the archaeological community has conflicting views when it comes to the restoration and protection
of valuable archaeological discoveries historical artifacts in ancient structures
are incredibly delicate they can never be reconstructed
after they've been disturbed it can never be replaced after they've been lost numerous
archaeological restorations have taken place over the last few decades often times restoring the
former glory of a specific site in a spectacular fashion however given the infinite harm caused by
faulty and ignorant restorations conducted in the last century archaeologists today
try their best to conserve new and important sites as they're found restoring them with
minimal interference giving us a peek into our history and our shared human heritage
number 10 the pyramid of joseph egypt believed to be egypt's first stone pyramid the pyramid of
joseph was only recently reopened to the public after a meticulous and painstaking restoration
that took more than 14 years and 6.6 million to complete legends say that the architect imhotep
planned and supervised the construction of the 197 foot tall structure nearly
4 700 years ago as the very first perpendicular tomb for pharaoh joseph although the pyramid
seems like a compact mountain of stone from the outside the inside is actually a vacuous network
of walkways over three miles long assembled with over 11.6 million cubic feet of stone and clay
it was in fact their complicated interior that inescapably endangered its structural integrity
as time went by while its foundation was almost decimated by the earthquake that hit cairo in
1992. in order to guarantee structural safety during the restoration airbags developed by
structural engineers were placed across the most vulnerable sections of the pyramid in addition
steel rods were ran through its steps like rebars to perpetually reaffirm its shape these distinct
approaches to its fortification visit the restoration teams to repair the corridors
and ceilings while introducing a new framework for the interior lighting as well as one or two modern
updates to make the structure more accessible for people with disabilities 9. somnath temple
in india the 12 yatta lingas oyata lingam are the places where lord siva is said to have manifested
as a villa of fire the somnath temple in gujarat india is renowned for hosting one of the twelve
and as such it is a significant tourism and sacred religious site throughout history the temple was
reconstructed and restored repeatedly due to the destruction by numerous invaders and their
subsequent rule the present temple was reconstructed again after being pulled down
in october of 1950 in order to be relocated to a new site a few miles away india's temples have
a long history of devastation and restoration the restoration of somnath temple was hailed as
a prominent example of india's excellence when it came to the power of restoration over the
power of devastation political leaders saw its restoration as an act that restored the
nation's pride as it took place shortly after india gained its independence from britain
number eight the petra complex in jordan the ruins of petra have been popularized by films such as
indiana jones on the last crusade and transformers revenge of the fallen abandoned in the 6th century
petra was developed in a seismic zone making it susceptible to damage from floods and earthquakes
the site was also under considerable threat due to the continuous influx of tourists at the end
of the 20th century during the 1990s petrol was included on the world monuments fund's watch list
in an attempt to address its tourism management issues the wmf the jordanian ministry of tourism
and antiquities as well as the petra national trust joined forces and developed a long-term
site plan in addition to studies on future impacts of climate change a number of projects came to be
that led to the restoration of the magnificent great temple several of the columns the entrance
gorge and the byzantine church as well as the reconstruction of the site's ancient water canals
number seven temple of borobudur in indonesia built from the 8th to the 9th century ce the
borobudur complex was abandoned seemingly overnight in the 1500s there are three historical
sites within the borobudur complex the borobudur temple as well as two smaller temples built
on a horizontal plane to borobudur to the east the two small temples are known as the pawan temple
and the munda temple over the years the site was covered with ash due to volcanic activity and
jarva's plant life eventually covered the historic ruins thomas stafford raffles the then english
governor began operations to locate and reclaim the site in 1814 it took his teams over two months
to finally uncover the temples in 1972 unesco launched an international campaign to restore the
illustrious buddhist temple to its former glory the restoration work was completed
after 11 years in 1983. historians made use of the site's existing materials to reconstruct
the temple in two stages during the 20th century almost all of the site's existing materials were
used with only minor additions to strengthen and reinforce the structure and allow adequate
water runoff which did not have any effect on the site's integrity and value 6. the sistine
chapel frescoes vatican city the building of the vatican's iconic sistine chapel located just north
of saint peter's basilica was authorized by pope sixtus iv and finalized around 1481. the
chapel is internationally known for the invaluable masterpieces contained within in fact many famous
artists contributed significantly to the artworks that can be found on the walls inside the chapel
pope julius ii asked michelangelo to beautify the ceiling keeping the artist busy from 1508 to
1512. the glorious portrait of the last judgment by michelangelo painted in 1541 was sanctioned
by poem clement vii michelangelo's artworks are revered as some of the most remarkable works
of western art to ever be brought into existence the artworks of the sistine chapel have undergone
several restorations over the eons of which the most recent took place between 1980 and 1994. his
most recent restoration had a significant impact on both art lovers and art historians as colors
and details never seen before were revealed many have argued that as a direct consequence every
single book ever written about michelangelo's techniques will have to be revised in short it
means the re-evaluation of his style use of color and art form as a whole probably leading to a new
version of the brilliance of the high renaissance arguably the single best period in western art
5. kanak temple complex in egypt the ancient khanak temple project covers an area of more
than a million square meters and was located at the eastern bank of the gnar river in thebes
the building at the site began over 4 000 years ago and it continued non-stop until the romans
besieged egypt and took over the rule roughly 2 000 years ago what makes karnik stand out from
the other temple sites located in egypt is the amount of time it was in use and actively being
developed evidence points to at least 30 pharaoh's contributions at the site allowing it to obtain
size sophistication and variability that cannot be found anywhere else over the last 100 years
rising water tables and chemical deterioration directly related to intensified agricultural
irrigation applications in the area have created a plethora of new preservation concerns as most
of the building's facades and other services contain hieroglyphs and relief carvings this form
of degradation causes particularly serious damage to historical evidence endangering the stability
of the site several groundbreaking techniques including the use of lime mortar have been used
to restore many of the temple pillars walkways and statues on the site over the last few decades most
notably among these was the restoration of the luxor temple and the precinct of ammon ray the
painted chapels of the temple of konsu and the ongoing restoration of the 29 ram statues in the
first courtyard number 4 the parthenon in greece the parthenon is the perfect embodiment of greek
architecture and is regarded as one of the most important surviving buildings of ancient greece
apart from being the central hub when it came to religion in athens it's sculptures statues and
other works of art have never been replicated and continued to stand as some of the most superior
examples of greek sophistication and refinement built around 500 bc the parthenon was a symbol
of wealth power and success that continues to be one of the most widely recognized structures in
the world to this day the acropolis restoration project was born in the 1970s when the greek
government chose to take significant action to restore the rapidly deteriorating structures
the committee carefully mapped out each and every artifact and remnant in the rubble
and used 3d mapping techniques to identify its original position although this restoration is
still currently underway the restoration team is planning to augment original parsonal objects with
exciting new components where possible to maintain the integrity of the site while also staying water
and corrosion resistant they will be using new marble from the original quarry site if necessary
to finalize the restoration in order to stay true to the building's original look and feel
however it will not be completely restored instead it will remain a partial ruin in order to display
its unique features reflecting its notable history 3. the vata in sweden to rescue and exhibit any
historically important shipwreck is always a big undertaking yet one of the most exemplary examples
can be found at the vasa museum in stockholm one of the best tourist destinations in sweden the
vassar was king gustaf at office's custom warship that sank in 1628 on its maiden voyage only 1
300 meters into its journey after a gust of wind toppled the ship on its side as it flooded the
ship sank to the shallow waters of stockholm's harbor and lay there until its rediscovery in 1956
328 years later the battered ship was salvaged over a period of two years from
1959 to 1961 and was sent to a storage facility over the next 29 years the vassa went through a
meticulous and extensive cleaning process and was slowly restored to its former glory the
museum in honor of the swedish icon was opened in 1990. number two the terracotta army china
although most of us have heard of or know of the impressive terracotta warriors that were
unveiled in china in 1974 few realize that they were actually not discovered intact figures on
the total number of terracotta warriors differ as the site is still being excavated and new
discoveries are being made to this day but only one of the nearly 8 thousand warriors we know of
was discovered in one piece to date archaeologists at the site have discovered more than 600 pits
across the network of large underground cabins although most remain unexcavated for now three
very large pits were enclosed within the terracotta army museum today forming one of
china's most popular tourist attractions each exposed pit on display is quite unique in one
you can find the perfectly reassembled warriors standing in formation while a second bit will
show you how the warriors appeared when they were first discovered toppled and cracked the third
bit is the smallest and represents the command post 1. the archaeological park of pompeii italy
although pompei's restorations probably deserve a list on their own we thought we could highlight
some of the restoration work done to date the tombs rich dwellings and public spaces of pompei
have been ransacked by robbers since coordinated archaeological digs commenced in the 18th century
and in some cases restored so ferociously as to ruin the original remains in 2008 the government
announced a year-long state of emergency for pompeii after a massive influx of negative
publicity the european commission also came on board and approved funding to the tune of 105
million euros about 116 million dollars to secure the site among the first key recommendations was
to safeguard everything that already been excavated a third of the archaeological site
remains underground to this day laborers put every effort into stabilizing the ancient buildings and
stone walls frescoes were restored and new storm water runoff systems were installed to redirect
rainwater numerous surveillance cameras were also put in place across the ancient city to stand
guard over pompei's hundreds of daily visitors in all the project paved the way for more than 130
000 square feet of the archaeological site to be restored and launched in some cases
reopened to tourists which included julia felix's estate and over 36 other structures