For the past thirty years a mosaic from Tel Bazul, on the southern bank of Nahal Harud, west of Bet Shean, has been on display in the courtyard of the Museum for Regional and Mediterranean Archaeology at Gan Ha-Shelosha (the Sakhna).
The mosaic is approximately 35 sq m in area. In order to display the mosaic, workers on behalf of the Department of Antiquities placed it on top of a poured-concrete bedding. Over the years the poured concrete has come apart which has caused parts of the mosaic to rise, some of the tesserae to crumble and the surface of the mosaic to detach from its base. After experts examined the mosaic and its state of preservation was documented, conservation measures were decided upon, the essence of which require the replacement of the poured bedding and the restoration of the mosaic.
The Sequence of Work:
· Gluing cloth to the surface of the mosaic and detaching the tesserae
from their poured concrete bedding.
· Preparing a foundation that imitates the ancient construction of a
mosaic bedding.
· Removing the cement remains from the underside of the mosaic
sections and preparing the sections for their reinstallation.
· Installing the sections on the new foundation.
Because of cost considerations it was decided to implement the project in stages spread out over the course of several years. Each year several sections about one meter square will undergo conservation. The work will be performed in the mosaic workshop of the Conservation Department in the Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem. The work program for 2006 includes removing the mosaic from it exhibition location, transferring the mosaic sections for treatment to the mosaic conservation workshop in Jerusalem and preserving two sections. The sections that undergo conservation treatment will be returned to the site for exhibit. At the end of the process the mosaic will be completely preserved and will be displayed to the public in its entirety.
