ROUND EIGHT -  2010

Restoration of the  North Tympanum of Senwosret III's North Chapel at Dahshur
Dieter Arnold and Adela Oppenheim, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
The aim of this project was to restore relief fragments that had originally belonged to the north tympanum of Senwosret III’s north chapel at Dahshur. The fragments, set into a modern limestone block and allowing a full 1:1 understanding of the scene, depict the enthroned king surrounded by deities, fecundity figures, and inscriptions.

The Tomb of St. Shenoute? Phase IV, White Monastery, Sohag
Elizabeth Bolman, Temple University
This project continues the conservation, documentation, archaeological exploration and scholarly study of a unique triconch funerary chapel. Based on the work of previous campaigns, a tomb underneath the chapel has been identified as belonging to the saint Shenoute (d. 463 C.E.), arguably the most famous saint in Egypt.

Partial Support for Exhibit: "Earliest Egypt"
Geoff Emberling, Oriental Institute Museum, Chicago
The Oriental Institute Museum host an exhibit of their Pre and Early Dynastic collection, which will coincide with the 2011 ARCE annual meeting. The funding will be put towards conservation, registration services, photography, and installation expenses of the material. The information gained from this work will be documented for the museum’s new integrated database.

The Predynastic and Early Dynastic Egyptian collections of the Oriental Institute comprise some 2770 objects including lithics, pottery and stone vessels, metal, ivory, and wood objects, and stone stelae. The core of the collection was transferred to the University of Chicago by the Egypt Exploration Society and the British School of Archaeology in Egypt between 1895 and 1921. It is among the earliest and most comprehensive collections in the United States.

The collection has largely been off view for decades and considerable work needs to be done in preparation for the exhibit. Many of the ivory pieces and metal objects badly need conservation, and most of the photography of the material is at least fifty years old and is black and white. Maintenance and photography of the collection is made more urgent as the Oriental Institute moves forward to acquire and implement an integrated database (IDB). The exhibit and the addition of the early Egyptian material to the IDB are seen as important and linked steps in making this collection accessible to scholars and the wider public.

South Abydos Mastabas Project
Dawn McCormack, Middle Tennessee State University, Murfreesboro
Four students from the Middle Tennessee State University will participate in two months of archaeological field work at the South Abydos Mastabas Project, scheduled to take place from March to April 2011. The work focuses on the re-investigation of two Thirteenth Dynasty royal funerary monuments.

Hagr Edfu: Conservation Through Documentation, Phase 2
Elizabeth O’Connell, The British Museum
Over a thousand tombs honey-comb the escarpment at Hagr Edfu, located in the south of Egypt. Ranging in date from the Middle Kingdom through to the Roman Period, some of these tombs were reused in Late Antiquity by Christian Monks. These tombs were under threat from encroaching settlement and the extension of irrigation systems. Two successive grants from the AEF helped support documentation and conservation of this important necropolis.

The Wall Paintings from the Temple of Amenhotep III at Wadi es-Sebua: Conservation, Preservation and Documentation
Martina Ullmann, Yale University, New Haven, and Ludwig-Maximilian University, Munich
The temple that Amenhotep III had built at Wadi es-Sebua in Lower Nubia has been submerged by the waters of Lake Nasser since 1964, but largely unknown to the public are the wall paintings of the sanctuary that had been removed and transferred to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo. AEF funding has gone to help conserve, preserve, and document these rare pieces of Eighteenth dynasty temple decoration. These paintings are of a special art historical and religious interest as they show several phases of reworking, which bear witness to the religious changes in the later reign of Amenhotep III previous to the Amarna Period.

Egyptian Museum Chariot Project (EMCP)
André Veldmeijer, PalArch Foundation, Amsterdam
Support from the AEF will assist in the study and documentation of the leather pieces and fragments from a hitherto unrecorded and unstudied near-complete chariot that dates to the New Kingdom. The EMCP also hopes to conserve the chariot fragments, in close collaboration with the Conservation Department of the Egyptian Museum, Cairo and provide appropriate storage facilities for the pieces.

Artifact Conservation and Storage at Mersa/Wadi Gawasis, a Pharaonic Harbor on the Red Sea
Cheryl Ward, Coastal Carolina University, Conway
The AEF Committee was very happy to support the preservation, documentation, and stable storage of wooden ship remains and other ship equipment made of organic materials, predominately Middle Kingdom in date. These artifacts include the largest amount of ancient rope yet discovered and the world’s oldest seagoing ship planks. Conditions at the site had fostered fungal activity in storage areas, and artifacts are in immediate and urgent need of stabilization, documentation and storage.