http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/mummy-to-get-a-new-lease-of-life/article7801109.ece
Mummy to get a new lease of life
The Egyptian Mummy preserved in Telangana State Museum in Hyderabad is
decaying due to lack of maintenance. Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury
Australian expert roped in to arrest the decay and weave a narrative around the life and death of the mummy in Telangana museum.
The mummy at the State Museum will literally get a new
lease of life in the next one year if the State Archaeology Department
succeeds in its efforts.
The department has roped in
Vinod Daniel, a noted expert in chemical conservation based in
Australia, to arrest the decay and weave a narrative around the life and
death of the mummy, said to be the daughter of a pharaoh. Mr. Daniel
recently carried out a preliminary evaluation of the mummy without
opening the case and said the decay was typical of mummies seen
elsewhere.
“Humidity and oxygen cause the damage to
mummies. To check them, the mummy will be shifted into a new case,
similar to those that enclose the clothes of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi in
New Delhi,” he said.
The oxygen-free case will
maintain humidity at around 40 per cent and its interiors will be aired
by nitrogen to check bacterial growth. It’s the concern of bacteria that
deterred Mr. Daniel from opening the case.
“The
standard protocol for conservation requires wearing healthy safety
equipment. Though we can sample the air within the case, we cannot
really be sure what bacteria lies within,” he said.
The
State Archaeology Department has drawn flak in the past for maintenance
of the mummy. Though experts had drawn up plans, the department could
not conserve the mummy due to shortage of funds. Given that Mr. Daniel
is doing a pro-bono job for the department, it is likely that the
2,351-year-old mummy will receive a new lease of life.
“Our
aim is to ensure that the mummy does not decay further and is preserved
here on and Mr. Daniel is helping us do this without costing anything,”
said department’s Director Sunita Bhagwat.
Mr.
Daniel, on his part, has mentioned a one-year timeframe for conserving
the artefact. Besides conservation, he has also suggested researching
the mummy to learn more about it in order to build a story that could be
narrated to the visitors. Like three decades ago, when X-ray scan of
the mummy revealed a missing tooth, this time Mr. Daniel believes a CT
scan could throw light specifically on the death of the 16-year-old girl
who never ceases to awe visitors in her wraps.
No comments:
Post a Comment