University of Pennsylvania (Penn Museum)

The University of Pennsylvania's Penn Museum will conserve 550 coffins and funerary objects from its Egyptian collections to ensure their long-term preservation. The objects were identified as the museum's highest conservation priority when the Egyptian collections were moved off-site to prepare for the renovation of the museum's Egyptian wing and installation of new Egyptian collections storage areas. Project conservators will clean and stabilize the objects as well as create supports to ensure objects can be accessed safely once they are returned to storage. The museum will also hire two interns to photograph all 550 treated objects and an additional 2,500 Egyptian and Nubian objects. The museum will add these images to its public digital collection database to increase the public's access to this collection. The internships will also provide hands-on, educational experience for aspiring conservators.