Saturday, April 14, 2007

Digitizing Giza

"Step into the subterranean tomb of Meresankh III, a queen of Egypt, wife to her uncle, the pharaoh Khafre. Turn to the right and examine the hieroglyphs carved into the limestone walls. Spin around and marvel at the vibrantly colored basreliefs depicting life and death in the Old Kingdom.
This panoramic view—along with scores of other images of Meresankh’s chapel, dating back to its discovery by archaeologists in 1927—is available through the Giza Archives Project (www.mfa.org/giza), an online, interactive collection of photographs and documents from the Giza pyramids and surrounding tombs and temples. Designed as a resource for scholarly research, the site is also a virtual treasure trove for anyone who’s ever been fascinated by the wonders of ancient Egypt. . . . Reisner’s expeditions were funded by Harvard and the MFA, leaving the museum
with the most extensive collection of Giza artifacts in the United States. Yet the museum’s Egyptian rooms display only 4 percent of the Giza holdings, Manuelian said. Through the Giza Project, scholars and the public can view and evaluate almost anything in the wide-ranging collection."
See the above page (in pdf format) for the rest of the 3-page article.

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