Digital documentation of the Speos at Silsila
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| inside the speos, looking south |
Any visitor to Egypt who had the
pleasure of sailing up or down the Nile past the river’s narrowest point has
had the opportunity of gazing into (or even visit) the petite, but intriguing
and stunning rock-cut temple on the west bank of Gebel el Silsila. This temple
was epigraphically documented already during the last century by R. Caminos,
who intended to publish the results as the second volume of his envisioned
three monographs of the site. However, as many of you know, with his passing a
large bulk of his work remained unpublished, and it was not until more recently
– in year 2000 – that Ch. Thiem finally published preliminary results that
supposedly were based on Caminos’ work.
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| the speos seen from the Nile |
However, much remained to be
done still, for which the current archaeological team’s Egyptologist and
epigrapher – Dr. Philippe Martinez – returned to the rock-cut temple in 2014, and
with results that forever would change our perception of the monument. Among
the more important findings is a series of iconographic (illustrated) details that
push back the chronology of the temple – with examples of images belonging to Tutankhamen,
but also a Nile vessel of early 18th Dynasty date carrying an obelisk,
comparable in size and style with the famous barque of Female Pharaoh
Hatshepsut in Deir el Bahri – but also details that suggest a religious idiom
very different from what has been proposed before. Now, this is not the place
to go deeper into the various findings of Dr. Martinez, especially as a series
of articles are currently prepared, but instead we will focus on the
documentation that has allowed Dr. Martinez to take the epigraphic work one or
a few steps further from the days of Caminos’ analogue recordings.
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| Dr. Martinez in action |
Since 2014 Dr. Martinez has
worked with traditional analogue recording methods by means of very thin acetate
copies combined with digital photography and layer drawings in illustrator
software. These traditional methods laid the groundwork – and still make up the
larger part of the data – for the digital recording that was initiated earlier
this year (2015). Thus, when Kevin Cain from American INSIGHT joined the team
on site, Dr. Martinez had more or less completed the analogue 1:1 copying of
the detailed illustrations and texts that decorate the sandstone walls of this
small sanctuary. The main aim of Mr. Cain’s work is to complement that of
traditional analogue recording methods – not only in the speos, but in various
areas of the site – and the first step in their documentation of the speos was
to re-photograph each and every wall and detail using both natural light and
special studio lights on loan from MAFTO.
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| Dr. Martinez and Mr. Cain within the speos |
The idea was to build so called ‘fronto-parallel
orthomosaic views’ of the inscribed walls, which allows us to view an entire wall
– regardless of how wide – as one combined image. Also, such photography ‘photogrammetry’
enabled Mr. Cain to produce 3D images, to complement and aid Dr. Martinez in
finding further finer details also of older, superimposed scenes.
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| Mr. Cain photographing inside the sanctuary |
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| Dr. Martinez and Mr. Cain doing their magic |
Below are shown some examples of
Mr. Cain’s 3D reconstruction of a scene from the south jamb leading into the inner
chamber of the sanctuary.
Shown here, the 3D models incorporate 1/8 of the full
image resolution, based on approximately 500 photographs in –m full, -s3, and –F3.
Mr. Cain describes the images:
a) The surface re-lighted
without colour: the raking lighting angle is a familiar one used frequently in epigraphic documentation
b) The surface without colour, lighting
180^ offset from above
c) ‘X-ray’ view, highlighting mesostructured.
Note that the surface carving is accented in this view.
d) ‘Radiance scaling’ shading,
in which the reflected light intensities are dependent on the surface curvature
and material characteristics (INRIA).
This view is intended to help represent the 3D
surface with characteristics of a
2D line drawing.
e) The surface, re-lighted, with
colour extracted from studio light photography.
Similar resolution images were
produced also of one of the criosphinxes in the 18th Dynasty workshop
within Quarry 15. Since the sphinx is partially hidden below sand, a complete
reconstruction is not possible at this present time.
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The reconstruction(s) is based on there about 40 photographs in 1/8 source –m full, -s3, and –F3.
|
Key to the images:
a) Plan view, criosphinx, shaded
with photography
b) Left view, criosphinx
c) Right view, criosphinx
and
d) Detail of head, without colour
e) The surface, relighted, with
colour extracted from photography
f) ‘Radiance scaling’ shading,
in which the reflect light intensities are dependent on the surface curvature
and material characteristics: note the detail made visible in the shoulder area
g) ‘X-ray’ view indented to show
surface curvature
The digital documentation will
continue on site as a perfect complement to the archaeological work carried out
in the field. Other examples of already recorded features on site include the
stela of Amenhotep IV, the fallen naos of Amenhotep III, the re-discovered
Temple of Kheny, an administrative building in Quarry 24, etc. Stay tuned for
more!
Want to learn more about the
awesome work of the INSIGHT team? See here or continue reading for a short summary:
INSIGHT is a California
non-profit organization dedicated to documenting the human record for
the benefit of researchers and the general public. We currently
focus on bringing computer vision techniques to the work of archaeologists and
other researchers in the disciplines that comprise the world heritage
field. INSIGHT provides a practical framework for the intelligent
application of visualization for sciences and the humanities. While
INSIGHT’s foremost responsibility is to researchers, educational and museum
work also an area of interest.
Cultural Heritage
Visualization
Recording the past with the
tools of the future, INSIGHT was founded to extend the visualization
capabilities of scientists and foster education in visualization, with an
emphasis on digital cultural heritage. INSIGHT provides visualization and
documentation tools to scientific fieldwork. Staffed with specialists in
both archaeology and visual computing, the INSIGHT team fills the useful role of
“translator” between the normally exclusive worlds of technology and
heritage. INSIGHT provides relevant digital tools to researchers and work
with specialists to develop visualizations. Since current technologies
are often too expensive for research budgets, INSIGHT believes it is crucial to
provide free access to equipment and techniques on a 'pilot' basis.
INSIGHT also provides a research lens through which these digital tools can be
profitably viewed.
In a world where time is running
out for many heritage sites, INSIGHT is working to speed the process of site
documentation. INSIGHT both develops new tools and adapts digital
documentation methods for archaeological use. Innovative use of space
sampling is at the core of all INSIGHT project work, including the use of
digital photography, computer modeling, and laser scanning.
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