Conservators explain the mysterious workings of the museum Egyptology department. © Liz Newton
Liz Newton discovers the world of Ancient Egypt at a Museum and Galleries Month workshop at Bristol City Museum.
Ancient Egypt was brought to life during Museums and Galleries Month, in a family-friendly workshop called Putting Egypt on Display held at Bristol’s City Museum and Art Gallery on Saturday May 13 2006.
There was a chance to see a range of artefacts close-up and to meet the team of conservators who have spent the last year preparing them for display in the museum’s new Egypt gallery, due to open in spring 2007.
“We wanted to do something special for Museums and Galleries Month,” said Ticca Ogilvie, the Egypt department’s Conservation Manager. “The Egypt gallery has been closed since last May, and we wanted to make up for it by holding an event that adults could enjoy as well as children”.
Visitors were shown how the team use techniques such as X-ray and microscopy to look inside mummies and decide the best way to restore artefacts. A full-size X-ray image of a human mummy was on display, as were several images of mummified cats and dogs.
© Liz Newton
Animals were an important part of ancient Egyptian culture, and many were worshipped in the same way as gods. Visitors to Putting Egypt on Display were shown how these images were used to identify the animals by their distinctive bone structure. X-rays were also used to work out how statues, boxes and other constructions were pieced together, without the need to take these delicate artefacts apart.
Assistant Conservator Jill Plitnikas demonstrated the specialised microscope techniques used by the museum’s team to study textiles used by the Egyptians, and how they call tell the difference between two fabrics like cotton and linen by tiny differences in their fibres.
“These techniques can help us to decide on the best treatments for these objects, as fabric degrades easily,” she explained.
Visitors were also shown the museum’s new, high-tech equipment used to study artefacts for damage from salt crystals which can break the glazes on ancient ornaments, and how the team use a technique called infra-red spectroscopy to avoid damaging coffins when restoring them.
The event offered members of the public a chance to have a close look at an ornate coffin dating back more than 2000 years and to talk to the conservators who had spent months restoring it. © Liz Newton
There was a chance to have a close look at an ornate coffin dating back more than 2000 years, and to talk to the conservators who had spent months restoring it.
“Being able to work on a number of objects within a collection is a great experience,” explained Assistant Conservator Jenny Gosling. “We can apply our knowledge throughout the process and learn more from each artefact”.
In addition to the ‘hands-on’ workshop, talks were held throughout the day. David Singleton from the museum’s Egyptology department gave a fascinating account of his journey to the ancient city of Toshka in Egypt, detailing how the museum’s team saved an original wall painting in the Taharqa Temple from destruction.
Putting Egypt on Display was a fascinating interactive event and a fun day out, giving visitors a taste of what the new Egypt Gallery will be like when it opens. There is a lot more hard work to be done before then, but as any visitor to this event will surely tell you – it’s definitely going to be worth the wait.
Liz Newton is taking part in the MGM 2006/24 Hour Museum student writing competition.
