The use of temporary facings in lining a fragmentary ancient Egyptian shroud

Abstract

The British Museum, London, houses three of the nine known extant examples of Ancient Egyptian painted linen shrouds depicting texts and vignettes from the ‘Book of the Dead’. A vacuum cold-lining technique was developed to support the first of the shrouds to be treated. This paper describes how this lining technique was modified to treat the second, more degraded shroud, the shroud of Amenhotep. In this treatment it was also necessary to find a temporary facing which would keep all the fragments of the shroud in position while an old support backing was removed and the new lining was applied. The facing adhesive had to be suitable for use in conjunction with the chosen paint consolidant and water-soluble support adhesive. A successful solution was developed, combining pressure-sensitive adhesive facings and a vacuum cold-lining technique.