Research Activities | 2014

On March 18, 2015, we invited Dr. Youssef Kanjou, former Executive Director of Aleppo National Museum in Syria, to CHC to give a lecture on "Syria's Cultural Heritage and its Current Status in 2015".

The lecture described unrest in Syria that has been going on since 2011, and the extent of damage to local cultural assets; how the government is responding to cultural assets currently exposed to the elements (and theft); what kind of conservation activities are underway, and so on. The detailed talk included recent imagery and vivid photographs of Syrian cultural properties.

In the question and answer session that followed, we discussed what the countries of the world should do to respond to the continued destruction of Syrian cultural properties, as well as what Japan could do to encourage cooperation with Syria on the issue. A lively debate ensued, stimulating all the participants with a strong interest in the protection and restoration of cultural properties in Islamic regions.

CHC held a symposium entitled "Conserve the Empyreal Ancient City of Machu Picchu" on March 1, 2015. CHC invited Dr. Piedad Champi and Dr. Gladys Huallparimachi, experts of conservation and management of Machu Picchu, who presented their latest research results.

Japanese researchers including CHC members also reported their research results. Then, a group of Peruvian and Japanese who formed a panel for the discussion on the future tasks for a World Heritage of Machu Picchu. On March 2, a workshop was also held for a free exchange of views on scientific issues.

Also, Kokushikan University hosted the same symposium on February 28.

The CHC hosted the second "Seminar on the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Heritage" from Sunday, February 22 to Sunday, March 1, 2015. Researchers, engineers, and other lead experts in the field were invited as instructors to give lectures to university students pursuing their interests in the related fields of cultural heritage studies and the general public who want to learn about the preservation of cultural heritage.

Lecturers from the CHC included Atsushi Ito (Science and Technology Group), Masaaki Sawada (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), Tadateru Nishiura (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), and Kosuke Takatori (Science and Technology Group).

On the last day of the seminar, March 1, participants joined Symposium "Protect the Ancient Town 'Machu Picchu' of the Heavens." Through the eight-day seminar, participants learned about different aspects of cultural heritage from the basics of cultural heritage to examples of heritage preservation work.

The seminar was fruitful thanks to many enthusiastic participants interested in the subject.

CHC project members Ahmed Shoeib (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), Adel Akarish (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), Maisa Mansur (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), and Salah el-Kholy (Egyptology, Egyptian Society Group) visited Kansai University from January 2015 to February 2015 and conducted a meeting and joint research with Japanese project members.

Shoeib, Akarish, and El-Kholy attended a meeting at CHC on Tuesday, January 27. Among other topics, the members had heated discussions on the materials to be used to reinforce the bedrock below Idout’s mastaba. The talk helped them identify the direction for their future surveys in Egypt.

Mansur joined Kosuke Takatori (Science and Technology Group) from the Center for Fungal Consultation Japan and Tetsuaki Tsuchido (Science and Technology Group) from Osaka Prefecture University in an analysis of fungi in technical research.

The meeting and the research allowed the members to set specific guidelines for surveys in Egypt. They also provided the Egyptian and Japanese CHC project members with opportunities to exchange ideas and advance collaborative research efforts.

CHC project members Salah el-Kholy (Egyptology, Egyptian Society Group), Ahmed Shoeib (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), and Adel Akarish (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group) participated in meetings at CHC from Wednesday, January 28, 2015, to Thursday, February 5, 2015, to discuss steps for surveys in Egypt. During their stay in Japan, they gave a total of seven intensive lectures on Egyptology and conservation science in Egyptian cultural heritage for students at Kansai University.

El-Kholy lectured on Old and Middle Egyptian, and Shoieb and Akarish spoke about conservation science.

Students practiced reading hieroglyphs using The Autobiography of Harkhuf in the Old Egyptian lecture and The Tale of the Eloquent Peasant in the Middle Egyptian lecture. The in-depth explanation of grammatical expressions characteristic of each language and the discussion on various interpretations of these expressions in the lecture gave the students a fresh perspective on Egyptian grammar.

Shoeib explained ways to excavate and preserve cultural property as well as the current situation in Egypt in terms of excavation and preservation activities. Akarish gave a detailed speech on the types of rock that are used to restore cultural property and the methods of making pigments.

The students struggled to keep up with the terminology in the lectures because they were in English. However, the lecturers’ repeated and thorough explanations helped the students' understanding, and they got to experience the kind of learning they might experience at Cairo University, the lecturers' home institute. Learning ancient Egyptian reading skills and the latest knowledge about excavating, preserving, and restoring cultural property motivated the students for their future research projects. Also, the opportunity to interact with CHC project members made the event even more meaningful to the students.

Masaaki Sawada (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), a CHC researcher, gave an intensive lecture series entitled, "Scientific Research on Cultural Property (Fall)," at Kansai University Graduate School from Wednesday, January 28, 2015, to Friday, January 30, 2015. The goal of the lecture series was to provide students with basic scientific knowledge of cultural heritage preservation and restoration, and to promote a greater understanding of how this knowledge is applied to actual preservation and restoration techniques by using real examples.

In the lectures on January 28 and 29, Sawada introduced some of the preservation and restoration efforts he has been involved in, including the work at the mastaba of Idout, to provide real-world examples. He also facilitated discussion with Kansai University graduate students on how to preserve and utilize cultural heritage based on people's changing views on cultural heritage in recent years.

On January 30, students visited the remains of Heijo Palace and the Shosoin in Nara prefecture, where they saw examples of preservation and restoration techniques in practical use. At the main temple of Shosoin, students were presented with the techniques that were originally used to preserve treasures when the repository was built and that have been passed down to this day. They also saw preservation and restoration work performed back in the Edo period. The visit expanded the students' interests in the field of cultural heritage preservation and restoration.

The CHC offered an intensive language course, Beginner to Middle Egyptian, from Saturday, December 13, 2014, to Saturday, January 17, 2015. Over the total of four classes, Hiroshi Suita (Egyptology, Egyptian Society Group), Director of CHC, gave lectures on the basics of Middle Egyptian.

The intensive lectures covered how to read Middle Egyptian words, where a word starts and ends, how to use a dictionary, and the basic grammar, presented in actual historical documents of ancient Egypt. Through the course, participants learned important grammatical features of Middle Egyptian. This knowledge will be built upon in the Intermediate Middle Egyptian course, which will be held next year.

The intensive language course, designed for first-time learners of Middle Egyptian, was joined by people across generations interested in ancient Egypt, including those who participated in the course last year.

The participants received a certificate of completion from CHC after the four lectures.

Hiroshi Suita (Egyptology, Egyptian Society Group), Director of CHC, delivered a keynote speech "Preserving Mural Paintings of the Egyptian Civilization" at the public symposium "Passing on Cultural Heritage: Japanese Preservation Techniques Save Treasures of Ancient Civilizations," held at the Museum of Ethnology on Sunday, December 14, 2014.

Hiroshi Suita introduced CHC's efforts to preserve and restore mural paintings inside Idout's mastaba in Saqqara. He also stressed the need for parties involved to become more aware of the deterioration and destruction of cultural properties and the importance of building relationships with local experts as equal partners in preservation and restoration activities in Egypt.

An article by Takashi Hamamoto (International Culture Group) appeared in the September issue (2014) of a journal, EPTA (Vol. 68) published by the Clinical and Cosmetics Laboratory, Hinoki Clinical. The article relates to jewelry and ornaments symbolized as a form of culture in Japanese history.

(Courtesy of HINOKI CLINICAL)

On October 8, 2014, "Dunhuang Forum: International Symposium on the Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road 2014" was held in Dunhuang, China. Many CHC researchers participated in the symposium and gave presentations. Their presentation titles are listed below.

Atsushi Ito (Science and Technology Group) and Tatsuaki Nishigata (Science and Technology Group),
"Reinforcement of Mother Rock in Idout Tomb, Egypt"

Tadateru Nishiura (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), Hideaki Shibata, Isamu Ono, Masaaki Sawada (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group) Atsushi Ito (Science and Technology Group), Tatsuaki Nishigata (Science and Technology Group), Haruhiro Fujita, Masayuki Morii, Fernando Astete, and Carlos Cano,
"Conservation of Machu-Picchu Archaeological Site: Investigation and Experimental Restoration Works of the 'Temple of the Sun'"

Hiroshi Suita (Egyptology, Egyptian Society Group), Ahmed Shoeib (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), Adel Akarish (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), Masaaki Sawada (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), Tadateru Nishiura (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), Ewa Roznerska (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), Yoshihiro Yasumuro (Science and Technology Group), and Ryosuke Matsushita,
"Conservation Works of Idout's Tomb (2360 B.C.) in Saqqara, Egypt"

Nishiura and Sawada from the Cultural Heritage Restoration Group also served as the facilitators of the symposium. The event was a great opportunity for many CHC researchers to make the findings from their joint research known to a wider audience.

In September 2014, joint fieldwork was conducted by the following CHC researchers: Hiroshi Suita, Salah el-Kholy, and Eriko Oka from the Egyptology, Egyptian Society Group; Ahmed Shoeib, Adel Akarish, Maisa Mansur, and Tadateru Nishiura from the Cultural Heritage Restoration Group, and Atsushi Ito and Yoshihiro Yasumuro from the Science and Technology Group.

The fieldwork primarily focused on the survey of the wall rock of the Idout Mastaba and a 3D coordinate measurement of the mastaba. Besides visiting archaeological sites, the researchers also conducted a survey in Saqqara and visited the Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University.

On Sunday, September 28, 2014, a special lecture entitled, "Current Politic Movements and Daily Life in Egypt," was given by Mr. Kamal Gaballa, a columnist and former Editor-in-Chief of the Al-Ahram newspaper at the CHC.

The local reporter gave a detailed recounting of rapid changes in the political climate in Egypt, which originated in the Revolution of January 2011, current political trends, the direction of the Egyptian government, and the life of Egyptian citizens under these circumstances. Mr. Joseph Ramez, counselor of the Embassy of Egypt, also joined the lecture.

The lecture was followed by a discussion session led by Kansai University students with Mr. Gaballa and Mr. Joseph. It was certainly an exciting day for the students, who have a keen interest in Egypt and the Islamic regions.

Masaaki Sawada (Cultural Heritage Restoration Group), a CHC researcher, gave an intensive lecture series entitled, "Scientific Research on Cultural Property (Spring)," at Kansai University Graduate School from Wednesday, July 30, to Friday, August 1, 2014. The goal of the lecture series was to provide students with basic scientific knowledge of cultural heritage preservation and restoration, and to promote a greater understanding of how this knowledge is applied to actual preservation and restoration techniques by using case studies.

In the lecture on Thursday, July 31, students learned the effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG) used in PEG impregnation, a process mainly used to preserve and restore wood, through an experiment with the actual agent.

On Tuesday, August 1, students visited the Osaka Prefectural Sayamaike Museum, where they saw remains excavated at the Sayamaike Pond, the oldest dam-type reservoir in Japan, as well as the cross-section of the dam and other examples of preservation and restoration techniques in practical use. It was an inspiring visit for the students interested in preserving cultural heritage.

Commemorating the joint event, "Seminar on Egyptology and Monuments" in February, the Faculty of Archaeology, Cairo University, awarded a gift to the CHC to promote further research collaboration. It will serve as a symbol of continuous concerted efforts between the two institutes.