Art and THE NEFERTARI WALL PAINTINGS CONSERVATION PROJECT 1986 - 1992 Eterni Art and THE NEFERTARI WALL PAINTINGS CONSERVATION PROJECT 1986 -1992 Eterni MIGUEL ANGEL (ORZO AND MAHASTI AFSHAR EDITORS A joint project of THE GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE and the EGYPTIAN ANTIQUITIES ORGANIZATION THE GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE Egyptian Antiquities Organization £ A C Scientific editors: FRANK PREUSSER AND NEVILLE AGNEW THE GETTY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE Manuscript editor: DINAH BERLAND The Getty Conservation Institute, an operating program Design and coordination: IRINA AVERKIEFF of the J. Paul Getty Trust, is committed to raising public Design consultants: METADESIGN awareness of the importance of preserving cultural Photography: Unless stated otherwise, all photographs are by GUILLERMO ALDANA heritage worldwide and to furthering scientific knowledge Production coordinator: ANITA KEYS and professional practice in the field of conservation. The Technical illustration: AD INFINITUM Institute conducts research, training, documentation, and Printing: TIEN WAH PRESS, LTD. conservation activities in several major areas including © 1993 The J. Paul Getty Trust objects and collections, archaeological sites and All rights reserved Printed in Singapore monuments, and historic buildings and cities. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Art and eternity: the Nefertari wall paintings conservation project 1986-1992/Miguel Angel Corzo and Mahasti Afshar, editors. p. cm. "A joint project of the Getty Conservation Institute and the Egyptian Antiquities Organization." Includes bibliographical references. ISBN 0-89236-130-1 1. Mural painting and decoration, Egyptian·-Conservation and restoration--Egypt--Thebes (Extinct city) 2. Mural paint­ ing and decoration, Ancient--Conservation and restoration-­ Egypt--Thebes (Extinct city) 3. Nefertari, Queen, consort of Rameses II, King of Egypt·-Tomb. I. Corzo, Miguel Angel. II. Afshar, Mahasti Ziai. III. Getty Conservation Institute. IV. Hay 'at al·Athar al-Mi?r1yah. ND2865·T46A78 1992 751.6'2'09623--d C20 93-22451 CIP FRONT AND BACK COVER: MIRROR IMAGES ON THE NORTH SIDE AND SOUTH SIDE OF CHAMBER G, EAST WALL, IN THE TOMB OF NEFERTARI. WEARING HER FULL CROWN OF A VULTURE HEADDRESS WITH DOUBLE PLUMES, NEFERTARI MAKES SUMPTUOUS OFFERINGS OF INCENSE, FOOD, AND COWHIDE TO OSIRIS (FRONT COVER) AND ATUM (BACK COVER) WHO SIT BACK·TO·BACK IN THE CENTER. FACING TITLE PAGE: CAMPSITE OF SCHIAPARELLI EXPEDITION AT THE FOOTHILLS OF THE VALLEY OF THE QUEENS, WESTERN THEBES, EGYPT (1904). PHOTO: COURTESY OF THE Mus EO EGIZIO, TURIN. Contents vi PROJECT MEMBERS ix DYNASTIES OF ANCIENT EGYPT Mohamed Ibrahim Bakr 1 FOREWORD Miguel Angel Corzo 3 INTRODUCTION 6 MAP OF THE THEBAN NECROPOLIS, AND THE NEFERTARI TOMB PLAN 7 COLOR PLATES 18 MAP OF EGYPT Christian Leblanc 19 THE VALLEY OF THE QUEENS AND ROYAL CHILDREN Mahasti Afshar 31 ICONOGRAPHY OF THE NEFERTARI WALL PAINTINGS Stephen Rickerby 43 ORIGINAL PAINTING TECHNIQUES AND MATERIALS USED IN THE TO MB OF NEFERTARI Dusan Stulik, Eduardo Porta, 55 ANALYSES OF PIGMENTS, BINDING MEDIA, AND VARNISHES and Antoni Palet Paolo Mora and THE NEFERTARI CONSERVATION PROGRAM Laura Sbordoni Mora Michael Schilling THE COLOR MEASUREMENT PROGRAM IN THE TOMB OF NEFERTARI Mahasti Afshar 95 PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION OF THE NEFERTARI WALL PAINTINGS Shin Maekawa 105 ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING AT THE TOMB OF NEFERTARI Neville Agnew 123 CONCLUSION Mahasti Afshar 125 SOURCE MATERIALS FOR THE STUDY OF THE NEFERTARI WALL PAINTINGS 125 I. THE HISTORY, ART, AND ARCHAEOLOGY OF THE NINETEENTH DYNASTY 131 II. ABU SIMBEL: GENERAL HISTORY, ART, AND ARCHAEOLOGY 134 III. SCIENTIFIC AND PAINTINGS CONSERVATION STUDIES 140 AUTHOR INDEX Conservation of the Wall Paintings of the Tomb of Nefertari CONSERVATION TEAM OIRECTORS: PROJECT MEMBERS 1986-1992 LEFT, PAOLO MORA BELOW, LAURA SBORDONI MORA EXECUTIVE BODY MOHAMED IBRAHIM BAKR Chairman Egyptian AntiquitiesOrganization CONSERVATION TEAM MIGUEL ANGEL CORZO Paolo Mora and Director Laura Sbordoni Mora The Getty Conservation Institute Abd el-Rady Abd el-Moniem Abd el-NasserAhmed The late A HM E D K A DRY Giorgio Capriotti Former Chairman Luigi de Cesaris Egyptian Antiquities Organization Lorenza D'Alessandro Adamo Franco LUIS MONREAL Giuseppe Giordano Former Director Ahmed-Ali Hussein The Getty ConservationInstitute Lutfi Khaled Adriano Luzi GAMAL MOUKHTAR Gamal Mahgoub Former Chairman Hussein Mohamed-Ali Egyptian AntiquitiesOrganization Paolo Pastorello Stephen Rickerby The late 5 AYE D TAW FI K Sayed A_ el-Shahat Former Chairman Christina Vazio Egyptian Antiquities Organization SCIENTIFIC TEAM Gaballa A. Gaballa PHOTOGRAPHER Talat Mohrem Farrag Abd el·Mouttaleb Essam H. Ghanem Guillermo Aldana Mohamed Nasr Nabil Abd el·Samia H. A. Hamroush Eduardo Porta Neville Agnew B. Issawi RESEARCH: Mahmoud Sadeq Mokhtar S. Ammar Po-Ming Lin ART AND HISTORY Laura Sanders Hideo Arai Shin Maekawa Mahasti Afshar Inee Yang Slaughter Omar el-Arini Modesto Montoto Mohamed el-Sougayar Motawe Balbouch Shawki Nakhla ADMINISTRATION Kamal Barakat Antoni Palet AND MANAGEMENT FERRYMAN Farouk el-Baz Eduardo Porta Ahmed Abd el-Rady Farouk Fawey el-Daewy Asmaa A. el-Deeb Frank Preusser Salah Bayoumy Basyoz Eric Doehne Saleh A. Saleh Sayed Hegazy Michelle Derrick Michael Schilling Mary Helmy Feisal A.H. Esmael Wafa Seddia Romany Helmy CONSERVATION TEAM MEMBERS, APRIL 1992. LEFT TO RIGHT: FRONT ROW, LAURA MORA, PAOLO MORA, ABO EL-RADY ABO EL-MoNIEM, LORENZA D'ALESSANDRO, GIUSEPPE GIORDANO, SAYED EL-SHAHAT. BACK ROW, GIORGIO CAPRIOTTI, LUIGI DE CESARIS, STEPHEN RICKERBY, ADRIANO LUZI, CHRISTINA VAZIO, AHMED-ALI HUSSEIN. NEFERTARI'S THIRTY-THREE-FOOT HIGH COLOSSUS STANDS NEXT TO THE PHA­ RAOH RAMESES II ON THE FA�ADE OF THE SMALL TEMPLE AT ABU SIMBEL RAMESES DEDICATED THIS TEMPLE TO THE GODDESS HATHOR AND THE DEI­ FIED NEFERTARL IT IS A MONUMENT TO THE EXCEPTIONAL STATUS ENJOYED BY HIS FAVORITE WIFE. THE QUEEN IS CROWNED WITH HATHOR'S EMBLEM­ ATIC COW HORNS AND SOLAR DISK. Dynasties of Ancient Egypt Late Predynastic Period ca. 3000 B.C.E. Early Dynastic Period (Dynasties 1-11) 2920-2575 Old Kingdom (Dynasties III-VI) 2575-2134 First Intermediate Period (Dynasties VII-XIl1) 2134-2040 Middle Kingdom (Dynasties XI/2-XII) 2040-1640 Second Intermediate Period (Dynasties XIII-XVII) 1640-1532 New Kingdom DYNASTY XVIII 1550-1307 DYNASTY XIX THE RAMESSIDES Rameses I Sety I Rameses II reigned 1290-1224 Merneptah Amenmes Sety II Siptah Twosre DYNASTY XX 1196-1070 Third Intermediate Period (Dynasties XXI-XXIV) 1070-712 Late Period (Dynasties XXV-XXXI) 712-332 Macedonian-Ptolemaic Period 332-30 B.C.E. Roman Period 30 8.C.E.-395 C.E. ALL DATES ARE APPROXIMATE. AFTER JOHN BAINES AND TAROMIR MALEK, A TLAS OF ANCIENT EGYPT, OXFORD, 1980. ". ·-:;;t .- . ' . -. .- "..� -� ." " .. 0;.;::"::' �..... : �...r..-'"- .. "*' -::<to --��:�.::..�-:.' -�- , WORKMEN EXCAVATING IN THE VALLEY OF THE QUEENS, SCHIAPARELLI EXPEDI' TION, CA. 1904. THE ITALIAN ARCHAEOLOGICAL MISSION IN EGYPT DISCOVERED SEVERAL UNKNOWN TOMBS IN THE THEBAN NECROPOLIS, INCLUDING THE TOMB OF NEFERTARI. Foreword The Nefertari Conservation Project, jointly conducted by the Egyptian Antiquities Organization and the Getty MOHAMED IBRAHIM BAKR Conservation Institute, must by all measures be judged a resounding success. The wall paintings have been rescued from destruction and have recovered much of their original glory with their historical integrity intact. In the process, we have learned technical lessons that can guide conser· vation scientists as they preserve other monuments exhib· iting similar problems. An additional and significant benefit is the new expertise acquired by the Egyptian con­ servators who participated in the project. The experience they gained will aid in the conservation of Egyptian cul­ tural heritage for decades to come. All these accomplishments were made possible by the mutual respect and understanding that forms the founda­ Egyptian civilization reaches back five millennia to the tion of the partnership between the Egyptian Antiquities Organization and the Getty Conservation Institute. Critical, beginning of recorded time. Its history is one of remarkable too, was the thoroughness of the Getty Conservation Insti­ tute's approach to conservation, and the patience with cities, from pharaonic Memphis and Thebes to Hellenistic which it proceeded from analysis to treatment. The coop­ erative spirit and comprehensive conservation program Alexandria and Islamic Cairo, producing an unrivaled accu- characteristic of the Nefertari Conservation Project provide mulation of cultural wealth. Today Egypt's antiquities not a model for future collaborative endeavors. The Egyptian Antiquities Organization's task of preserv­ only reflect the accomplishments of its own people but ing the nation's vast cultural wealth is as formidable as it is rewarding. In carrying out my responsibilities as chairman, I have also come to embody the imagination and aspirations have been most fortunate to have had the continued sup­ port of His Excellency Farouk Hosni, Egypt's minister of cul­ of all civilization. ture, whose interest in the Nefertari project made its The tomb of Nefertari is among the most precious and completion possible. I am particularly indebted to Miguel Angel Corzo, director of the Getty Conservation Institute, fragile of Egyptian monuments. Depicting Nefertari's jour- who initiated the project and has displayed an inspiring and energetic dedication to it ever since. ney to immortal life, its wall paintings are exquisite, exhib·