Conservation around the Millennium (Hungarian National Museum, 2001)

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of the monastery. The building complex included tomb no. 65 together with several other neighbouring tombs.

Imiseba’s rock tomb is an eminent production of Egyptian tomb architecture and it rightly attracted the attention of travellers and researchers already in the nineteenth century. One of them was the French J. F. Champollion the decipherer of hieroglyph scripture and founder of modern Egyptology. In 1914 and later, perhaps in 1927, American scientists worked in the tomb and its environs. German Egyptologists planned a research season in the 80’s, but it was newer realised so it is the Hungarian expedition that can pay off the serious debt of international Egyptology and reveal the exceptional values of the undeservedly forgotten tomb to the public.9

RESTORER'S APPRAISAL OF THE TOMB

Parallel with the excavations we started to prepare for the restoration of the tomb in the spring of 1997. During the two and the half weeks spent in Thebes we carried out the detailed survey of the present condition of the transverse-hall and prepared its documentation. We tried to learn as much as possible about the technique and the materials used for the preparation of the wall paintings.

The first few days we viewed the tomb with scrutiny and registered our observations. The instruments measuring temperature and relative humidity

content attested to an ideal environ- 4. Imiseba’s great grandmother from the life- ment for wall paintings. The temper- size depictions of the relatives. It can be seen ature measured at various points of on the damages how the Copt anchorites, for the tomb varied betWeen 23.5 and fear of demons, ruined the figurái paintings. 24 5 oC| RH between 39 and 40%.10

The rock tomb does not have natural lighting, so UV radiation did not have any harmful effect. It is not by chance that the more than 3000 years old wall paintings survived in a relatively good condition. The little light infiltrating through the entrance is soon swallowed by darkness, so first we had to solve the problem of the installation of electricity, which was indispensable for our work. We met with many difficulties. The voltage frequently fluctuated and electric current was often cut of at the most unexpected moments.

To appraise the tomb and make photos seemed a difficult task and not only at the start. Terrain, the unevenness of the ground, the lack of scaffolding and fine dust that quickly settled on everything caused some new problems each day. Within such circumstances we started the photo-technical investigations in ultraviolet, visible and infrared ranges of radiation.

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