报告嘉宾：Asensi Amorós, Maria Victoria

报告摘要：We wish to present our ancient egyptian woods data base and some interesting informations resulting from the analyses it contains. This data base consists in wood identifications made both by ourselves and by others specialist until now. We have compared modern and ancient indigenous trees and shrubs species from Egypt. The results suggest that, if we consider that the flora from the pharaonic time has not suffered any major changes comparatively to that of the current flora, only 26% of the still existing vegetal species are present in the ancient remains. Whereas, the genera are fairly better represented (87%).

As soon as we compare the wood anatomy of some items, these percentages decrease by half. Indeed, out of 1700 items, complete or fragmentary, only 13% of the current indigenous species could be identified. Although the analyses of wood anatomy made on Egyptian items are very scarce in regard of the large quantity of objects in the museum collections and those found during recent excavations, the study of these percentages shows the importance of wood trading in the Egyptian economy at all time. It also shows that about half of the number of genera of trees were brought from abroad. And, among the various imported genera of trees, some very interesting results show particularly a large use of oak, cedar and pine wood.

It is even possible to reestablish, according to the periods, the various centers of origin of the imported woods. Furthermore, the confrontation of the used species and the manufactured objects (artistic or ordinary) gives interesting information not only about the way ancient craftsmen worked, but also about the symbolic or religious value the Egyptians attributed to the one or the other species. Finally, a xylological study of Egyptian collections is a precious support for restoration and conservation.

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