Egyptian princess rescued by heroic Conservationist

'We had to take her with great care and security.'

Princess Naishu was once a powerful 24-year-old woman with much influence. Unfortunately, she began to suffer a horrific affliction - she began to decay.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - Anupam Sah, the head conservator of Mumbai's Prince of Wales museum, was immediately called to help.

Princess Naishu, who is believed to have been the daughter of Pharaoh VI, was mummified around 2,500 B.C.

When curators discovered her spoiling last year, Sah was called to stop the erosion of Hyderabad's state museum's most prized mummy.

Princess Naishu's cartilage was covered with a hard, painted crust meant to preserve her body but curators discovered it was cracking and falling apart along her face, shoulders, chest and feet.

The bandaged areas were then exposed and loosened. Soon, the bandages began to slowly unravel, which affected the internal bandages.

When Sah joined the team, he managed to rebind the cracked and delicate bandages without the use of any additional chemicals or materials.

It took several weeks of careful work, which was made more complicated as the team was unable to use traditional examination techniques or treatment methods.

"It was too fragile and risky to move the mummy," Sah told BBC. "We had to be careful because the cloth had become very brittle. We assessed that we could restore the bandage to its near-original state without causing any damage by retying the cartilage in around 10 days.

"Subsequently, we had to take her wrapped in multiple layers of cotton to a diagnostic centre to X-ray and CT-scan the cartilage. We had to take her with great care and security, and bring her back before the sun became too strong."

NR Visalatchy, the director of Archaeology and Museums and who works for the government of Telangana, explained: "We are now getting a nitrogen chamber for her - which will completely ensure zero-oxidation or further ageing. It is a rare piece of Egyptian history in the heart of Hyderabad. It thrills me every time I come to see her that she was living 25 centuries before Christ. We will ensure we keep her safe."

Princess Naishu is a particularly special mummy as she is South India's only Egyptian mummy.

"We held for a long while that the present generation owned heritage," Sah explained. "Today, we are slowly realizing we are merely its custodians, who have the responsibility to preserve it. We will not re-create a new dress for her," he added, "merely ensure that the original does not degenerate anymore."

Princess Naishu was purchased for over Ł1,000 then donated to the museum.

Since her acquisition, the museum kept her in an airtight enclosure. Hopefully, Sah's preservation will effectively protect her from now on.

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