ASSESSMENT OF THE AGING TREATMENTS OF SANDSTONE GREYWACKE ROCK ART (WADI HAMMAMAT) BY PETROGRAPHY, SEM, XRD, EDX

Greywacke is a very important ornamental stone that was widely used in ancient Egypt for various purposes such as statues and sarcophaguses in addition to the rock-cut panels which suffered from the aggressive damage as the result of the physical-chemical and anthropogenic deterioration factors. The present study used the techniques of X Ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope -energy dispersive X rays (SEM-EDX) and polarised microscope (PM) to identify the deterioration phenomena of weathered greywacke. Several chemical consolidates have been used for treatment of the greywacke rock art at Wadi-Hammamat site. The aim of this paper is evaluation the effectiveness of those consolidates after the cycles of artificial aging using the examination by scanning electron microscope. SEM technique reveals the assessment of the treated greywacke samples after artificial thermal aging and artificial salt weathering using sodium sulfate Na2SO4. From obtained results, it is found that the treatment with Wacker OH 100 is more appropriate one