Museum that destroyed Tutankhamun’s burial mask and fixed it with super glue says it can be repaired

YOU’VE heard the reports, now see the pictures of Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s crusty crack after the 3300-year-old relic was hastily glued back together.

The gold mask of King Tutankhamun is seen in a glass case during a press tour, in the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt, Saturday, Jan. 24, 2015. German restoration specialist, Christian Eckmann, summoned to Cairo to examine the damaged burial mask, spoke at a packed news conference Saturday at the Egyptian museum, saying that epoxy used to glue the mask's beard back on can be removed and the mask properly restored. Eckmann said the beard, which has been detached before from the mask and had likely loosened over the years, was accidentally knocked off last August during work on the relic’s lighting. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)

YOU’VE heard the reports, now Pharaoh Tutankhamun’s crack has been revealed, after the 3300-year-old relic was hastily glued back together when its beard was accidentally knocked off last August during work on the relic’s lighting.

It comes as a German expert, summoned to Cairo to examine the historic artefact, said epoxy used to glue a blue and gold braided beard back on to the burial mask of Egypt’s famed King Tutankhamun could be removed and the mask properly restored.

Speaking at a packed news conference at the Egyptian museum, restoration specialist Christian Eckmann said the beard, which has been detached before from the mask, had likely loosened over the years. The cause of a scratch discovered on the mask had yet to be determined.

A big crack ... The beard of King Tut’s mask was reattached using epoxy glue leaving a crust of dried glue. Picture: AP Photo/Hassan Ammar

The gold mask of King Tutankhamun is seen in a glass case during a press tour, in the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square, Cairo, Egypt. Picture: Hassan Ammar

Eckmann said epoxy used to glue the mask's beard back on can be removed and the mask properly restored.Picture: Hassan Ammar

German restoration specialist, Christian Eckmann was summoned to Cairo to examine the damaged burial mask. Picture: Hassan Ammar

Eckmann said the beard, which has been detached before from the mask and had likely loosened over the years, was accidentally knocked off last August during work on the relic’s lighting. Picture: Hassan Ammar

“There will be a committee of experts consisting of conservators, archaeologists and natural scientists in order to develop a plan for re-conservation,” he said. “Up till now we found one scratch which is visible but it cannot be said now whether this scratch is an ancient one, a recent one, or a modern one which just happened right now,” he added.

Really? In this photo from August 12, 2014, a man glues the beard part of King Tutankhamun's mask back on at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, Egypt.

On Wednesday, museum conservators speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of professional reprisals said that the beard had been hastily glued back on with epoxy, a powerful adhesive extremely difficult to remove. The 3300-year old mask remains on display, with epoxy filling a small gap between the chin and what is known as a “model beard” commonly worn by kings and gods.

Museum administrators at the news conference declined to comment on which specific type of epoxy was used. Experts say adhesives used in such repairs are chosen for their reversibility, for which epoxy is not renown, although the difficulty of its removal varies according to the type of resin used.

Intense interest ... A media scrum gathers to take pictures of Pharaoh Tutankhamun, who ruled Egypt from 1334 to 1325BC.

Antiquities Minister Mamdouh el-Damaty, present at the conference, said he was only alerted to the incident two days ago.

The burial mask, discovered by British archaeologists in 1922, sparked worldwide interest in archeology and ancient Egypt when it was unearthed along with Tutankhamun’s nearly intact tomb.

It is arguably the best-known piece in the museum, one of the city’s main tourist sites, which was built in 1902 and has seen little change since.

Botched ... An Egyptian conservation group said it would sue the antiquities minister over a 'botched' repair of the mask of Tutankhamun that left a crust of dried glue on the priceless relic. Picture: AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED