Aspects of conservation in the excavation site of the Athribis temple in Egypt

The late Ptolemaic temple of Athribis in Upper Egypt is built of regional limestone and preciously decorated with reliefs, inscriptions, plaster and polychromy. It is collapsed and only partly preserved and it disposes of some still buried rooms. The temple is situated in a desert climate and highly...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environmental earth sciences 2008-12, Vol.56 (3-4), p.689-697
Main Authors: Leisen, Hans, von Plehwe-Leisen, Esther, Verbeek, Christina, Jürgens, Christine, Krause, Sabine
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Air pollution
Archaeology
Arid climates
Climate change
Conservation
Deserts
Earth and Environmental Science
Earth Sciences
Environmental conditions
Excavation
Geochemistry
Geology
Historic preservation
Limestone
Mosques & temples
Salt
Special Issue
Stone
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Summary:The late Ptolemaic temple of Athribis in Upper Egypt is built of regional limestone and preciously decorated with reliefs, inscriptions, plaster and polychromy. It is collapsed and only partly preserved and it disposes of some still buried rooms. The temple is situated in a desert climate and highly contaminated with soluble salts. Based on mappings of materials and preservation conditions, on investigations into the materials used and the damaging factors the development of a conservation conception for the limestone remains has been started. Conservation materials have been selected or are specially developed. A test area for some tasks has been prepared and controlled after 1 year of exposure. The paper shows the status quo of the work of the stone conservation group in an archaeological site in desert climate.
ISSN:0943-0105
1866-6280
1432-0495
1866-6299
DOI:10.1007/s00254-008-1473-z