Study of the degradation of papyrus from Ancient Egypt using XRD-laminography

DOI

The objective of this proposal is to gain insight into the degradation processes taking place at the surface of illustrated papyrus from Ancient Egypt. We are investigating a series of illustrated papyrus from Champollion’s private collection, showing scenes from the Book of the Dead. Through X-ray diffraction experiments at ID22, we identified several compounds resulting from a degradation process, especially at the interface between yellow As-based and green Cu-based regions, resulting in the formation of a series of mixed As/Cu compounds. To better understand the reaction pathway leading to the formation of these degradation phases, we intend to perform X-ray diffraction mapping using a laminography approach, a technique well-suited to the 3D mapping of flat samples. In such a way, the 3D organisation of the different painted layers and degradation compounds will be retrieved in a non-invasive way.

Identifier
DOI https://doi.org/10.15151/ESRF-ES-2216730113
Metadata Access https://icatplus.esrf.fr/oaipmh/request?verb=GetRecord&metadataPrefix=oai_datacite&identifier=oai:icatplus.esrf.fr:inv/2216730113
Provenance
Creator Clément HOLE; Jonathan Wright ORCID logo; Clément MONTEMBAULT; Catherine DEJOIE; Pauline MARTINETTO ORCID logo
Publisher ESRF (European Synchrotron Radiation Facility)
Publication Year 2028
Rights CC-BY-4.0; https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
OpenAccess true
Representation
Resource Type Data from large facility measurement; Collection
Discipline Particles, Nuclei and Fields