King Tut beard damaged by cleaner during a clumsy cleaning attempt and broke off the mask. Sadly, one of the most priceless Egyptian treasures of all time has now been destroyed, as the culprit hastily decided to use epoxy, which, in turn, leaked onto the mask's face and dried up.
Apparently, the whole incident took place last October. The staff of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo stuck the King Tut beard back with the use of epoxy. Since the leak was very clear and obvious, even from a couple of feet away, they attempted to scrape off the glue, which, in turn, caused them to scratch the surface of the mask, according to a London-based Arabic news outlet, Al Araby Al Jadeed.
"The mask should have been taken to the conservation lab, but they were in a rush to get it displayed quickly again and used this quick drying, irreversible material," an anonymous conservator informed The Associated Press.
Al Araby Al Jadeed, the lighting in the room where the King Tut beard and mask are being displayed has been dimmed in order to try to hide the damage the museum staff has caused.
The Arabic news website and the AP decided to keep the anonymity of their sources out of fear of reprisals. A source separately told the AP that the King Tut beard had actually not fallen off - that it was purposely removed since it was loose. Still, the AP says that all of their sources agree that they rushed to put back the beard, and that they used the epoxy improperly.
According to other reports, the damaged King Tut beard was supposed to be reported to the Ministry of Antiquities and repaired by their specialists. However, what transpired was that the head of the renovations team called her husband, who worked in the renovations department. It was the husband who fixed it himself with the use of epoxy.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
