This Just In!
While cleaning King Tut’s famous mask, conservators at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo got a little carried away and accidentally broke off the beard! These “restoration experts” must not have been too professional because they then used epoxy, a type of adhesive suitable for metal or stone but not for the materials in the mask, to glue it back on. Now there is a noticeable gap between the beard and the chin comprised of transparent yellow resin! And that is not all. Apparently drops of glue fell on the mask and were allowed to dry before being scraped off, leaving scratch marks behind!
This all happened last year but is only now being made known (January 2015). The conservators refuse to take the blame for “defacing” one of the world’s most treasured relics and say that they had strict orders to get the beard back on as quickly as possible.
Since Egypt always maintains that ancient Egyptian artifacts belong there and tries to have famous pieces such as the bust of Nefertiti, which is in Berlin, returned, what does this say about the capability of Egyptian museums to adequately look after and repair them? What do you think? Should all ancient Egyptian artifacts be returned to Egypt, or should they stay in the museums across the world that currently house them? Please leave your comments below.
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At least we can say at this day and age, King Tut has been well recorded and analyzed, though sad as this may be.
I do feel some of the artifacts should be returned to Egypt if they would allow them to be viewed to the public and not locked up somewhere hidden away from the public eye to see how Egyptian life was.
I believe that some of the artifacts should be returned to their home. After reading this though maybe the really important and valuable ones should stay where they are so they can be better protected.
I feel the artifacts should be kept where the Egyptian government wants them. Who are we (and other countries) to dictate where they go and how long they stay there? I do, however, think Egypt could at least let them make their rounds around the world a few times each decade.
Read it!
I think it’s ok for museums to keep them, but they really need to find people who are going to take special care of them.
These ancient artifacts are located in Egypt, but they provide clues to humanity’s history. They should be kept where they will be taken care of and preserved for generations to come. It is really sad that this tomb has been intact for thousands of years, untouched, and now it is “defaced”.
I think that the artifacts should all stay where they are, because people all Over the world should be able to see them
I found this extremely funny. Why would they think it was okay to glue it back on? Atleast there has been enough research done on him that this doesnt drastically change anything.
I think it just depends on the size and how fragile the objects are as to whether they should be left alone or put in museums for people to see. If it is something that is going to be broken upon cleaning in a museum, perhaps it’s better off being left where it was.
I believe that the major artifacts should be left in Egypt but some should be put in good museums, where they will be taken better care of then this one was, so people all around the world can see them.
Everyone makes mistakes…even professionals. I don’t think that other important Egyptian relics should be threatened to not be returned to Egypt because of the fear that their professionals are “ill-equipped” to be handling them.
I understand that this was a mistake, but conservators need to be careful. They are handling rare, valuable relics that are very important! I am shocked to hear this.
It was their fault.
They should have been more careful and more knowledgeable while handling some of the world’s most priceless artifacts. I think that artifacts should remain in the countries in which they were found, but occasionally go on historical tours around the world, with expert artifact handlers.
Mistakes often happen. I’m sure it wasn’t intentional.
What a shame that such an artifact was ruined.
There should be some kind of criteria for what kind of establishments can house such important artifacts.
It’s a shame it was broken but why did he have a beard on the mask? He died at like 19 so I highly doubt he had a real beard.
It’s a shame that it broke, but the way it was handled after the break leaves much to be desired.
Well.. given that the conservators at the Egyptian museums have proven to be incompetent at maintaining the integrity of ancient Egyptian artifacts, I think Nefertiti’s bust may be better off in Berlin!
That is just too funny. That is something straight out of the Three Stooges. Wish I could have been a fly on the wall when all of that went down.
After reading this short article I do not believe that all Egyptian artifacts should be returned to their muesli. the people working with these artifacts obviously are not highly qualified professionals and should not be trusted with all Egyptian artifacts. Where these artifacts are now is just fine, they are safe and being well taken care of as they should be.
I find it funny that something can survive thousands of years, and it only takes a few careless people to break it
This is just awful. I cannot believe that after thousands of years of this masterpiece staying in one piece, it only takes one second for careless individuals to ruin it. Hopefully they can make it look good as new….
I think that all artifacts should stay in the country they were founded in or from. What a shame that the beard was broken off and such careless efforts were made to fix the unfixable.
I think its disappointing that the mask was ruined and not handled with complete care but at the same time after talking about the tomb of King Tut and how it was examined, I was very impressed with how carter documented and took care of all those artifacts no matter how long it took
It’s a shame that the mask was handled with such little care by the people that were dealing with the mask. You’d expect the people working at the museums would take good care of the artifacts they deal with.
You would would think with something so incredible these so called “experts” would be more careful. I think the artifacts should stay where they are the risk of moving them and damaging them is too high.
I find it irresponsible for them to have this happen and to have them wait so long to make it know. I think that most artifacts should stay in museums because there could be people that break into the tomb and steal the artifacts. I think that the museum should own up to their mistake and treat things more carefully.
apparently these “experts” had no idea what they were doing. Being completely careless when doing your job has serious consequences and I hope they learned from that so this kind of mistake wont happen again
Considering I am Egyptian, I think the Egyptian artifacts should be returned to Egypt where they belong. Although the conservators may have made a mistake with King Tut’s relics, the country as a whole should not pay for their mistakes.
This destruction of the mask is an extreme tragedy in my eyes. This piece of history was preserved thousands of years to only be destroyed at the hands of a few careless individuals. Although I believe Egypt does have claim to some of their artifacts, I believe that the ones already in other museums should stay there to showcase the amazing history and provide a learning opportunity to people around the world.
If every artifact or piece of art were to stay where it was originally created, museums would vanish. Visiting the place of creation for every artifact/art would be amazing, but it is just not practical. Putting these pieces together in museums around the world allows for a larger audience to learn and enjoy the pieces.
I personally believe that the artifacts should stay where they are now. These artifacts have become a part of the places that they currently reside. I understand the Egyptians wanting artifacts that depict the history of their culture to be returned, but they are now a part of their culture as well.
Wow, yet again another artifact from ancient times broken! And no do not try to take all artifacts back to Egypt that would be stupid.
I find this destruction to such a famous piece of history extremely tragic. For years upon years historians have been able to preserve it, and in seconds they destroyed it. Although they did not intentionally, it is their job to preserve these historical artifacts. Although I do believe that Egypt has rights to this artifact, it should stay where it is as a means to teach Americans the Egyptian history.
These people working at the museum were hopefully fired for this. They needed to be more careful and considerate when dealing with such a famous artifact. The fact that they refuse to take the blame for their mistakes is even more immature.
I don’t know how careless these people could have been to allow one, if not the most, famous artifact to just break like that.
Due to the fact that this is a critical piece of history in the history of our civilization I feel that it should have been housed in a facility that is renowned for its ability to maintain its artifacts and knowledge of what to do if an emergency like this were to happen. It doesn’t really make a difference that the Egyptian item stay in Egypt if it cannot be taken care of and preserved properly in the first place! it is sad to see that something so unique like this was not taken care of in the proper way.
How can someone be so careless?! I am really surprised that the museum is not making an example of these “professionals.”
Sounds like some people needed to be fired… It’s one thing to break it, but to leave glue to dry on it is just careless.
Goes to show how ignorant most of our generation is truly.
It’s unfortunate that such a precious object was broken, and horrible that in their attempt to fix their mistake they created a bigger issue.
People are so intelligent (sarcasm). Historians everywhere are probably so pissed.
It really is unfortunate to hear about, because you would think these restoration experts would understand how important this artifact is to world history.
It is a terrible ordeal that such a great artifact was not restored properly. It is a shame that such things are not taken seriously for those who admire the artifacts and the history behind it.
This is just another reason advocating that we stop interfering with ancient precious artifacts and material. We find so many things thousands if not millions of years old, and we feel the need to display them and use them as promotion for business, then we end up damaging what we used to call irreplaceable and priceless, even though there was no purpose for excavating them except for attraction. Once we discover something like this, why don’t we leave it now that we have the knowledge of its finding?
Meanwhile I can’t even grow a beard.
These people really have no respect for human history. SHAME on them.
These conservators obviously did not have the proper restoration training, and I hope they were heavily reprimanded for their stupid actions. I think that a good amount of artifacts should stay in the country in which they were found, but I also think that some artifacts should be in foreign museums so that those that are not able to travel have the possibility to admire them as well.
It is very surprising that conservators were not more careful with a delicate and famous piece of history. It is a shame that Tut’s beard broke off and there are scratch marks now on his mask.
Imagine being the person who broke King Tut’s beard. Not sure how you can live with that.
I guess I would be hesitant to return artifacts such as these back to Egypt if they have a bad track record of taking care of them. At the same rate, these are artifacts from their nation so they do have that right.
I think it is unjust to attribute the mistakes of one group of conservators to an entire nation. To refuse Egypt access to its own cultural treasures due to the mistakes of a few individuals would be unfair and prejudiced.
Egypt has a right, I suppose, to keep their historical artifacts most of the time. However, they still should share the mask with at least Howard Carter’s Britain. Without Carter’s meticulous record-keeping, who knows how short the death mask would have lasted upon being discovered?
I think that wherever the artifact is found, that place has the right to keep the ownership. With that being said though, the artifact, especially an artifact with as much importance and history as this one, should be looked after by the best in the business. It is shameful that the artifact was broken and then that the workers did a poor job putting it back together. If the workers would have thought this out more and asked for help, the artifact would still be looking great today.
Arguably one of the most valuable artifacts in history has been messed up due to a cleaning issue! You’d think they’d be more carful.
Whoops. I can’t even imagine the horror they felt when that beard came off.
Terrible that the beard broke off and they could not repair it without leaving traces of the mistake. It could have been worse though, and at least they were able to restore it fairly well.
It is good that they were able to repair the artifact but it really makes you wonder if the people performing this task are the best people for the job…
Its almost funny how the people who just have to be careful with an artifact still managed to mess it up. It is good that it was able to be repaired however.
It’s a shame what happened. Hope we can learn from this mistake
I think that the artifacts should not be moved any more than they have to be. Human error is what messed up an important artifact of history, which might be lost into history forever.
Its such a shame that someone did that to such an amazing historic artifact. People need to be paying more attention when trusted with valuable objects.
Its a shame that the artifact was broken, and yes it should have been handled differently, however I don’t believe any of the artifacts should be taken from their homes around the world to go back to Egypt like the article suggests. Accidents can happen anywhere and to anyone, we just need to learn how to better handle those situations and try to prevent them from happening again.
Thank god the Roman empire and Napoleon came along to ship what precious artifacts they could back to Europe. Way to go Egypt!!! Ruining one beard at a time.
the artifacts should be kept in a safe place so this doesn’t happen to anyone elses beard
Unimaginable! To answer the question above about should Egyptian museums have the rights to the artifacts. Only if they are qualified to do so properly.
Unfortunately, accidents happen, as long as the artifacts are cared for properly, keeping them safe is of the highest priority.
I think that the artifacts should be spread around the world and not just kept in Egypt. Many people can’t afford to travel to Egypt in order to see these pieces of history. It is important that everyone has access to parts of history such as artifacts.
I think moving artifacts is not a terrible thing to do, but if they are moved they should be taken care of in the most gentle way possible.
Things like this happen, it’s sad. A repair just isnt the same.
I find it humorous that these “professional” restoration experts only used an epoxy to repair this master piece. I wonder if it was jb weld of gorilla glue.
This brings to mind the hilarious “Potato Jesus” failed fresco restoration meme. If you are going to work on restoring an artwork, please just know what you are doing or step aside.
If artifacts are going to be restored it should be done by someone who knows what they’re doing.
There’s always a risk of breaking something that is being cleaned, especially if it is thousands of years old, but how do you actually allow yourself to break the beard off of King Tut’s mask?
How do you let something like this happen? I mean experts at that. They were better off hiring my 2 yr to handle this.
They should of been more careful. Also I don’t think all of Egyptian artifacts should just remain in Egypt. I think if taken care of properly in other places it would be good for non-egyptians to enjoy and see something else and precious artifacts of a different culture to learn and appreciate them too.
Artifacts should NEVER be moved. They should be viewed where they are and at a distance. These are very fragile and need to be taken care of !