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The British Museum
Course: The British Museum > Unit 1
Lesson 2: Ancient Egypt- Ancient Egypt
- The tomb-chapel of Nebamun
- Paintings from the Tomb-chapel of Nebamun
- A bottle and a toy: Objects from daily life
- Hunefer, Book of the Dead
- The Rosetta Stone
- History uncovered in conserving the Rosetta Stone
- Egyptian mummy portraits
- Ancient Egyptian coffin prepared for the Book of the Dead exhibition at the British Museum
- Ancient Egyptian coffin mask conserved for the Book of the Dead exhibition at the British Museum
- An ancient Egyptian scribal palette in the Book of the Dead exhibition at the British Museum
- Ancient Egyptian baboon deity conserved for the Book of the Dead exhibition at the British Museum
- Ancient Egyptian papyrus in the Book of the Dead Exhibition
- Ancient Egyptian coffin panel prepared for the Book of the Dead exhibition at the British Museum
- Gebelein Man: virtual autopsy, exploring a natural mummy from early Egypt
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Ancient Egyptian baboon deity conserved for the Book of the Dead exhibition at the British Museum
Conservators at the British Museum preparing an ancient Egyptian coffin for display in the exhibition Journey through the afterlife: ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead. © Trustees of the British Museum. Created by British Museum.
Want to join the conversation?
@1:00Why is Japanese tissue used to make this repair? What is special about this tissue?(8 votes)
Japanese tissue is strong and stable and is widely used in paper conservation.(8 votes)
How do we know this is a sculpture of a baboon deity, and not just somebody's pet or made for its aesthetic qualities?(7 votes)
The Egyptians often made statues of their gods, such as cats. There are many ways to tell the difference between regular sculptures and gods. Gods would likely have been buried with pharaohs, whereas pets would have been found in homes.(1 vote)
what is this japanese tissue?(1 vote)
1:00Video transcript
this is an 18th dynasty Egyptian deity figure which to you and me is a three and a half thousand year old wooden baboon Lynn a conservator is looking for loose areas of paint and marks them with paper arrows with a careful hand she applies white spirit to the exposed wood to protect it and then she uses a medical insulin syringe to inject a tiny amount of glue under the loose paint any excess glue is wiped off quickly with Japanese tissue the paint needs to be in place whilst the glue dries so Lynn constructs the ideal support with the most unlikely of instruments bricks and straws once finished this object will be shown at the British Museum's exhibition journey through the afterlife ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead