NANOMATERIALS FOR THE INHIBITION OF MICROBIAL GROWTH ON ANCIENT EGYPTIAN FUNERAL MASKS

Abstract

Funeral masks were manufactured in ancient Egypt since several periods ago. They consist of one or more material such as wood, textile, gypsum, faience, silver and gold. They were exposed to microbiological infections from the surrounding environmental conditions such as fungi and bacteria, which caused various deterioration aspects : stains, disintegration, discoloration, cracking, and may promote the decay of funeral masks. In the last few years, nanoparticles have widely been used in treatment and conservation of artifacts. In this paper, the antimicrobial activities of nanomaterials silver, titanium dioxide and copper II oxide, were evaluated against the fungal strain of Aspergillus niger, Aspergillus flavus, Aspergillus fumigatus and the bacterial strain of Bacillus alvei, Gthe short Bacilli, and Gthe Bacilli spore former. Transmission electron microscope TEM, and scanning electron microscope SEM attached with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer EDX unit were utilized for characterization of nanoparticles. The data showed that silver nanoparticles are the best effective one for inhibition the growth of both isolated fungi and bacteria. It was applied for treatment and conservation of three ancient Egyptian funeral masks in saqqara, Egypt.