{"id":5170,"date":"2026-08-17T19:16:33","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T19:16:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/?p=5170"},"modified":"2026-08-17T19:16:33","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T19:16:33","slug":"trusting-the-process-new-techniques-for-reconstructing-an-ancient-egyptian-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/2026\/08\/17\/trusting-the-process-new-techniques-for-reconstructing-an-ancient-egyptian-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Trusting the Process: New Techniques for Reconstructing an Ancient Egyptian Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Julia Commander, Michaela Paulson, Jennifer McGough, Luke Boehnke, Gillian Love, Erik Risser and Molly Gleeson<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Abstract<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Since 2019, conservators at the Penn Museum have been working towards the reinstallation of monumental architectural elements from the palace of 19<sup>th<\/sup> Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Merenptah (reigned ca. 1213\u20131203 BCE). The largest structure, known as the Coronation Chapel, consists of a set of 30-ft tall limestone columns and gateway pylons, which were on display in the Museum\u2019s Egyptian Galleries from 1926 until 2018. Due to building limitations at the time, the columns and pylons were installed at half of their original height and have never been displayed in their true configuration.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In order to prepare for the full height installation of the Coronation Chapel structure, the conservation team is treating and stabilizing the limestone components and working closely with engineering, mountmaking, and rigging teams. At the outset of this long-term project, pilot treatments focused on mid-size structures within the collection of palace elements. These treatments laid the groundwork for scaling up techniques to address the largest pieces within the Coronation Chapel, which have been a primary focus since 2022. Prioritizing non-invasive and reversible strategies, conservators are combining traditional molding and casting techniques with new methods based on materials analysis and input from a variety of specialists.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">To facilitate both treatment and installation planning, innovative solutions for handling have been designed and implemented by fabrication and rigging firm Wolf Magritte, LLC based in Missoula, Montana. To fully reconstruct the large fragmentary structures, close collaboration between mountmakers and engineering firm Simpson Gumpertz &amp; Heger (SGH) has been integral to creating holistic support systems. This talk will cover the approaches taken to scale up capacity, bridge varied conservation concerns, and apply collaborative solutions for this monumental stone installation project and how these approaches have expanded the disciplinary boundaries of conservation in the process.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/objects-specialty-group\/2026-volume-thirty-three\/\">2026 | Montreal | Volume 33<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Julia Commander, Michaela Paulson, Jennifer McGough, Luke Boehnke, Gillian Love, Erik Risser and Molly Gleeson Abstract Since 2019, conservators at the Penn Museum have been working towards the reinstallation of monumental architectural elements from the palace of 19th Dynasty Egyptian Pharaoh Merenptah (reigned ca. 1213\u20131203 BCE). The largest structure, known as the Coronation Chapel, consists [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":344,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/344"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5170"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5170\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5171,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5170\/revisions\/5171"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/resources.culturalheritage.org\/osg-postprints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}