Very little published information is available on the scientific identification of wood species u... more Very little published information is available on the scientific identification of wood species used in the construction of boats in ancient Egypt. This paper deals with the scientific identification of wood species used in the construction of the deckhouse, canopy, and forecastle of King Khufu’s second wooden boat (4th Dynasty—Old Kingdom) in detail. This paper also discusses the principal technological characteristics of the identified woods, considering specifically their utilization for construction of the deckhouse, canopy, and forecastle. Almost all the woods used in the boat’s deckhouse, canopy, and forecastle were made of two imported species of wood (Cedrus libani A.Rich. and Juniperus sp.), with two native species (Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Willd. and Vachellia sp.) also identified. The analysis most surprisingly revealed the presence of Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Willd. in 25% of the analyzed forecastle samples, which was discovered for the first time for making cross ...
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities... more The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities have been collaborating on the Grand Egyptian Museum Joint Conservation Project (GEM-JC), and since 2016 this team carried out the scientific research of the ‘second state chariot’ (JE61990). In the course of the detailed condition survey of the chariot, localized surface damage from where material had been anciently torn away from the corners and near the rear of the exterior sides of the chariot’s body was observed. Carter’s assistant Arthur Mace had noted this and assumed some metal elements had been wrenched off from these locations. Recently, the late Edwin C. Brock concluded that these remnants were fitting places of the four support poles of the canopy frame hitherto dubbed by Carter as Tutankhamun’s ‘travelling canopy’ (JE60705). Detailed measurements of both the chariot and canopy have now proved Brock’s hypothesis that the two items indeed made a canopied chariot. This paper ...
CIPEG Journal: Ancient Egyptian & Sudanese Collections and Museums, 2020
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities... more The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities have been collaborating on the Grand Egyptian Museum Joint Conservation Project (GEM-JC), and since 2016 this team carried out the scientific research of the ‘second state chariot’ (JE61990). In the course of the detailed condition survey of the chariot, localized surface damage from where material had been anciently torn away from the corners and near the rear of the exterior sides of the chariot’s body was observed. Carter’s assistant Arthur Mace had noted this and assumed some metal elements had been wrenched off from these locations. Recently, the late Edwin C. Brock concluded that these remnants were fitting places of the four support poles of the canopy frame hitherto dubbed by Carter as Tutankhamun’s ‘travelling canopy’ (JE60705). Detailed measurements of both the chariot and canopy have now proved Brock’s hypothesis that the two items indeed made a canopied chariot. This paper a...
Cobalt-blue colorant was first used in the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom of Egypt. The source o... more Cobalt-blue colorant was first used in the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom of Egypt. The source of this cobalt was cobaltiferous alum from the Western Oases of Egypt. The use of this alum, especially in glass, was suddenly limited at the end of the 18th Dynasty. There is little evidence of the production of cobaltblue glass in the Ramesside Period (the 19th-20th Dynasties) in the New Kingdom of Egypt. In this study, we brought a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to two archaeological sites located in the Memphite region and used it for onsite analyses of Ramesside cobalt blue-colored glasses and faiences. This method revealed that the compositional characteristics of the cobalt-blue colorant in these Ramesside glasses and faiences is different from the colorant derived from cobaltiferous alum used in the 18th Dynasty, based on the comparison of transition metal composition and alumina content with those of the cobalt blue-colored artifacts from the 18th Dynasty. This result suggests that a new cobalt source other than cobaltiferous alum from the Western Oases was utilized in Egypt during the Ramesside Period.
Very little published information is available on the scientific identification of wood species u... more Very little published information is available on the scientific identification of wood species used in the construction of boats in ancient Egypt. This paper deals with the scientific identification of wood species used in the construction of the deckhouse, canopy, and forecastle of King Khufu’s second wooden boat (4th Dynasty—Old Kingdom) in detail. This paper also discusses the principal technological characteristics of the identified woods, considering specifically their utilization for construction of the deckhouse, canopy, and forecastle. Almost all the woods used in the boat’s deckhouse, canopy, and forecastle were made of two imported species of wood (Cedrus libani A.Rich. and Juniperus sp.), with two native species (Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Willd. and Vachellia sp.) also identified. The analysis most surprisingly revealed the presence of Ziziphus spina-christi (L.) Willd. in 25% of the analyzed forecastle samples, which was discovered for the first time for making cross ...
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities... more The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities have been collaborating on the Grand Egyptian Museum Joint Conservation Project (GEM-JC), and since 2016 this team carried out the scientific research of the ‘second state chariot’ (JE61990). In the course of the detailed condition survey of the chariot, localized surface damage from where material had been anciently torn away from the corners and near the rear of the exterior sides of the chariot’s body was observed. Carter’s assistant Arthur Mace had noted this and assumed some metal elements had been wrenched off from these locations. Recently, the late Edwin C. Brock concluded that these remnants were fitting places of the four support poles of the canopy frame hitherto dubbed by Carter as Tutankhamun’s ‘travelling canopy’ (JE60705). Detailed measurements of both the chariot and canopy have now proved Brock’s hypothesis that the two items indeed made a canopied chariot. This paper ...
CIPEG Journal: Ancient Egyptian & Sudanese Collections and Museums, 2020
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities... more The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities have been collaborating on the Grand Egyptian Museum Joint Conservation Project (GEM-JC), and since 2016 this team carried out the scientific research of the ‘second state chariot’ (JE61990). In the course of the detailed condition survey of the chariot, localized surface damage from where material had been anciently torn away from the corners and near the rear of the exterior sides of the chariot’s body was observed. Carter’s assistant Arthur Mace had noted this and assumed some metal elements had been wrenched off from these locations. Recently, the late Edwin C. Brock concluded that these remnants were fitting places of the four support poles of the canopy frame hitherto dubbed by Carter as Tutankhamun’s ‘travelling canopy’ (JE60705). Detailed measurements of both the chariot and canopy have now proved Brock’s hypothesis that the two items indeed made a canopied chariot. This paper a...
Cobalt-blue colorant was first used in the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom of Egypt. The source o... more Cobalt-blue colorant was first used in the 18th Dynasty in the New Kingdom of Egypt. The source of this cobalt was cobaltiferous alum from the Western Oases of Egypt. The use of this alum, especially in glass, was suddenly limited at the end of the 18th Dynasty. There is little evidence of the production of cobaltblue glass in the Ramesside Period (the 19th-20th Dynasties) in the New Kingdom of Egypt. In this study, we brought a portable X-ray fluorescence spectrometer to two archaeological sites located in the Memphite region and used it for onsite analyses of Ramesside cobalt blue-colored glasses and faiences. This method revealed that the compositional characteristics of the cobalt-blue colorant in these Ramesside glasses and faiences is different from the colorant derived from cobaltiferous alum used in the 18th Dynasty, based on the comparison of transition metal composition and alumina content with those of the cobalt blue-colored artifacts from the 18th Dynasty. This result suggests that a new cobalt source other than cobaltiferous alum from the Western Oases was utilized in Egypt during the Ramesside Period.
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