School of Historical and Philosophical Studies - Research Publications

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Conservation and characterization of arabic papyrus in Egyptian National Library and Archives, Egypt

Mohamed, A ; Nel, P ; Wahba, W ; Kamel, A ; Sloggett, R (IOP Publishing, 2020-11-10)

An Ara bic Pa pyrus sheet stored a t the Egyptia n Na tiona l Libra ry a nd Archives wa s previously pla ced on unknown seconda ry support, a nd interlea ved between two gla ss sheets enclosed with a dhesive ta pe. This pa pyrus ha s various deteriora tion issues especia lly in the upper section where there is a la rge embedded sta in ca using the pa pyrus to stick to the secondary support a nd the gla ss sheet. Conserva tion trea tments conducted involved clea n ing, fibre a lignment a nd rehousing, scientific investiga tions including visible light microscopy, Fourier tra nsform infra red spectroscopy with a ttenua ted tota l reflecta nce (FTIR-ATR), a nd Sca nning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive Spectrometry (SEM-EDS) were conducted to identify ma teria ls involved. A la ck of informa tion in the historica l records a bout the exca vation a nd previous conserva tion trea tments increa se the importa nce of the resea rch. The a na lysis showed tha t the seconda ry support is gela tine a nd Ara bic text wa s written in ca rbon ink. The gela tine support wa s successfully removed from the pa pyrus a nd the pa pyrus document wa s re - housed.