Identification of Painting Layers of Sennefer Tomb by Ion Beam Analysis

Abstract

Egypt has many pharaonic tombs for kings, queens and noblemen. The Sennefer tomb, one of the most important nobleman tombs, is located in the southern hillside of Sheikh Abd El-Qurna -west side of Luxor. It is dated back to 1439-1413 B.C. (18th Dynasty) and is usually referred as the Tomb of Vines, due to the large part of the ceiling of the burial chamber. The vine tomb was carved inside a mountain, its walls are covered with plaster and were painted using the tempera technique (pigments mixed with organic binding medium). The analysis was performed by using particle-induced X-ray emission, microbeam particle-induced X-ray emission and optical microscope for the six samples from the Vine tomb such as white, black, red, yellow, blue and green pigments and for the ground layers of the tomb in order to identify the composition of plaster layers and pigments. The data about the nature of these materials are indispensable for conservation and cleaning.

Investigation and Identification of Mural Paintings' Materials and Techniques in Ain El-Lebekha, Egypt- Part One

“…For the identification and characterization of the organic binder in mural paintings, FTIR was used because it is the most important method to provide information about the nature of the organic binder. The analysis was done to define the quality and nature of the organic medium based on the infrared absorption method [16][17][18][19]. To identify the number of layers, thickness, condition, and state of the surface, the optical microscope was adopted because of its great importance in the examination of mural paintings and their different layers, providing some important information about the nature of the chromatic change to the painted layer [20,21].…”