looool King Tuts beard hastily glued back on with epoxy Curators fear irreversible damage has been done to priceless burial mask of Tutankhamen, the ancient Egyptian boy king The moment a man glues the beard part of King Tutankhamens mask Image 1 of 2 The moment a man glues the beard part of King Tutankhamens mask back on at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo Photo: AP Harriet Alexander By Harriet Alexander2:22AM GMT 22 Jan 2015 The priceless funeral mask of Tutankhamen has been damaged at the Cairo museum, causing curators to glue it back together with white-ish, splodgy glue. The mask, which was discovered in 1922 by British archeologists Howard Carter and George Herbert, is considered one of the finest treasures of ancient Egypt, and was unearthed along with Tutankhamen’s nearly-intact tomb. But in summer last year it was damaged and needed repairing. Some staff at the museum said it was broken by cleaners, while others maintained that the beard on the mask was intentionally removed, because it had become loose. On Thursday curators admitted that they had botched the restoration efforts. “Unfortunately he used a very irreversible material,” one curator told the AP news agency. “Epoxy has a very high property for attaching, and is used on metal or stone – but I think it wasn’t suitable for an outstanding object like Tutankhamen’s golden mask. Related Articles The gilded wooden coffin of the mummy of Tutankhamun Why the world went wild for King Tut 21 Jul 2014 Egypt visa costs rise 01 May 2014 Tutankhamun-inspired Britain 31 Oct 2012 King Tut died of malaria 16 Feb 2010 “The mask should have been taken to the conservation lab but they were in a rush to get it displayed quickly again and used this quick drying, irreversible material.” The conservator said there is now a visible gap between the face and the beard. “Now you can see a layer of transparent yellow.” Another museum conservator, who was present at the time of the repair, said that epoxy had dried on the face of the boy king’s mask and that a colleague used a spatula to remove it, leaving scratches. The first conservator, who inspects the artefact regularly, also saw the scratches and said it was clear that they had been made by a tool used to scrape off the epoxy. Jackie Rodriguez, a tourist who witnessed the repair work on the beard in late August, provided a photo to The Associated Press showing a museum employee holding it in place as the glue sets. The priceless death mask of Tutankhamen before the damage was done (AFP/Getty) “The whole job did look slapstick,” she said. “It was disconcerting given the procedure occurred in front of a large crowd and seemingly without the proper tools.” Inside the Tutankhamen exhibit, the mask remained on display and adhesive could be seen filling a small gap between the chin and what is known as a “model beard” commonly worn by kings and gods. Mahmoud Halwagy, the Egyptian Museum director, said that no damage had occurred to the mask since he took over leadership of the museum last October. “The mask is in a good condition of preservation but there is an obvious part of adhesive material very visible,” he admitted. The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities is one of Cairos main tourist attractions (Alamy) “This could have happened before,” he said, adding that a committee of experts was investigating the incident and would release a report to the public at an unknown future date. The museum is one of Cairo’s main tourist sites, but in some areas, ancient wooden sarcophagi are unprotected from the public, while linen burial shrouds, mounted on walls, crumble from behind panels of glass. The vast majority of its rooms lack climate control and the roof has leaked in recent years. Tutankhamen’s 3,300-year-old mask and other relics from his tomb are its top exhibits. telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/11361822/King-Tuts-beard-hastily-glued-back-on-with-epoxy.html
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 20:56:19 +0000
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