Monday, January 13, 2014

Sometimes the old way is the right way

I am crazy-stoopid for mummies.  Actually, I am particularly fond of the Victorian/Edwardian et al Egyptologists.  Especially the fictional ones.  So I am double-dog-delighted when fictional sounding things happen in real life Eqyptology.  Which brings us to:

Yesterday (I am a little behind), in 1984.  the restoration of the pyramids had been going, in a word, not well.  OKay, that's two words.  The pyramids had been falling down for centuries & this decay had been accelerated by tourists, pollution, etc.  But fixing the pyramids was not a simple matter; Among the problems:  patches were made from concrete & the water from the concrete was destroying the ancient stones it was supposed to repair & support.

30 years ago yesterday, an international team that was looking into the problem implemented what was the perfect solution.  They stopped using mortar & started repairing the pyramids using their best estimate of how they were actually made, specifically repairing the interlocking blocks with more interlocking blocks.  Since then, the project has stayed on track.  & yes, it is till ongoing because you cannot fix a pyramid & walk away.  Once you start repairing a pyramid, you can expect to repair it forever.

Also, today is my mom's birthday:  Happy Birthday Mom!  At least I am not a day late with that. 

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