NONDESTRUCTIVE TECHNIQUES IN THE STUDY OF A GILDED METALLIC SWORD FROM THE ISLAMIC ART MUSEUM

The paper presents results obtained from investigation of a gilded sword from Islamic Art Museum in CairoEgypt, with multi-analytical non-destructive methods such as optical microscopy (OM), stereo microscope (SM) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF). The present article offers a discussion of swords and sabers during the early Islamic period. The paper proposes a short review on gilding techniques and materials from metal artifacts of cultural heritage. Modern analytical methods applied to the metallic sword (which has gilded copper and iron alloys) revealed a number of structures, complex and different. The iron object degraded in the surrounding environment to emphasizing the chemical and physical processes that occur according the lying environment; the iron blade of the sword has stress due to cracks and pitting corrosion. Furthermore, XRF analysis showed that the hilt of the sword coated with wear and tear gold layer or electrum (an alloy of gold and silver). These results highlighted the chemical composition of the base alloy and gilding; it offers useful information which helps in conservation, handling and storage methods to keep the unique sword.