| A
further refinement of the techniques
Bill
Riseman used for the Giza and Gebel
Barkal models led to an understanding of how to utilize existing epigraphic
information to reconstruct painted or carved hieroglyphics and then apply
them onto the surfaces of a finished 3-D model. To test this procedure,
data from King Aspelta's tomb (ca. 600-580 BCE), in
the Royal Cemetery of Kush, Nuri, Sudan, was used. Nuri is across
the Nile River from Gebel Barkal (click
here for map).
The
granite sarcophagus of King Aspelta, however, is now in the Museum
of Fine Arts, Boston. The material for our work on this site
was supplied by Dr. Timothy Kendall, assistant curator at the museum.
 |
The
process of simulating the original hieroglyphics carved into a computer-generated
granite sarcophagus took about an hour, once the research was done.
It had become increasingly clear that the time and effort needed to create
a reconstruction in the computer are not nearly as much as the time and
energy required to research and study the archaeological evidence.
Nevertheless, the reconstruction again demonstrated the power of the computer
to bring together in a single model evidence scattered in different parts
of the world and existing in varying states of preservation. |
The
final reconstructed environment included the accurate contour lines of
the site taken from topographic information. Once the model was completed,
an animated sequence was created to lead the visitor around the site and
funerary complex and then down into the tomb itself where the sarcophagus
of the king could be seen in its original context complete with carved
hieroglyphics fully restored. |
