
Egyptian Conservators Restore King Tutankhamun's Treasures For New Museum
Years later, the Egyptian conservator found himself gently brushing centuries-old dust off one of Tut's gilded ceremonial shrines -- a piece he had only seen in textbooks.
"I studied archaeology because of Tut," Mertah, 36, told AFP. "It was my dream to work on his treasures -- and that dream came true."
Mertah is one of more than 150 conservators and 100 archaeologists who have laboured quietly for over a decade to restore thousands of artefacts ahead of the long-awaited opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) -- a $1 billion project on the edge of the Giza Plateau.
Originally slated for July 3, the launch has once again been postponed -- now expected in the final months of the year -- due to regional security concerns.
The museum's opening has faced delays over the years for various reasons, ranging from political upheaval to the Covid-19 pandemic.
But when it finally opens, the GEM will be the world's largest archaeological museum devoted to a single civilisation.
It will house more than 100,000 artefacts, with over half on public display, and will include a unique feature: a live conservation lab.
From behind glass walls, visitors will be able to watch in real time as experts work over the next three years to restore a 4,500-year-old boat buried near the tomb of Pharaoh Khufu and intended to ferry his soul across the sky with the sun god Ra.
But the star of the museum remains King Tut's collection of more than 5,000 objects -- many to be displayed together for the first time.
Among them are his golden funeral mask, gilded coffins, golden amulets, beaded collars, ceremonial chariots and two mummified foetuses believed to be his stillborn daughters.
'Puzzle of gold'
Many of these treasures have not undergone restoration since British archaeologist Howard Carter discovered them in 1922.
The conservation methods used by Carter's team were intended to protect the objects, but over a century later, they have posed challenges for their modern-day successors.
Coating gold surfaces in wax, for instance, "preserved the objects at the time", said conservator Hind Bayoumi, "but it then hid the very details we want the world to see".
For months, Bayoumi, 39, and her colleagues painstakingly removed the wax applied by British chemist Alfred Lucas, which had over decades trapped dirt and dulled the shine of the gold.
Restoration has been a joint effort between Egypt and Japan, which contributed $800 million in loans and provided technical support.
Egyptian conservators -- many trained by Japanese experts -- have led cutting-edge work across 19 laboratories covering wood, metal, papyrus, textiles and more.
Tut's gilded coffin -- brought from his tomb in Luxor -- proved one of the most intricate jobs.
At the GEM's wood lab, conservator Fatma Magdy, 34, used magnifying lenses and archival photos to reassemble its delicate gold sheets.
"It was like solving a giant puzzle," she said. "The shape of the break, the flow of the hieroglyphs -- every detail mattered."
- Touching history -
Before restoration, the Tutankhamun collection was retrieved from several museums and storage sites, including the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, the Luxor Museum and the tomb itself.
Some items were given light restoration before their relocation to ensure they could be safely moved.
Teams first conducted photographic documentation, X-ray analysis and material testing to understand each item's condition before touching it.
"We had to understand the condition of each piece -- the gold layers, the adhesives, wood structure -- everything," said Mertah, who worked on King Tut's ceremonial shrines at the Egyptian Museum.
Fragile pieces were stabilised with Japanese tissue paper -- thin but strong -- and adhesives like Paraloid B-72 and Klucel G, both reversible and minimally invasive.
The team's guiding philosophy throughout has been one of restraint.
"The goal is always to do the least amount necessary -- and to respect the object's history," said Mohamed Moustafa, 36, another senior restorer.
Beyond the restoration work, the process has been an emotional journey for many of those involved.
"I think we're more excited to see the museum than tourists are," Moustafa said.
"When visitors walk through the museum, they'll see the beauty of these artefacts. But for us, every piece is a reminder of the endless working hours, the debates, the trainings."
"Every piece tells a story."

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Business Standard
3 hours ago
- Business Standard
Independent report flagged misuse of studies before SO2 rollback nod
Before India significantly relaxed sulphur dioxide (SO2) emission control norms exempting a large number of coal-fired power plants, an independent analysis had warned that key scientific studies being cited to justify the move were riddled with contradictions and risked undermining public health. In an analysis released last month, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) alleged that studies by institutions such as NEERI, NIAS and IIT Delhi were being "selectively used to justify inaction" by power plants across the country, which continue to delay the installation of flue gas desulphurisation (FGD) units to control SO2?? emissions -- a major air pollutant. India established stringent sulphur dioxide emission standards for coal-based power plants in December 2015, requiring compliance within two years. Even after multiple extensions, 92 per cent of coal-fired power plants have not yet installed flue gas desulphurization units to control SO2 emissions, a major air pollutant that converts into fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and causes a range of diseases. In a notification dated July 11, the environment ministry again extended the SO2 compliance deadline for coal-based power plants located within 10 km of the National Capital Region or cities with over one million population from December 2024 to December 2027. Plants in critically polluted or non-attainment areas will now be assessed on a case-by-case basis, while those located elsewhere have been fully exempted, provided they meet stack height criteria. Of around 600 thermal power units in India, 462 are Category C units and 72 are Category B units. The ministry cited "many studies" as one of the reasons for this move, along with techno-economic concerns, COVID-related delays and a recommendation from the Ministry of Power. CREA's report, titled "From scientific evidence to excuses", countered this reasoning and said: "What is worse, studies by institutions like NEERI, NIAS, and IIT Delhi (2022 and 2024) are now being selectively used to justify this inaction, citing low SO2 levels or small CO2 increases to argue that FGDs are unnecessary. These arguments simply don't hold up." CREA said NEERI's assertion that ambient SO2 levels are already low is "highly misleading". "The air quality monitoring stations (CAAQMS) do not capture the real impact of power plant pollution because they do not track whether emissions drift upwind or downwind and they certainly do not account for chemical reactions that convert SO2 into other pollutants like PM2.5. Just because the station reading is low ambient SO2 does not mean the plant is not polluting," the report said. It said that SO2 emission norms and the requirement to install FGDs are based on stack emissions, not on ambient SO2 levels. "Using low ambient readings to argue against FGD is not just scientifically wrong, it completely misleads how pollution control works". Ironically, CREA noted, the NEERI report being used to question the utility of FGDs had itself acknowledged, "if a flue gas desulfurization technique is installed to reduce sulphur emissions from thermal power stations, it will reduce a part of it, and the overall reduction in ambient air PM will be at most 20 micrograms per cubic metre." CREA said that this would translate to a 20 per cent reduction in cities where PM2.5 levels are around 100-120 micrograms per cubic metre. Similarly, the 2022 IIT Delhi report concluded that "with the implementation of FGD in the Vindhyachal TPP, we can expect to see a decrease in the monthly mean surface concentrations of sulfate aerosols in the range of 10-15 per cent of the climatological values at certain places as far as 100 km from the location of this TPP". The IIT Delhi report added: "Significant decreases in sulfate aerosol concentrations are also observed as far as 200 km from the TPP". CREA noted that despite these findings, a 2024 IIT Delhi report narrowed its scope to six cities and recommended halting FGD rollout in plants that have yet to adopt it. The analysis also highlighted that "coal-fired power plants led to 47,000 deaths in 2014; 62,000 deaths in 2017 and 78,000 deaths in 2018", and warned that "it is very likely that the health impacts would be much worse than what is being estimated now" as India plans to add 80-100 GW of new coal-fired capacity. A NIAS report previously estimated that full FGD implementation would add "approximately 23 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030, which is just 0.9 per cent of India's total CO2 emissions in 2020". CREA said it is comparable to "the output of a single coal-based power plant with over 3 GW capacity". The analysis added that "the irony lies in the fact that while this marginal CO2 increase by FGD is criticised, plans to build an additional 80 to 100 GW of coal capacity, which would result in far greater CO2 emissions, are not questioned with the same urgency". On the claim that FGD installations cause prolonged shutdowns, CREA said: "NTPC RTI data shows that most FGDs were fitted during regular maintenance, with no additional shutdown period." NTPC, it added, had already installed FGDs in plants with 20 GW capacity and had another 47 GW under construction. CREA said the latest studies by IIT Delhi and IIT Bombay confirmed that "power plants are a leading cause of India's air pollution", contributing up to 12 per cent of PM2.5 during winter and 16 per cent of cross-boundary urban pollution. It added that this level of contribution is "on par with the vehicle sector, where the country went through a national initiative to switch to BSVI many years before". "Since emissions from coal-fired power plants have long-range impacts, affecting air quality at the national level, FGD installation should be mandatory across India, regardless of plant location," the research organization said. FGDs are a critical, life-saving tool that India should have deployed years ago. Every delay means "more lives lost, more children breathing toxic air, and more communities suffering from preventable disease", it cautioned. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)


News18
20 hours ago
- News18
New Covid Variant XFG Explained: Symptoms, Spread & Safety Tips You Need To Know
Last Updated: Symptoms mirror Omicron's, that is, fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, and muscle aches. Though India's Covid response offers a foundation, but XFG demands targeted strategies As India navigates a post-Covid world, a new Omicron subvariant, XFG ('Stratus"), is raising concerns with its rapid spread and immune-evasive traits. First detected in Canada, XFG has reached 38 countries, including India, where it accounts for a growing share of cases. With India's active Covid-19 cases at 7,000 as of June 2025, per the Union Health Ministry, let's examine XFG's characteristics, India-specific data, and how the nation can prepare for this and future pandemics, drawing lessons from long Covid. What Is The XFG Variant? XFG, a recombinant subvariant of Omicron, emerges from the fusion of LF.7 and LP.8.1.2 strains, formed when two variants infect a person simultaneously, mixing genetic material. A Lancet study highlights four key spike protein mutations—His445Arg, Asn487Asp, Gln493Glu, and Thr572Ile—enabling 'strong immune evasion," allowing XFG to bypass antibodies from prior infections or vaccines. Globally, XFG accounts for 22.7% of sequenced cases as of June 2025, up from 7.4% a month earlier, per GISAID (Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data), and may soon dominate over NB.1.8.1 ('Nimbus"), per The Conversation. In India, it's the dominant strain in Madhya Pradesh, with 63.6% of sequenced samples, per AIIMS Bhopal. Symptoms mirror Omicron's, that is, fever, cough, fatigue, sore throat, and muscle aches. However, XFG uniquely causes hoarseness—a scratchy or raspy voice—reported by doctors as a key marker, per Everyday Health. Unlike JN.1, which caused low-grade fever and digestive issues, XFG's symptoms are mild to moderate, with no evidence of increased severity or hospitalisation rates, per WHO. Current vaccines, targeting JN.1, remain effective against severe disease, and antivirals like Paxlovid and remdesivir work, per Time. How Many XFG Cases Have India Reported? India has reported 206 XFG cases as of June 11, per INSACOG, with Maharashtra leading at 89 cases, followed by West Bengal (49), Tamil Nadu (16), Kerala (15), Gujarat (11), and Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh (6 each), Odisha (4), Puducherry (3), Delhi, Rajasthan, and Punjab (2 each), and Telangana and Haryana (1 each), per The Hindu. Of these, 159 cases were detected in May, with two each in April and June, indicating a rapid rise. India's active Covid-19 cases reached 7,000 by June 11, with Kerala reporting the highest active cases (2,200), followed by Gujarat (1,223) and Delhi (757). A 2024 ICMR survey notes 66% of respiratory viral infections in India are Covid-related, but hospitalisations remain low, News18 reported. AIIMS Bhopal's genomic analysis of 44 samples from May-June found XFG dominant in 28 (63.6%), with no NB.1.8.1 detected in Madhya Pradesh, highlighting regional variation. Dr Rajiv Behl, ICMR Director General, stresses XFG's low severity but urges vigilance for vulnerable groups—those over 70 or with comorbidities. Why XFG Matters To India India's 1.4 billion population and $3 trillion economy face significant risks from new variants. Long Covid, affecting 7% of India's 44 million Covid cases (3 million people), costs 1% of GDP annually, per a 2024 NITI Aayog estimate, with 40% reporting fatigue and 25% brain fog. XFG's immune evasion could exacerbate this. Rural areas, with only 10% of health centres offering post-Covid care, face worse outcomes, per The Indian Express. A 2024 Times of India poll shows only 25% of Indians know about long Covid, limiting XFG awareness. Vaccine hesitancy, at 30% in rural India, and low Omicron-specific booster uptake (18%) weaken defences, per ICMR 2024. With 74 Covid deaths in 2025, mostly among the elderly and immunocompromised, XFG's spread threatens vulnerable groups. How India Should Prepare India's Covid response—2.2 billion vaccine doses by 2025—offers a foundation, but XFG demands targeted strategies: Enhanced Genomic Surveillance: INSACOG's 54 labs must expand sequencing, as only 0.1% of cases are sequenced, per The Hindu. AIIMS Bhopal's model, detecting XFG in 63.6% of samples, shows the value of regional labs. Scaling Truenat and RT-PCR testing to 80% of health centers, especially rural ones, could detect variants early, per Dr Balram Bhargava, a renowned cardiologist and public health leader. Vaccination & Boosters: Only 18% of Indians have Omicron-specific boosters. A 2025 campaign targeting 50% booster coverage, especially for those over 70, could cut severe cases by 30%, per WHO. Mobile vaccination units, successful in 2021, should reach rural areas. Hospital Preparedness: Only 50% of health centres have ventilators, and 30% lack oxygen, per a 2024 MoHFW report. The Centre's 2025 mock drills must ensure 75% of 1.5 lakh centers have isolation beds and antivirals, costing Rs 5,000 crore. Telemedicine, used by 15% of urban Indians, can expand to rural areas. Masking and Ventilation: XFG's spread in crowded spaces, like Mumbai's trains, requires masks and improved ventilation. A 2023 Singapore study cut transmission by 20% with air purifiers. India's public buildings need similar upgrades. Get breaking news, in-depth analysis, and expert perspectives on everything from politics to crime and society. Stay informed with the latest India news only on News18. Download the News18 App to stay updated! tags : covid symptoms Long COVID omicron view comments Location : New Delhi, India, India First Published: Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.


The Print
20 hours ago
- The Print
Facial, speech problems among after-effects of mucormycosis post recovery: ICMR study
Published last month in Clinical Microbiology and Infection, a leading microbiology journal, the study found that 14.7 per cent of 686 hospitalised mucormycosis patients died within a year, with most deaths occurring during initial hospitalisation. There was an uptick in cases of mucormycosis, a rare infection also known as 'Black Fungus', during the COVID-19 pandemic. New Delhi, Jul 12 (PTI) People who suffered from mucormycosis and recovered continue to battle long-term health effects of the fungal infection, such as facial disfigurement and speech difficulty, found an ICMR study. Critical predictors of poor survival included involvement of the brain or eyes, intensive care admission, poor glycaemic control, and comorbid conditions. Conversely, patients who received both surgical treatment and combination antifungal therapy (particularly Amphotericin-B formulations with Posaconazole) had significantly higher survival rates, said Dr Rizwan Suliankatchi Abdulkader, from ICMR's National Institute of Epidemiology (NIE), the lead author of the study. 'But survivors often faced disfigurement and psychological distress, with more than 70 per cent reporting at least one clinical sequela (complication or disability) and a substantial proportion experiencing loss of employment,' Rizwan said. 'These are not abstract complications. Facial disfigurement, impaired speech, anxiety, and loss of livelihood are lived realities for many survivors. It is time for India to move beyond life-saving interventions and focus on life-restoring systems of care, including mental health support and rehabilitation,' he said. Led by Rizwan and the All-India Mucormycosis Consortium, the study assessed survival, treatment outcomes, and post-recovery quality of life among hospitalised patients in India. This large-scale study, covering 686 patients from 26 tertiary hospitals across the country, is the first of its kind to offer long-term, prospective data on this critical public health concern. As a part of the study, 686 patients who had contracted mucormycosis between March and July 2021 were followed up for one year. Of the 686, 80 per cent (549) also had COVID-19. The prevalence of mucormycosis varies significantly, from 0.01 to 2 cases per million in developed countries to 140 cases per million in India and similar nations, with incidence approximately 80 times higher in India. Despite advances in medical care, mucormycosis remains a highly lethal and debilitating condition. 'This study reinforces the pressing need to ensure access to timely diagnosis, surgical interventions, and combination antifungal therapy in all parts of India,' said Dr Manoj Murhekar, Director of Chennai-based ICMR-NIE. 'We cannot overstate how essential high-quality, multidisciplinary care is for patients battling mucormycosis, especially given the irreversible complications they face if treatment is delayed,' said Murhekar, a senior author of the study. Spanning the length and breadth of India, the study involved institutions from nearly every region, capturing a diverse and realistic picture of mucormycosis management in both urban and rural populations. Rizwan stressed, 'This is not just a story of numbers. Behind every data point is a person who struggled with pain, disfigurement, and long-term disability. Our duty as clinicians and public health professionals is to reduce not just mortality but also the suffering that comes with survival. 'India has a disproportionately high burden of this disease. Our health systems must be better prepared.' The research comes at a time when India is still grappling with the long-term fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which mucormycosis surged dramatically. As the global community turns its attention to pandemic preparedness and health system resilience, the study serves as a sobering reminder of the challenges posed by neglected fungal diseases. 'We hope our findings will serve as a call to action for policymakers, hospital administrators, and clinicians. Mucormycosis is not just a complication of COVID-19. It is a disease that demands long-term clinical attention, public health surveillance, and above all, compassion in care,' Rizwan said. PTI PLB SKY SKY This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.