OSMAN, AMR1; BARTZ, WOJCIECH2; KOSCIUK, JACEK3

1) PhD. student, Institute of history of architecture, art and technology, Wroclaw university of Technology, amrosman75@gmail.com.

2) PhD., Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Wroclaw, wojciech.bartz@ing.uni.wroc.pl

3) Prof.PhD.Arch., Institute of history of architecture, art and technology, Wroclaw university of Technology, Jacek.kosciuk@pwr.wroc.pl

This paper aims to characterize lime based-binding mortars originating from ruins of industrial workshop associated with Anba Bishoi monastery near Sohag (Egypt) in respect to their possible conservation process. The ruins of the industrial part of this monastic compound are still neglected, while care has been given only to the church. Representative samples of binding mortar were collected from the well, adjacent walls, cistern, dyeing basins’ walls and cladding mortar of ceramic drainage pipes. A multidisciplinary approach has been adopted for investigations such as visual inspection, thin sections, SEM coupled with EDS, XRD, HCl attack, sieving analysis, DTA and compressive strength tests. Obtained results characterize mineralogical, chemical and mechanical properties of selected mortar samples. They show a diversity of type, and binder/aggregate ratio. According to the author’s opinion, this variety can be attributed not only to different building periods, but also to differences in building types and their functions.

Keywords: characterization, binding mortar, Anba Bishoi Monastery, Sohag.