AIC's 52nd Annual Meeting

The Dahshur Boat at Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, PA is one of only four preserved in museum collections today. These boats were built from cedar wood and originally constructed for use in association with the pyramid complex of the 12th Dynasty pharaoh Senwosret III. The boat measures some 9.2 meters in length and is comprised of a total of 27 hull planks and 46 deck planks. It was originally excavated by French archaeologist Jacques De Morgan in 1894 and purchased for the museum in 1901. The boat was housed off site for five years while construction on the museum was completed. It was installed in 1905 and remained on view until 1976, when it was disassembled and put into storage. In the late 1980s the boat was studied and prepared once again for exhibition, where it remained until 2022.

In 2022 after a major leak in the museum’s roof, the boat was deinstalled for its own protection. It suffered water damage, with some of the hull and deck planks warping, cracking, and staining. Previous deterioration includes brown rot (microbial attack) and soluble and insoluble salts which covered most of wooden surface. Most concerning is the surface abrasion and graffiti dating to the 20 years (1956-1976) when the boat was on open display. During that time, the wood was treated with an unknown wood preservation product called “Wife’s Pride,” which has caused staining on the surface of the wood and increased the fragility of the wood fibers.

This paper details the work of the museum’s conservation team to analyze the impact of the leak and the previous wear and tear sustained from years of display. It includes an overview of the current treatment plan and an evaluation of preliminary research conducted in 2022 prior to and just after the deinstallation of the boat. The proposed treatment plan includes photography, architectural documentation, assessment survey, and scientific analysis using XRD, XRF, FTIR, and SEM. In addition, multispectral imaging will help to expand the results of the 1989 and 2017 searches for pigment remains. The goal of this paper is to present the team’s initial findings and obtain feedback on the proposed treatment plan.