Shout out to Mimi! Conservation with Cotton Swabs

Thanks to Mimi Leveque for her hard work on the Padihershef  conservation project.

Check out this great interview on Mimi's conservation techniques from NPR.

http://www.npr.org/2013/06/11/190756396/spit-and-cotton-swabs-the-tools-for-a-mummy-facelift

Mimi used many tools and techniques to clean Padihershef and his coffin. Some of the greatest tools for conservation are, believe it or not, cotton swabs and saliva. Yes, saliva is one of the best cleaning solutions conservators can use to remove dust, salts, grime, etc. Because of the enzymes in saliva (the very same that help break food), conservators can carefully remove particles. What a useful tool and significant part of the mummy restoration process.

Thank you again Mimi!

Mimi Leveque talking about the salts on Padihershef's skin

Mimi Leveque observing Padihershef in the Ether Dome- MGH

Stay tuned for future discussions on our blog pertaining to other techniques Mimi used on Padihershef's coffin and textiles.

Large Turn Out for Padihershef

About 450 people stopped by yesterday to witness the conservation of Padihershef. What a great turn out! This included media from Boston Globe, NPR and more.

Mimi Leveque worked on removing salts  (also known as efflorescence) from Padihershef's face.

We will continue for this Saturday and Sunday to finish the coffin, his burial shroud, and rehouse the mummy into his new stable display case. This will help protect Padi from future damage and help to preserve him for future generations.

What an exciting time for Padihershef and the MGH Hospital.

                                        Visitors coming to witness Padihershef's makeover

                                        Mimi taking a few moments to talk with the Press

Don't forget to stop by the Ether Dome at MGH today. The conservation treatment of Padihershef will start today and conclude Sunday. The public will be allowed access from 11 am to 3 pm. Look forward to seeing everyone there.


Boston.com Link -More Information

Condition and Treatment of Padihershef in 2003

In 2003, Mimi Leveque, mummy conservator from the Peabody Essex Museum, helped in the conservation and preservation of Padihershef. Below are the drawings, conditions and part of Mimi's report from 2003.

Sketch of Padihershef's wrappings original appearance
Photo and sketch by Mimi Leveque

In 1823, Dr. Warren opened Padi's coffin and revealed most of his wrappings and beading. Based on Dr. Warren's account Mimi has sketched a possible reconstruction of the wrappings and faience beaded netting. 

"... the faience bead net had deteriorated and lay at the feet, still partly retaining the linen threads that joined them.  The mummy was covered with a shroud that was crossed by lighter bands at intervals.  Below the crossing bands were remains of darker bands that had nearly completely disintegrated due to the original acidic dye. Dr. Warren cut through the shroud covering the head of the mummy, revealing approximately 25 turnings of 3" wide linen bands. The outer layers were well preserved but the inner layers were quite decayed, probably due to contact with the oils and resins of embalming, that he called a "glutinous substance". "  

 

- Padihershef Condition and Treatment Report by Mimi Leveque

 

Condition of Padihershef

Padihershef, Sketch of the condition of the wrappings, netting and face
Sketch by Mimi Leveque

Over time, Padihershef stood in his case which caused deterioration of the netting, linens and body. There were polyethylene straps to keep Padi from falling out of his coffin, but this unfortunately compressed and crushed the linens below. Laying him down in his coffin would relieve the weight of gravity and help preserve the mummy and coffin as a whole.

There were many losses and holes in the fabric. These appear to be ancient. The face had evidence of efflorescence which is due to the salts from the embalming period. 

Treatment 2003

Mimi was able to remove the reemerging efflorescence with a cotton swab and saliva. The linens were vacuumed with a small micro attachment on a low speed setting. The loose wrappings were pinned back lightly with insect pins. Padihershef was given a new backboard from Medex (while he was in Springfield). The backboard was covered in linen and quilt batting to cushion the mummy while it rested.

In the summer of 2013, a more in depth treatment will take place which will include conserving the coffin, laying Padihershef horizontally, treating the linens, and giving him a new plexi case.

"Words with a Mummy" The CT Scan Night

Back in March, MGH staff performed a CT scan on Padihershef to further understand his life and possible cause of death. The photos are now released below. Please check them out.

This CT Scan night was all performed and facilitated by the help of   Rajiv Gupta, MD, PhD, of MGH Imaging; conservator Mimi 

.Leveque; Collection's Specialist Rebecca Barber,  MGH 

  neurosurgeon Paul Chapman, MD; and members of Materials 

Management, Buildings and Grounds, and Police and Security. 

http://www.massgeneral.org/imaging/about/newsarticle.aspx?id=4045

Removing Padi from his old 19th century case was one of the hardest parts of the project

Multiple times we needed to inspect Padihershef to make sure to prevent any damage to him and his coffin

Mimi helping Padi into the gerny

Security and facilities escorting Padi through MGH

As you can see the Padihershef was very popular with the media

Dr. Gupta helping to get xrays of Padihershef

The team realized there was still brain matter left in Padihershef's skull

Circle is the broom stick found in his chest cavity

Another rendered image of Padihershef post CT scan

To the left is Padihershef through the CT scan. The project team needed to wait until night time for the use of the CT scanner. This was to avoid having any scheduling conflicts  with living patients.

To the right is a great image of the CT scan of Padihershef's brain. It has been rendered to enhance the evidence of brain matter left in Padihershef's skull.

Rendered image

From this CT scan we found that Padihershef had a large broom stick handle in his skull and chest cavity. The team found out that a previous conservator in the 80's had used this in order to keep his head attached to his body.

 In addition, the chest cavity is all caved in. It is assumed that the cause of death was due to a cave in. This would be very likely seeing as Padihershef was a stone mason during his life and would have been underground working majority of the day.

Padihershef's History: Part 1

Life of Padihershef:

Padihershef was a man who lived around 650 B.C. in Ancient Egypt. He was a stonecutter  in Thebes and worked on rock cut tombs in the necropolis on the West Bank of Thebes. We know this because of the inscription on his case, Hrty-ntr, which means "stonecutter in the necropolis" in ancient Egyptian. His occupation as a stonecutter would mean that he spent much of his time underground surrounded by dust, poor circulation and stone.  Unfortunately, there aren't any detailed descriptions on his coffin about cause of death. We are looking to the CT Scans to find further information on cause of death or diseases.

 Padihershef's name  translates to "one who is a gift of the god Hershef." The definition of Padihershef's name and his fathers, both incorporating the title Hershef , leads us to believe that Padi and his family was from Herakleopolis in Fayum, where the god Hershef was highly worshipped. 

Knowing Padihershef's occupation, we know that he was a commoner and likely lived a modest lifestyle. His house would have been made of mud brick similar to architecture from the time period. According to Joyce Haynes catalogue, Padihershef: The Egyptian Mummy, 

"Padihershef's house would have been fairly small,

whitewashed inside and out, with a hard-packed mud floor. 

Little existed in the way of furniture. A simple bed with a  headrest was

considered a luxury. Small wooden chests would have been used to hold linens."

There would be straw mats on the floors and  proper utensils in the kitchen for making bread and beer.

Like many other homes of the time, his house was possibly decorated with many religious icons and images on the walls. This of course included Bes, the guardian of the household.  

Figure of the god Bes
 Courtesy of Joyce Haynes Catalogue "Padihershef: The Egyptian Mummy" 

Although Padihershef's coffin was very decorative and colorful, his tomb was not as elaborate.  Majority of the funerary finances were spent on the mummification process which means Padihershef likely had a shared tomb.

All these small details and inscriptions from Padi's coffin gives us an inside glimpse of how Padihershef may have lived. 

***Much of this entry was information taken from Joyce Haynes essay "Padihershef: The Egyptian Mummy." Joyce Haynes, who translated Padihershef's coffin in 1984, did an amazing job of transcribing the heiroglyphs and iconography on his coffin. This process helped to decipher many aspects of his life which facilitated The Padihershef Conservation Project. Thank you Joyce for your research and dedication to the Padihershef project.

Picture courtesy of Joyce Haynes' catalogue Padihershef; The Egyptian Mummy

Welcome to Our Blog!

Welcome to the Padihershef Mummy Blog. This blog is dedicated to the research, conservation and treatment of  MGH's own Mummy Padihershef.

                                           Image courtesy of Mimi Leveque from the 2003 Treatment

      This previous winter, Padihershef went through various different imaging and CT scans. Now, this summer MGH will perform extensive treatment to help better preserve the mummy and his coffin.



      June 7th-9th, 2013, we will have Padihershef on view to the public in the Ether Dome at MGH. Please stop by and see history in the making!