AIC 53rd Annual Meeting

The collection of King Tutankhamun (18th Dynasty, 1347–1337 BCE) has fascinated scientists and the general public since the discovery of his spectacular tomb in 1922 by the archaeologist Howard Carter. After the opening of the tomb, Howard Carter mentioned that Tutankhamun's tomb was robbed and the robbers destroyed many objects during the robbery; at least two boxes found dismantled in the entrance debris seem to have been employed by the robbers to carry off their loot. Alfred Lucas completed the restoration of Tutankhamun's collection in 1932, subsequently transferring almost all of the Tutankhamun objects to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. Only a few objects were kept in the Luxor museum storeroom. In recent years, the Grand Egyptian Museum's conservation center (GEM.CC) has been devoted to the transportation and conservation of Tutankhamun's collection to be exhibited at the new museum (GEM). This study presents the role of conservation along with the archaeological data and scientific investigation at GEM.CC in the rediscovery and assembly of some broken painted wooden boxes from Tutankhamun's tomb after 95 years of keeping these parts separately in different museums.

After surveying the wooden boxes of Tutankhamun to gather more information on these boxes as a first step in our study, the second step included imaging techniques and optical microscopy to gather more information and to provide evidence on the techniques of manufacture, woodworking and identification of wood species. In the third step of our work, hand-held X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) were applied to determine the chemical compositions of the materials used in preparatory layers and the pigments.

The results of the collaborative approach led to the exciting rediscovery of three wooden boxes from Tutankhamun's collection. The work team succeeded in the assembly of more than 96 wooden pieces (like puzzles), most surprisingly discovering that these broken parts were originally two wooden boxes. Moreover, the work team succeeded in rediscovering and assembling a complete wooden box belonging to the royal family of King Tutankhamun inscribed with the names of Akhenaton and Smenkh-ka-re, which came to light for the first time after many years of keeping its parts separately in different places.

The protocols and decision-making procedures during the collaboration of conservators, curators, and scientists were successfully effective not only in rediscovering and assembling three wooden boxes but also in their display method inside Tut Gallery at the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM).