SALT WEATHERING OF IMNI TOMB. PROBLEM IDENTIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION

• Published in: International journal of conservation science 2019-10, Vol.10 (4), p.661-680
• Main Authors: Abdelaal, Shaaban, Yamani, Randa, Abdel-Fatah, Mostafa, Sandu, Ioan Gabriel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Architecture; Bedrock; Building materials; Calcite; Calcium carbonate; Construction materials; Crystallization; Crystals; Egyptian civilization; Historic buildings & sites; Humidity; Inscriptions; Limestone; Microscopy; Minerals; Permeability; Phase transitions; Physical properties; Porous materials; Rocks; Salt; Salts; Sodium chloride; Stone; Tombs; Weathering
• ISSN: 2067-533X; 2067-8223

Imni Tomb is one of the most important tombs in Lisht, which was called Ist tawy in ancient Egyptian language. It is located about 60 km south west of the Egyptian capital Cairo, its history dating back to the Middle Kingdom that included two phases, the 11th Dynasty and the 12th Dynasty between 2050 to 1710 B.C. El-Lisht was investigated in 1882 by Egyptologist Gaston Maspero. The tomb suffered from salt weathering. The salt crystals can be seen clearly and starkly in the form of thick crust on the exposed surface of the tomb limestone and on the painted inscriptions. It led to losing some inscriptions and damaging others. Crystallized salts appeared in several forms; fluffy, needle, prismatic and cubic form. This proposal aimed to study the action of salts in Imni tomb, through studying the types of salts, the building materials and the nature of bed rock surrounding the tomb. types of salts formed were investigated to identify their origin, source and the crystallization process as well as studying the quality of building materials in the tomb, the bedrock to see the impact of salt weathering on them, and to determine the root causes of the problem and to develop a proposal for treatment and conservation. This study was carried out by using a variety of methods of analysis and examination. Physical properties of the building materials of Tomb. Generally, the results indicated that Calcite (CaCO3) was the main component of the Imni tomb and Halite (NaCl) was the main crystalized salt on the surface. The main source of these salts is the mother rock, where the salts are present in abundance and density. Salts crystallization in-between the minerals grains or below the exterior surface was the main cause of deterioration the exterior polish surface of the limestone blocks and what they had of painted inscriptions.