Mum experts
to help restore Kol museum's 4,000-yr-old mummy
One of the most enduring attractions
of the historic Indian Museum -the 4000-year-old Egyptian mummy that had been
shipped to Kolkata in 1882 -is set to be restored in collaboration with experts
from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sanghrahalaya (CSMVS) in Mumbai.
Displayed
at the museum's Egyptian gallery , the mummy is placed inside an insulated
cabinet, which, the museum authorities claim, has prevented its degeneration.
But the gallery needs immediate renovation and the mummy could be preserved
better with inputs from experts, they admitted.
The
Minister of state for external affairs, MJ Akbar, visited the Egyptian gallery
of the museum on Saturday and expressed his dissatisfaction about the way the
mummy had been preserved. He left a series of queries for the museum
authorities to answer.
The
museum officials have planned a two-pronged approach to protect the mummy .
First, they will seek assistance from the National Museum and the National
Research Laboratory for Conservation, Lucknow, to give the Egyptian gallery a
much-needed facelift. Then, they will join hands with CHSMVS experts to ascerta
in the real condition of the mummy and explore the possibilities of preserving
it better.
“It
rests inside an insulated cabinet which has a micro-climate of its own. The
mummy is in no way exposed to the atmosphere, so it has not been affected. But
the gallery needs to be repaired now as it had been left out of the bicentenary
renovation work two years ago,“ said Jayanta Sengupta, director.
Wrapped
in cloth with arms tied down to the sides, the mummy looks fragile. The flesh of the face and the head has
crumbled away , leaving the bones exposed. The mask has been taken off and laid
on the chest.
The
mummy was a gift to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, which founded the museum,
from a British officer, Lieutenant E.C. Archbold of the Bengal Light Calvary ,
in 1834, according to the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal.
“The
mummy was obtained with some difficulty from the tombs of the kings at
Gourvah,“ the society reported in its minutes. “The native crew on board the
ship ... having objected to receive the mummy in his baggage, he had been under
the necessity of requesting one of the officers of the Sloop of War Coote to
bring it onward to Bombay , whence it will be forwarded to Calcutta by the
earliest opportunity .“ Incidentally , India is one of the few countries that houses
Egyptian mummies in six different museums. Very few museums outside Europe and
America possess mummies from Egypt.
Explaining
the reason behind joining hands with CSMVS experts, Sengupta said the museum
was the only one in India to have held an exhibition of mummies a few years
ago. “They had organised it jointly with the British Museum, which is an
authority on mummies and their conservation. Even though we believe that the
Kolkata mummy is fine, they might be able to spot flaws in conservation and recommend
measures to make it last longer,“ said Sengupta.
The
Indian Museum director added that the mummy is bound to have suffered
degeneration in the early years when preservation methods were non-existent.
“It is bound to have undergone some wear and tear then. But ever since it was
placed inside the protected cabinet, it has been well-preserved. Or else, it
would have disintegrated,“ he claimed.
The
museum authorities didn't rule out the possibility of seeking technical
expertise from abroad.“Even though it is a long process and we haven't yet
mooted the proposal, we will consider it once the Mumbai collaboration takes
shape,“ said Sengupta.
Source | Times of India | 26 December 2016
Regards
Pralhad
Jadhav
Senior
Manager @ Library
Khaitan & Co
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