Studies in Egyptian Archaeology and Science

A Multianalytical Study of an Ancient Egyptian Mirror at the Grand Egyptian Museum

Almoatzbellah Elshahawi — 2025-01-13

This paper will present the results of a multianalytical study on an ancient mirror disk stored at the Grand
Egyptian Museum (GEM). The metal mirror disk was discovered at the Tura El-Asmant archaeological site in
the governorate of Cairo, Upper Egypt, dating to the Late Period. The mirror is in poor condition and covered
with corrosion layers which required suitable conservation treatments in order to preserve and display it in
the GEM. The primary goals of the study are to identify the various types of corrosion and deterioration that
have degraded the mirror in order to determine the most suitable method for the conservation. The study
uses many techniques, including scanning electron microscope (SEM), radiography, metallography examination, and portable X-ray fluorescence, which allows compositional analysis and gets information about the
technique used to produce it. The mirror’s past, present, condition, documentation, conservation techniques,
preservation, and storage recommendations will be explored in this contribution.

Egyptian Late Antique Textiles: From Archaeological Fields to Museums

Denisa Hradilová — 2025-02-22

One of the largest groups of archaeological artefacts from archaeological sites in Egypt held in museums in
Central Europe is Late Antique textiles, formerly referred to as “Coptic textiles” since the mid-19th century.
Whole garments, but mainly fragments of former clothes, were cut into small pieces of decorative applications by explorers and archaeologists to sell them at higher prices to private collectors, museum institutions
and educational offices. As with all objects, their complete processing begins with the collection of detailed
information about the textiles. This paper will outline possible approaches and procedures regarding Egyptian textile items in the Silesian Museum in the Czech Republic with a comparison with other European museums.

Working on Unprovenienced Coptic Manuscripts

Julien Delhez — 2025-03-20

In the last few years, some researchers have expressed concerns about the publication of antiquities whose
previous owners cannot be determined—they stress the importance of both the archaeological findspot
(“provenience”) and the chain of ownership (“provenance”). The present article focuses on a specific category
of antiquities, i.e., Coptic manuscripts, and it addresses the possible implications of the 2022 “IACS Resolution
on the Ethical Handling of Cultural Heritage”. Firstly, after defining a few terms and outlining the debate, the
article presents the differences between two types of Coptic manuscripts, i.e., literary and documentary. Sec
ondly, it addresses the criteria that allow provenience to be traced back even if the exact findspot is unknown.
Thirdly, the article lists the details one can retrieve even without knowing provenience. The article ends with
suggestions on how to pursue the debate on the handling of unprovenienced objects.