ARCE

West wall of imperial cult chamber before conservation

Description:
West wall of imperial cult chamber before conservation
Physical Description:
3 color transparencies and 4 x 5 color transparencies
Author:
Kobylecky, Yarko
Date Created:
March 2006
Collection:
Luxor Roman Wall Paintings
Series:
ICC West Wall
Location:
Luxor, Egypt
Time Period:
Tetrarchy, Late Roman Period, and New Kingdom
Topic:
Altered in antiquity, Art, Ancient--Egypt, and Layered histories--material
Cultural Object:
Inscriptions, Temples, Relief (Art), Fresco painting, Inscriptions, Temples, Relief (Art), Fresco painting, Inscriptions, Temples, Relief (Art), Fresco painting, Inscriptions, Temples, Relief (Art), and Fresco painting
Genre:
color transparencies and color photographs
References:
Nelson number: 172. "Reliefs and Inscriptions at Luxor Temple, Vol. 2," The Epigraphic Survey, The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago. https://oi.uchicago.edu/research/publications/oip/reliefs-and-inscriptions-luxor-temple-volume-2-facade-portals-upper
Creative Commons License:
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/
Rights Statement:
Users must agree to abide by the terms and conditions of the CC BY NC SA license before using ARCE materials and must provide the following credit line: "Reproduction courtesy of the American Research Center in Egypt, Inc. (ARCE). This project was funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)."
Project History:
Amenhotep III was responsible for constructing the greater part of the present Luxor Temple around 1400 BCE. Under Diocletian, Emperor of Rome, 245-313, the first Tetrarchy transformed the temple site, including one of the temple’s offering halls into what is now known as the imperial cult chamber. In the early 2000s, ARCE conducted several site visits to Luxor to extensively document the grounds and undertake conversation efforts for the Roman frescoes present in that chamber.
Funding Agency:
The conservation of Roman frescoes in the imperial cult chamber of the Luxor temple was made possible with funding by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Grant No. 263-G-00-93-00089-00 and administered by the Egyptian Antiquities Project (EAP) of the American Research Center in Egypt (ARCE).
Note Contents:
Only an opus sectile design remains of the west wall decorative program. The design, which consists of a square panel containing “a six-lobed interlocking circle motif and two patches of the imitation verde cippolino” has been revealed by the project’s conservators and can be linked to page 26v of Wilkinson’s 19th-century documentations of the walls. A similar opus sectile motif was found on a different page of Wilkinson’s notebook which suggests that opus sectile designs were reused throughout the walls. Aside from the recovered section of opus sectile plaster, the first two layers of plaster are well preserved; showcasing the pick marks which allowed the conservators a deeper understanding of the original artisans’ process. There is a widespread belief that most of the wall was missing at the time of Wilkinson’s drawings, however, a small note on the bottom of page 26v might indicate otherwise. The note read “Mr. Monier told Mr. Harris that the name of Diocletian was on one of the chariot wheels in this fresco.” (McFadden 2015, 114-118).