Work like an Egyptian

Institute of Fine Arts/ American Research Center in Egypt

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After 5,000 years, even the most solidly built structures will need some shoring up. In the mid-1980s, archeologists from Yale, the University of Pennsylvania, and NYU’s Institute of Fine Arts began studying a monument to King Khasekhemwy near Abydos, Egypt, and it soon became clear the two-acre compound was in bad shape. New mud bricks were produced with a composition true to Khasekhemwy’s time: 10 percent clay, 35 percent silt, and 55 percent sand. To differentiate the new material from the ancient, and to honor the buildings’ recent academic history, each brick is stamped with the letters that signify Yale, Penn, and the Institute of Fine Arts.