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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 coffin panel prepared for the Book of the Dead exhibition at the British Museum
Conservators at the British Museum prepare a panel of 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?
Why would BP (a British oil company) fund an exhibition on the Egyptian Book of the dead?(7 votes)
Well, they probably want to look like a better company. Some people still refuse to buy their oil after the 2010 oil spill.(6 votes)
But if it is made of wood, why use tissue? Can't they replace with some wood with the same color?(1 vote)
That is a good idea. But that is something they would use if the cracks were much, much larger. It would be a long and painful job to carve wood to fit into those tiny, tiny cracks. Instead, they fill it with tissue and glue it, so it will become stiff anyway.(1 vote)
At0:40, they talk about Japanese paper. Where does one find Japanese paper?(0 votes)
0:40Video transcript
this piece of wood is part of an Egyptian coffin it is going to be in the museum's next major exhibition but before it goes on display the back of the wood needs some loving attention in conservation Ln is looking for splinters that could catch as it is handled and has found some that need filling and securing to fill the gaps she uses chopped up Japanese paper that's been dyed to blend in with the coffin and like a black bird feeding its babies delicately swoops down with her tweezers with her surgical syringe loaded with glue she gently inserts a minut amount into the tissue filled crack putting the glue in after the paper is inserted helps prevent staining even though the back of this Egyptian coffin board won't be seen on display in the exhibition it is crucial that conservation work is carried out so that it can be preserved and enjoyed by many generations to come you