Discovery News: Archaeorama News

Virtual Step Pyramid

This is my avatar rossy Morenz exploring a virtual pyramid in Second Life .

Speaking of 3D models, Egypt' s Supreme Council of Antiquities has decided to fully exploit the potential of virtual archaeology by building the first 3D model of Egypt's oldest pyramid.

The project is being carried in collaboration with a Japanese mission headed by Dr. Kosuke Sato of Osaka University and an American mission led by Dr. Mark Lehner, director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates.

"Egypt plans to make a documentary film of Pyramid of Djoser, Egypt's first step pyramid, using a three-dimensional technique to be a reference to all archaeologists," culture minister Farouk Hosni said.

The film will display a perspective image of the pyramid, which was built by Imhotep for Netjerikhet Djoser, the 2nd King of Egypt's 3rd Dynasty.

The 3D model will help archaeologists know the exact condition of each step and stone pieces.

The ongoing project involves the use of a custom made laser scanner, which is carried by professional climbers.

The device, called "Zoser Scanner" uses infrared signals to gather coordinates and elevations of thousands of points on the monument -- all at the exceedingly fast rate of 40,000 points per second.

The result is a virtual "point cloud" that provides a ghostly 3-D image of the pyramid. This "raw data" represents the first multi-purpose 3D image of the monument. It is also the basis for a "versatile exploitation in post processing": the aim is to produce an extremely detailed 3D representation of the Pyramid of Djoser, Sato explained.

The laser scanning survey will take four weeks to complete, and next year the second phase for the pyramid's internal structure will start.

As we wait for the unique 3D model, let's take a simple virtual tour of the pyramid complex -- just click here to get started.

Egyptian Ropes: Oldest and Strongest?

From today Discovery News story on Egyptian ropes .

King Tut's Tomb Won't Close For Restoration

Rumours about restoration projects at KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun in Egypt's Valley of the Kings, begun to circulate over the internet as early as last February.

According to various reports , the famous tomb was going to be closed for at least a year.

Well, I can tell you that King Tut's tomb is open -- and won't close anytime soon.

Dr. Sabry Abd El Aziz, Head of the Egyptology Sector, told me that Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) was inundated by emails from people asking for the tomb to remain accessible to the public.

Here he confirms the SCA's decision to postpone the restoration plan:

.

Egypt Unwraps Pharaonic Future

On the way back from the Greek island of Rhodes, where I attended the congress of Egyptologists, I traveled with Eleni Vassilika, director of the Egyptian Museum of Turin.

This is not just your ordinary museum. Opened in 1824, the Museo Egizio is the world's oldest and claims the most important Egyptian art collection outside of Egypt.

Dr. Vassilika told me that the museum, which has about 6,500 items on display, and more than 26,000 in storage, might double its spaces by 2012. Indeed, plans are being drawn to expand the exhibits onto other floors of the building.

Now this huge task might be nothing compared to the plans of Egypt' Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) for the next four years.

Dr. Sabry Abd El Aziz, Head of the Egyptology Sector, told me that the SCA has many different strategies at the moment. They include more security for the sites -- 800 new guards have been hired-- plus new, spectacular excavations and museums.

To know more, just watch my interview with Dr. Abd El Aziz:

Postcard From Rhodes

After so many virtual sunsets in Second Life, this real one on the Aegean Sea looks like a dream.

What a great idea to organize the Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists in Rhodes, Greece, at the luxury Rodos Palace hotel.

The programme is filled with many interesting presentations -- new digs, new mummy studies and new discoveries.

I'll be back with updates soon. Stay tuned!

Secrets of the Valley of the Kings

"I hope that by the end of 2008 we will be able to reveal the final mysteries of the tomb of Seti I, the most beautiful tomb in the valley..."

And again, "We are hoping to find the tomb of Ramesses VIII, which has never been discovered, somewhere between the tomb of Merenptah (KV 8), son and successor of Ramesses II, and the tomb of Ramesses II himself (KV 7)..."

According to Zahi Hawass, chief of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, there are many secrets still hidden under the Egyptian sand. He reveals the latest activity in the Valley of the Kings in a new posting on his website . It's an interesting reading. Just click on the picture to access it.

Tested, Working And Ready To Play

It took longer than expected, but it appears that I'm almost done with the Archaeorama center in Second Life. Everything is there -- tested, working and ready to play.

I just need some finishing touches before the official opening. I'm pleased to inform you that Archaeorama, the 3D extension of this blog, will open to the public on Sunday, May 18 at 9:00 am Second Life/ PDT Time.

I'm particularly proud of "The Secret Chamber", a free adaptation of the "Amduat - the Book of the Secret Chamber" and the "Book of Gates".

These were important ancient Egyptian funerary texts, and were believed to contain the secret to eternal life.

In order to gain eternal life, everyone who died had to complete a 12-hour journey mirroring the journey of the sun god Ra from dusk till dawn.

At the Archaeorama center, avatars who enter the Secret Chamber will have to take that difficult itinerary, and go through twelve dangerous regions of the ancient Egyptian underworld, each one corresponding to an hour of the night.

Here is a video preview of what your avatar might expect to find once s/he enters the Chamber.

The video is called "A Pharoah's Journey To The Afterlife" and was partly produced in-world using the machinima technique and hi-res photos of Egyptian tombs.

Pictures are courtesy of Sandro Vannini/De Agostini and are taken from Zahi Hawass' fascinating book “The Royal Tombs of Thebes: A Gateway Through Eternity", published by De Agostini .

In the next postings, I'll give you more information about the Archaeorama opening. Stay tuned!

Searching for Cleopatra

The weekend is coming up and it's time for some entertainment-like features.

In this spirit, I'm proposing "Cleopatra: Solve the puzzle", an interactive created at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois.

The game is simple: you have to search for one of the earliest portraits of the Egyptian queen. The portrait has been broken into twelve fragments and hidden. Obviously, your task is to find the pieces and put them back together.

Indeed, no other interactive could have been more topical: Zahi Hawass, director of Egypt’s superior council for antiquities, announced yesterday at a media conference in Cairo that excavation will begin in November to unearth the 2,000 year old tomb of the Egyptian queen.

Hawass has long suspected that Cleopatra is buried with her Roman lover Mark Antony at a temple 30km from Alexandra called Tabusiris Magna. So far, access to the tomb has been hindered as the temple is under water, the Italian agency Adnkronos International reported.

Egyptian archaeologists plan to solve the problem by draining the site, so they can begin excavation in November.

Meanwhile, here is the interactive. Just click on the picture to launch it.

Dig Diary

Follow the daily work of John Hopkins University Egyptologist Betsy Bryan at the Temple of the goddess Mut in Luxor, Egypt.

Bryan has posted three updates -- just click on the thumbnail image to read her reports.


“... after two levels, a feature has appeared...”


“... we see a trench of sandstone chip crossing the trench from north to south..."

“... it is an interesting puzzle for us to consider..."

Dig Diary

Follow the daily work of John Hopkins University Egyptologist Betsy Bryan at the Temple of the goddess Mut in Luxor, Egypt.

Bryan has posted another update -- just click on the thumbnail image to read her report.


“... we will now begin to excavate a small square...”