The Egyptian Museum in Cairo has completed the restoration of a stela depicting the New Kingdom pharaoh Ramses II.
The work was carried out as part of the museum’s regular conservation programme and its efforts to redesign the display layout and place artefacts within their appropriate historical, cultural and religious contexts.
The 2.4-metre-high, 1.1-metre-wide stela had been discovered in two separate pieces and previously underwent assembly and restoration.
As part of the latest work, restorers removed old restoration materials and a wooden frame that had surrounded the artefact during earlier conservation efforts. They also treated the joints between its sections and placed it on display between two other stelae of Ramses II, with panoramic lighting designed to highlight its details, said Ali Abdel Halim, director general of the Egyptian Museum.
Specialists from the Supreme Council of Antiquities carried out the restoration in accordance with approved scientific protocols and technical standards, Abdel Halim said.
He rejected social media reports claiming that cement had been used in the restoration, saying the material had not been used at any stage of the work.
He added that photographs circulating online were taken during the restoration, before the work had been completed, and therefore did not show the artefact’s final condition.
