RESTORATION WORKS

The restoration works of this campaign were divided into two parts. Sample patches of the walls were cleaned and a preliminary map was made of the conservation state of the Second Pillared Hall.

The southwestern part of the rear wall of the Second Pillared Hall was chosen for sample cleaning in order to choose the method to be used in the removal of the guano layer. This part of the room proved a good choice for testing various cleaning methods, because it contains all the conservation problems found throughout the monument. An initial area of 50 x 50 cm was cleaned, obtaining very good results in a relatively short period of time. This allowed us to calculate the time needed to clean all of the Second Pillared Hall, which will be useful for planning future campaigns. The cleaning method allowed the recovery of 100% of the remaining hieroglyphic texts covered by the guano layer.

The cleaning was then extended to the majority of the wall, uncovering at the top a wonderful vignette depicting Harwa kneeling in front of the solar bark where Ma’at, Hu and Sia stand beside the sun-disk (Fig. 7). The text under the vignette proved to be a solar hymn dedicated to the sun’s crossing the Underworld at night.

As for the map, schematic plans and elevations of the walls, pillars, floor and ceiling of the Second Pillared Hall were prepared with a computer graphics program (Fig. 8). All the information pertaining to the preservation state was colour-coded on the plans and the elevation was recorded. This method allowed us to illustrate the layers of guano covering the walls along with three different states of erosion for the stone. This documentation will provide a picture of the condition of the monument which will enable us to plan further conservation.

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