Scrolls from Buddhist shrine virtually unrolled at BESSY II

The Mongolian collection of the Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin contains a unique Gungervaa shrine. Among the objects found inside were three tiny scrolls, wrapped in silk. Using 3D X-ray tomography, a team at HZB was able to create a digital copy of one of the scrolls. With a mathematical method the scroll could be virtually unrolled to reveal the scripture on the strip. This method is also used in battery research.

Buddhism in Mongolia has developed its own traditions that are linked to nomadic culture. Many families had a small portable shrine that they took with them wherever they went. As well as statues, images and decorative objects, these shrines sometimes contained relics and small, tightly rolled scrolls inscribed with prayers, known as ‘dharanis’. During the revolutionary period from 1921 to 1930, this cultural practice was almost completely eradicated with many shrines being destroyed.

However, one of these shrines ended up in Germany, where it was stored in the Ethnological Museum's archives. Little was known about its origins. When Birgit Kantzenbach, a restorer at the Ethnological Museum, began researching the shrine a few years ago, she found that nothing was in its place; fabric flowers, relics, small statues and three small scrolls lay in a jumble. She first travelled to Mongolia. ‘An object always means only what people see in it; that's what's important,’ she says. She then turned to HZB physicist Tobias Arlt to examine the small scrolls wrapped in silk.

Non destructive investigation at BESSY II

Until a few years ago, such scrolls would simply have been unwrapped and unrolled to check for inscriptions However, this carries the risk of damaging the material and causing irreversible changes. Tobias Arlt examined the Dharani scrolls at the tomography station of the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM) at BESSY II. ‘The high-resolution 3D images show that there are around 50 windings in each scroll, with strips measuring over 80 centimetres that are wound tightly and carefully,’ says Arlt.

Virtual unrolling

Using a mathematical method developed at the Konrad Zuse Institute and the corresponding Amira software, he was able to virtually unroll the strip from the 3D data of the rolled sample. Originally, this process took a long time to complete, but with the help of artificial intelligence, it is now considerably faster. ‘We are continuing to optimise this complex process of virtual unrolling,’ says Arlt. ‘We also use this method in our own research, for example to analyse changes in tightly wound or folded batteries.’

Mantra of universal compassion

In fact, traces of ink were visible on the virtually unrolled strips. ‘This is interesting because Chinese ink traditionally consists of a mixture of soot and animal glue, but in this case, ink containing metal particles was apparently used,’ says Kantzenbach. The characters are Tibetan, but the language is Sanskrit, a combination that came as a surprise. The well-known Tibetan Buddhist mantra for universal compassion appeared: ‘Om mani padme hum’.

Exhibition at Humboldt Forum Berlin:

The Mongolian Gungervaa shrine can be admired until 1 June 2026 in the exhibition ‘Restoration in Dialogue’ at the Humboldt Forum in Berlin. Admission to the exhibition at the Humboldt Forum is free. There are plans to display the shrine in Mongolia afterwards.

Audio tip:

How can the museum display this Buddhist shrine in a most adequate way? Restorer and ethnologist Birgit Kantzenbach travelled to Mongolia, where she consulted with many people for whom the shrine holds special significance. Mongolian art historian Dulamjav (Duka) Amarsaikan accompanied her as a translator. As part of the podcast ‘Gegen die Gewohnheit’ (Going Against the Grain) by the ‘Collaborative Museum’ initiative of the Ethnological Museum and the Museum of Asian Art, an episode about the shrine, its origins, its journey and its restoration has been produced. You can listen to it here:

https://www.smb.museum/en/online-offers/detail/gegen-die-gewohnheit-going-against-the-grain-the-gungervaa-a-mongolian-shrine/