DASHUR BOAT IMAGING AND CONSERVATION PROJECT
(Ancient Egyptian)​
Carnegie Museum of Natural History
Fall 2018

​Various methods of research—multispectral imaging, microscope imaging, chemical testing, and X-ray florescence—were employed to determine pigmentation of the Dashur boat. These methods allowed us to conclude with fair certainty that areas which contained visible coloration to the naked eye or LED flashlight corresponded chemically and photographically to common ancient Egyptian colored pigments. The pigment of Egyptian blue would have been made using copper chloride, yellow would have used arsenic sulfide or iron oxide, and the minium variant (a certain shade) of red pigment would have used lead oxide (Varichon and “Pigments”). These common substances certainly fall into the readings which were received from the multispectral imaging, chemical, and XRF tests.