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Deterioration Aspects of the Egyptian Faience Ushabti Statuette of the King Aspelta kept in Atfih Magazine, Egypt

Article

Last updated: 25 Dec 2024

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Abstract

The Aspelta faience Ushabti statuette is one of a group of statuettes kept in Atfih magazine, located 80 kilometers south of Cairo, Egypt. This store contains different types of artifacts excavated from different periods and sites in Egypt. This study aims at characterizing the materials and manufacturing techniques used to produce this statuette and its deterioration aspects. The analytical techniques used were AutoCAD, USB light digital microscope, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Scanning electron microscope coupled with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM-EDX). The results revealed that the efflorescence method was used in the manufacturing of the glaze layer colored with Egyptian blue. Many degradation aspects such as discoloration, increase of porosity, cracks, surficial flaking, and salt crystallization have been observed. Moreover, the X-ray diffraction analysis proved the presence of the basic copper chloride compounds "Atacamite and Paratacamite", which led to the color change of the glaze layer, which may be due to the poor storage and improper preservation. It can be added that these results will help the conservators to produce some solutions for the conservation of these artifacts in the near future.
 

DOI

10.21608/arcs.2022.128604.1021

Keywords

Ushabti Aspelta, Egyptian faience, deterioration aspects, efflorescence, discoloring

Authors

First Name

Mohamed

Last Name

Ibrahim

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.

Email

mmmi228@yahoo.com

City

Giza

Orcid

-

First Name

Ayat

Last Name

Hassib

MiddleName

A.

Affiliation

Grand Egyptian Museum, Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, Egypt

Email

aya.haseeb@gem.eg

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Sherif

Last Name

Omar

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Conservation Department, Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt

Email

sherif_omar_m@cu.edu.eg

City

Giza, Egypt

Orcid

0000-0001-7755-8932

Volume

3

Article Issue

2

Related Issue

38508

Issue Date

2022-12-01

Receive Date

2022-03-20

Publish Date

2022-12-29

Page Start

1

Page End

14

Print ISSN

2682-3454

Online ISSN

2682-3462

Link

https://arcs.journals.ekb.eg/article_277048.html

Detail API

https://arcs.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=277048

Order

1

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,070

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Advanced Research in Conservation Science

Publication Link

https://arcs.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

Deterioration Aspects of the Egyptian Faience Ushabti Statuette of the King Aspelta kept in Atfih Magazine, Egypt

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023