Monday, January 29, 2007

Restoring Shunet el-Zebib

A long and detailed article about the restoration of the 5000 year old site Shunet el-Zebib at Abydos. The article looks at the nature of the problems experienced by the site, introduces the project team, the work they are carrying out, how the work is funded, and describes the history of the site itself.
"Nearly 5,000 years old, a monument known today as the Shunet el-Zebib, the only surviving example of a series of monumental cultic buildings built by Egypt’s earliest kings at Abydos, has been ravaged by the elements, attacked by animals and insects, and structurally compromised by humans over the millennia; its present day survival seems almost miraculous. One of the most mysterious of ancient Egypt’s monuments was in danger of imminent collapse. In 2001, the experts all agreed that unless steps were taken immediately this massive mud-brick structure would not remain standing much longer. A conservation and stabilization program was developed, sponsored by New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts, and surprisingly the most suitable methods recommended by the experts for saving the monument turned out not to be highly technical ones of modern construction, but rather those more traditional, and ancient, in nature."
See the above page for the entire story

No comments: