laser scanning

The last day of the Moscow conference 2009 was its most interesting: the topics were fascinating, the discussion was hot and, finally, the heating started! The first part of the day was dedicated to the excavations and research of Fayoum and started with a wonderful story by Ian Shaw from the University of Liverpool about new fieldwork at the Medinet el-Gurob Harem Palace town. The site was unaccessible during 1960s and 1970s due to its being a military territory; thus it was in a bad condition. Yet now archeologists are finally able to do their work.

Hi. I'm one of the builders of King Tut Virtual. My job is taking historical sites and artefacts and reproducing them in an immersive environment that you can explore. This artificial world is only one aspect of Heritage-Key's large multi-faceted online presence. As virtual worlds are a bit novel, I've been asked to explain what we did, how we achieved it, and tell you a bit about the rationale of our approach. More general information about the virtual world is covered in other articles.

Workmen may just have downed tools after laser scanning the Sphinx, but a new Egyptian-Japanese venture aims to seek out even more archaeological hotspots along the Nile, using technology at the bleeding egde of science. The far-flung team, headed by Egypt's National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, hopes to reach areas in the river's western Delta and nearby El-Beheira governorate, whose geography has resisted conventional techniques thus far. The team has already employed satellite imaging and remote sensing devices to map heritage sites in the area, and experts are confident more will appear when a second phase gets under way next February.

Recently the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities has shared it's worries about the future of the tombs in the Valley of the Kings with the world. Now they share more details on the planned solutions: ventilation systems, special lighting and... well, we expected a replica of KV62, but we're getting an entire new Valley of the Kings on the cliff side of the real one.

Dr Zahi Hawass and a huge team of experts have just finished laser scanning the Great Sphinx, and now the Pyramids of Giza are being surveyed using the latest laser technology. Dr Hawass, who reports on the project in his blog, has employed the services of the National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences at the Mubarak Institute for the project, which saw Djoser's Step Pyramid at Saqqara subjected to the same techniques in June by a Japanese group.