Studies on the Monumental Stone Blocks of Behbeit el-Hagar Temple, Middle Delta, Egypt

In the present study, an overall examination of the monumental stone blocks preserved in the site of Behbeit el-Hagar Temple is performed. The site is entirely ruined. Some of the monumental stone blocks have been sampled and characterized petrographically and mineralogically in the laboratory. They are formed either of mainly coarse grained granite or fine grained granite, granodiorite , basalt and andesite. These monumental blocks demonstrate degradation morphologies. The observed stone damage takes various phenomena, such as missing parts, scratch, detachment, discoloration, cracks and pitting as well as biological degradations. The petrographic and the mineralogical characteristics of the studied granitoids monumental blocks match well with the pink granite and granodiorite coming from the Aswan area. The initial deterioration of the studied stones exposed to the outdoor environment and the action of agents such as rain, wind, temperature, sunlight and pollution may be due to physical and chemical processes. These agents cause an increase in the surface area of the stone by the formation of micro- and macrofissures or the formation of encrustations. Most of the surface of the monuments has undergone biological alteration by living micro organisms (fungi, bacteria and lichens) that have been colonized on many surface areas. The present microorganisms. both fungi and bacteria, have been characterized and identified . Fungi were characterized by morphological methods and nutritional physiology whereas bacterial strains were analyzed by PCR primers and rDNAs. Twelve fungal taxa and ten bacterial taxa were identified in all the collected and analyzed samples.