayoumi,” but it then hid the details that the world should see “.
For months, the 39 -year -old Bayoumi and her colleagues had removed the wax that British chemist Alfred Lucas had used, which had been caught for decades, and bluntly stump the shine of gold.
The restoration was a common effort between Egypt and Japan, which contributed 800 million US dollars for loans and provided technical support.
The Egyptian conservators many of Japanese experts trained in 19 laboratories that cover wood, metal, papyrus, textiles and much more, innovative work.
Tut’s gilded coffin – brought from his grave in Luxor – proved to be one of the most complicated jobs.
Conservator Fatma Magdy, 34, magnifying lenses and archive photos used in the wooden laboratory of the GEM to put his delicate gold leaves back together.
“It was like solving a huge puzzle,” she said. “The shape of the break, the flow of hieroglyphs – every detail was important.”
– touch of history –
Before the restoration, the Tutankhamun collection was called up from several museums and deposits, including the Egyptian Museum am Tahrir Square, the Luxor Museum and the grave itself.
Some objects were given light restoration before they were relocated to ensure that they could be moved safely.
The teams first carried out photographic documentation, X -ray analysis and material tests to understand the condition of each element before touching them.
“We had to understand the condition of each piece – the golden layers, the adhesives, the wood structure -“, said Mertah, who worked on the ceremonial shrines of König in the Egyptian Museum.
Fragile pieces were stabilized with Japanese tissue, but strongly stabilized and adhesives such as Paraloid B-72 and Klucel G, both reversible and minimally invasive.
The team’s lead philosophy was consistently reserved.
“The goal is always to do the slightest amount – and to respect the history of the object,” said Mohamed Moustafa, 36, another high -ranking restorer.
In addition to the restoration work, the process for many participants was an emotional journey.
“I think we are more happy to see the museum than tourists,” said Moustafa.
“When visitors go through the museum, they will see the beauty of these artifacts. But for us every piece is a memory of the endless working hours, the debates, the training.”
“Every piece tells a story.”
MAF/SMW/TC
