TITLE:
Mechanisms of the Deterioration of the Wall Reliefs at Shenhur Temple, Upper Egypt and Concepts for Conservation
AUTHORS:
Nabil A. Bader
KEYWORDS:
Shenhur Temple, Deterioration, Water Analysis, DTA & TGA, Salts, SEM-EDX, Conservation Concepts
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Geology,
Vol.5 No.11,
November
30,
2015
ABSTRACT: The Roman Period temple of Isis at Shenhur was built and enhanced
amid the rule of Augustus (30 BCE-14 CE) through that of Trajan (98-117 CE). It
was built of two sorts of local limestone and decorated with reliefs.
Examination of conservation state uncovered that it was collapsed and only
partly preserved and it disposed of some still buried rooms. The temple is
exposed to different deteriorations processes created by internal and external
stresses because of the mineral composition of the building materials,
atmosphere variables, salts crystallization and groundwater. In this study, the
deterioration problems of the wall reliefs were examined for the aim of its
conservation. For this purpose, the chemical, physical and structural
characterization were performed by means of X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) and
observation of thin section by transmitted light optical microscopy (LOM),
polarized microscope, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) attached with EDX and
thermogravimetric (DTA & TGA). Additionally, microbiological study and
chemical analyses of ground water were carried out. Results demonstrated that
the deterioration of Shenhur was because of the forceful activity of the
environment agents and soluble salts such as chlorides and sulphates. These
results and information allowed that the identification of the types of salts
and deterioration features might be used in the future for conservation
purposes.