DAMAGE ASSESSMENT AND CHEMICAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE ARCHAEOLOGICAL GLASS WEIGHTS KEPT AT RASHID STORE OF ANTIQUITIES: A CASE STUDY

The present research paper presents a series of glass weights dated back to the Fatimid Era (4th H.-10th G. century) from the exc-avations of Abu Mina in Alexandria. These weights have been kept in the Rashid store of antiquities since 1995 and suffered from many aspects of deterioration. The paper primarily aims to assess the deterioration state of glass weights according to the storage environment and diagnose the various phenomenon of decay. The glass weights understudy were examined by the USB digital microscope and the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and characterized chemically using EDX. Furthermore, temperature, relative humidity, and light were monitored at the Rashid store of antiquities during summer and winter to determine their impacts on the degree of damage to the glass weights understudy. The mic-roscopic investigation revealed the formation of weathering crusts, cracking, pitting, and iridescence layers on the surface of glass weights. SEM- EDX showed that those glass weights are entirely corroded. It also showed that those glass weights are of the soda-lime-silica type. Monitoring relative humidity, temperature, and light at the Rashid store of antiquities showed that the proportions are higher than the permissible ratios for preserving the glass anti-quities, playing a clear role in exposing glass weights to intensive deterioration.