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A multi-technique approach was employed to study a decorated Egyptian wooden sarcophagus (XXV-XXVI dynasty, Third Intermediate Period), belonging to the Museo del Vicino Oriente of the Sapienza University of Rome. Portable non-invasive unilateral NMR was applied to evaluate the conservation state of the sarcophagus. Moreover, using unilateral NMR, a non-invasive analytical protocol was established to detect the presence of organic substances on the surface and/or embedded in the wooden matrix. This protocol allowed for an educated sampling campaign aimed at further investigating the state of degradation of the wood and the presence of organic substances by (13)C cross polarization magic angle spinning (CPMAS) NMR spectroscopy. The composition of the painted layer was analysed by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Raman and surface enhanced (resonance) Raman spectroscopy (SERS/SERRS), infrared and GC-MS techniques, evidencing original components such as clay minerals, Egyptian green, indigo, natural gums, and also highlighting restoration pigments and alteration compounds. The identification of the wood, of great value for the reconstruction of the history of the artwork, was achieved by means of optical microscopy.

Hydrophobic treatment is one of the most important interventions usually carried out in the conservation of stone artifacts and monuments. The analytical study reported in this paper was aimed at answering general questions such as the penetration depth of a hydrophobic treatment into a porous material, its capability to impair the water absorption, how the presence of a treatment may change the open porosity available to the water, and how a treatment may affect the diffusion of water inside a porous structure. Also, inhomogeneities in treated stones due to sharp variations of the amount of the absorbed product in the porous material were evidenced and scaled. The results of this fully non-invasive analytical study were rationalized in terms of new parameters obtained by a suitable process of nuclear magnetic resonance data. These analytical parameters reported here for the first time, namely the hydrophobic efficiency, the penetration depth, and angles describing changes in slope in depth profiles, gave important information in assessing the performance of a treatment.