The Incredible Story of the Tutankhamun beard
Eight former employees of the Egyptian museum in Cairo, including the former director and former head of restoration (all already fired) will face trial for ruining the famous golden and lapis lazuli mask of Pharaoh Tutankhamun made about 3,300 years ago.
The mask, if not the most valuable piece, is certainly the most well-known piece of the Cairo's museum.
The drama took place in August 2014 when an attendant, to fix a light bulb, lifted, without understanding what he was actually doing, the mask (which weighs about 11 kg) gripping it by the ornamental beard of the mask, which broke remaining in the hands of the man.
But the real disaster, which cost the job and perhaps now the jail for eight people, was the clumsy attempt at reparation: to try not to let anyone discover the disaster, in a sort of conspiracy, the former director of the museum, the former chief restorer, four technicians and two employees, used a normal epoxy glue to reattach the fragment. But they used too much so that a step formed on the mask that instead of hiding it, went to emphasize the fracture.
To bring the Tutankhamun mask back to its former splendor, a team of German experts was called. After two months of work the team managed to make all traces of the crime disappear.
After successful restoration, the mask was put back on public display in December.
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