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About the Giza Project

The Giza Project is a non-profit international initiative based at Harvard University. Through digital archaeology, we assemble, curate, and present archaeological records about one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, the Giza Pyramids and surrounding cemeteries and settlements. The Project manages arguably the world’s largest digital archive of Giza material. We use this data to build immersive 3D model reconstructions and other media as we develop powerful new teaching technologies and research tools.

Digital Giza, is the Project's online digital repository of all archaeological documentation from multiple institutions , presented free to all, alongside Giza 3D , a virtual environment based on some of that documentation. Anyone can easily access real, detailed information about Giza and its archaeological history while also “experiencing” some of it as well!

The Giza Project opened at Harvard in 2011. The small original staff already had a long, proven track record of mastering methods of archaeological information management with the Giza Archives Project of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. From 2000–2011, major support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation helped this visionary project to realize the goal of digitizing and posting for free online all of the archaeological documentation from the Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition to Giza, Egypt (about 1904–1947).

The Giza Project at Harvard expanded this scope beyond just the Harvard–MFA Expedition. By partnering with many other institutions around the world with Giza-related collections, we continue to consolidate as much archival data as possible about this complex site. The massive process of integrating and standardizing all of this information is ongoing. Read more about how the data records are created and organized.

In addition, the Project is developing how this vast quantity of information can contribute to 3D virtual reconstructions of Giza monuments as they may have looked in ancient times. These models provide new ways to engage with Giza, allowing visitors to sightsee, explore, and interact with the Pyramids and their surrounding cemeteries and settlements, all from a computer or other digital device.

To date, the Giza Project has released approximately 20 tombs and monuments in detail, with many hundreds more still to be done.

Through generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities in several important aspects of our work, we continue to integrate this virtual environment with more than a hundred years of scholarly research about Giza, using cutting-edge technology to study the distant past and preserve knowledge about this important cultural heritage site for the future.

We also continue to explore and develop new ways to experience ancient Giza interactively, including virtual and augmented reality apps, 3D scanning and printing of ancient artifacts, and online teaching initiatives.

For more information about how you can support the Giza Project, please see our support page .

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Giza Project Staff

Peter Der Manuelian , Barbara Bell Professor of Egyptology and Giza Project Director

Nicholas Picardo , Research Associate

Luke Hollis , Lead Technical Artist

Staff Emeritus

Rachel Aronin , Research Associate

Jeremy Kisala , Research Assistant

Rus Gant , Lead Technical Artist

David Hopkins , Technical Artist

Giza Project Volunteers & Interns

The Giza Project has benefitted immensely from the dedicated work of almost one thousand volunteers and interns through the years. The time, knowledge, and positive attitude they have contributed to the Project have advanced its mission and progress in innumerable and much-appreciated ways.

Partner Institutions

The Giza Project brings together archival holdings from a number of institutions, including:

• Ägyptisches Museum der Universität Leipzig (Germany)
• Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien (Austria)
• Berlin Ägyptisches Museum (Germany)
• Cairo University–Brown University Expedition
• Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Egypt)
• Grand Egyptian Museum (Egypt)
• Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Austria)
• Museo Egizio, Turin (Italy)
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (USA)
• Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Harvard University (USA)
• Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley (USA)
• Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim (Germany)
• University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, Philadelphia (USA)
• Ancient Egypt Research Associates

Acknowledgements

The Giza Project gratefully acknowledges current and past support from the following organizations:

• National Endowment for the Humanities
• Harvard University
• Mr. Sadek Wahba
• Dassault Systèmes
• Leon Levy Foundation
• Zhejiang University
• Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
• Pixels for Humans
• Archimedes Digital
• Harvard University Arts & Humanities Research Computing

The Digital Brain behind Digital Giza

Digital Giza is more than a simple website. It’s run by a vast database called the Giza Consolidated Archaeological Reference Database (GizaCARD). The GizaCARD organizes over 150,000 files and records from the collections and archives of museums, universities, and Egyptian excavation projects from around the world, from the 1800s to current ongoing work.

But the GizaCARD doesn't just store all of this data and information. It also builds connections: individual Giza monuments, artifacts, documents, and many kinds of media are connected via database records whenever they relate to each other.

The result is a huge "web" of interrelated archival records that enable you to access all the information you need as you explore each record, without having to conduct multiple searches or open lots of different pages.

And since this website pulls from the database in real-time, any information you access here will always reflect the most up-to-date information that The Giza Project has made available.

The wide range of records that the GizaCARD links together for access through the Digital Giza website includes:

• Pyramids, tombs, and monuments
• Giza maps, plans, and architectural drawings
• Excavation photographs
• Archaeologists’ field diary pages from past excavations
• Archaeologists’ notes
• Artifact photographs and illustrations
• Site and monument photographs
• 3D graphic models of Giza monuments and artifacts
• Reference documentation for 3D media
• Interactive Media
• Published books and articles
• Unpublished manuscripts
• Object register books
• Packing lists for artifact transport
• 360-degree panoramas
• Audio recordings

Database Abbreviations

Most data records in the GizaCARD start with abbreviations of two to five letters. These identify the source or the owner of that archival data. Here is a list of those abbreviations:

List of abbreviations of museums, institutions, and expeditions

ABE – Abu Bakr Expedition

ÄMUL – Ägyptisches Museum der Universität Leipzig (Germany)

ASU – Arizona State University (USA)

AWW – Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien (Austria)

BÄM – Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin/Neues Museum (Germany)

BBAW – Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften (Germany)

BM – British Museum (England)

BMA – Brooklyn Museum of Art (USA)

CBE – Cairo University‐Brown University Expedition

DUC – Duckworth Laboratory, University of Cambridge (England)

EMC – Egyptian Museum, Cairo (Egypt)

FMC – Field Museum, Chicago (USA)

GEM – Grand Egyptian Museum (Egypt)

GMBA - Glencairn Museum, Bryn Athyn (USA)

GPH – Giza Project at Harvard University (USA)

HM – Hearst Museum, Berkeley (USA)

HSM – Harvard Semitic Museum (USA)

HUMFA – Harvard University-Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition

JFKL – John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum (USA)

KHM – Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna (Austria)

MFAB – Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (USA)

MLP – Musée du Louvre, Paris (France)

MMA – Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (USA)

MMS – Medelhavsmuseet, Stockholm (Sweden)

MUT – Museum der Universität Tübingen (Germany)

NCG – Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen (Denmark)

NHM – Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna (Austria)

NMEC – Natonal Museum of Egyptian Civilization (Egypt)

OIC – Oriental Institute, Chicago (USA)

OSUT – Osteologische Sammlung der Universität Tübingen (Germany)

PDM – Peter Der Manuelian

PMAE – Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, Harvard University (USA)

PSNM – Port Said National Museum (Egypt)

ROM – Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto (Canada)

RPM – Roemer- und Pelizaeus-Museum, Hildesheim (Germany)

SHM – State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg (Russia)

SMÄK – Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Munich (Germany)

TUR – Museo Egizio, Turin (Italy)

UPM – University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology (USA)

VMFA - Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond (USA)

WAM – Worcester Art Museum, Massachusetts (USA)

Name of this image

Description of the image duis mollis, est non commodo luctus, nisi erat porttitor ligula, eget lacinia odio sem nec elit. Sed posuere consectetur est at lobortis. Donec sed odio dui.

• Heather ONeill [email protected] ×
• Nicholas Picardo [email protected] ×
• Luke Hollis [email protected] ×
• Cole Test Collection - Tomb Chapels and Shafts
• GPH Test Collection 1
• Tombs & Monuments
• Sphinx Complex
• 01-Present location
• Architectural element
• 02-Category
• 05-Material
• 06-Technique
• 07-State of preservation
• 08-Description
• Selected (2)

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Students wearing 3D glasses take a virtual tour of ancient Egypt in Peter Der Manuelian’s “Pyramid Schemes” class.

Photos by Stephanie Mitchell/Harvard Staff Photographer

Alvin Powell

Harvard Staff Writer

Digital Giza Project lets scholars virtually visit sites in Egypt and beyond, and even print them in 3D

Four thousand years ago, a member of Egypt’s elite was buried on the Giza Plateau in an elaborate stone tomb, complete with several rooms and underground chambers.

Then, in 1912, a team from Harvard University and the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston excavated the tomb, of a type called a mastaba , and brought back with them a limestone wall from its chapel.

The wall, housed at the MFA, is inscribed with images of the deceased, an official named Akh-meret-nesut, and his family in various poses — sitting, leaning on a staff, throwing a lasso.

Today, more than a century later, Harvard doctoral student Inês Torres wants to know as much as she can about Akh-meret-nesut: who he was, what he did, and why he was buried on the Giza Plateau in the shadow of the pyramids long after pharaohs’ burials there had ceased.

But Torres faces a problem familiar to many scholars studying ancient Egypt: getting access to what she’s studying. With part of the tomb in Boston and part in Egypt, she’d have to time travel to see it intact. Other scholars may face different hurdles, but the problem is the same: Documents and images are held in faraway archives, artifacts and other relics of ancient Egypt have been dispersed, stolen, or destroyed, and tombs and monuments have been dismantled, weather-worn, or locked away behind passages filled in when an excavation closes.

Hurdles can also be economic: The object of study may be intact, but the plane fare and expenses of living for weeks in the field or lodged in the cities — Cairo, London, Berlin, Paris, Boston — that are home to museums with large Egyptian collections hard to come by.

It was with scholars like these in mind that Digital Giza Project was born.

The project was created in 2000 by Peter Der Manuelian , who at the time was on the curatorial staff at the MFA. A scholar of ancient Egypt, Manuelian said his initial vision was to create a digital record of the work of Harvard’s legendary Egyptology Professor and MFA curator George Reisner and the Harvard-MFA Expedition he led. The expedition was one of the major academic archaeological efforts at Giza and other sites in Egypt during the early 1900s.

Reisner, who led the expedition for more than 40 years, dug at 23 sites, and Manuelian soon realized that just digitizing material relating to the vast finds on the Giza Plateau — which includes not only the pyramids and the Sphinx, but also associated temples, nearby cemeteries, and even a workers’ village — would be a career-long challenge. In 2010, he moved to Harvard to become the Philip J. King Professor of Egyptology and director of the Harvard Semitic Museum , and he brought the Giza Project with him.

The project staff’s ambition has since expanded to include not just Reisner’s work at Giza, but that of other archaeologists at the site as well, making it a comprehensive resource for Giza archaeology. It contains some 77,000 images, 21,000 of them Harvard University-MFA Expedition glass-plate negatives, and 10,000 of Manuelian’s own images. It has published manuscripts as well as unpublished expedition records, dig diaries, object record books, and sketches and drawings made by the archaeologists doing the digging. In January, during Harvard’s winter recess, Manuelian visited Egypt and collected another 5,000 digital images — including panoramic photos — of Giza and related objects in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

A key feature of the Giza Project is the fact that the material it holds is cross-referenced online, allowing a researcher to seamlessly move from a 3D image of an object to scholarly articles about it to diary pages by the archaeologist who discovered it.

“For people who focus on this particular period, this is the main resource for them to go to,” Manuelian said. “It’s thrown the doors wide open to this material that was previously only in the publications that Reisner lived long enough to finish.”

As the work has advanced, so has technology. Manuelian’s vision has expanded to include 3D re-creations of statues and artifacts that allow researchers to view them online, rotate them, and zoom in on specific features. Looking to the future, he said, 3D models’ source codes could be made available, which would allow distant scholars with access to 3D printers to create their own physical models.

“All of this allows us to ask new questions and to put the data together in ways not possible before and to make intelligent links,” Manuelian said. “If someone gets a grant and decides to go to the MFA and look through their records, good luck. There’s just so much, it’s overwhelming. If you go to Giza today, a tomb may have been reburied or vandalized, or is in not as good shape as it was in 1916. Objects might have gone to the basement of the Cairo museum, never to be seen again.

“With our attempt to put this all together digitally, with diaries and maps and plans and things, it allows you, first of all, convenient access to the data and then you can start to notice patterns.”

The Giza Projects’ 3D modeling extends beyond artifacts to locations. Manuelian’s team has already created video-game-like 3D versions of the entire Giza Plateau, with the Khafre pyramid, the Sphinx, and several temples and tombs posted so far and more to come. Those models can be accessed from the Digital Giza website and toured using controls on a laptop or desktop computer. Other re-creations, using high-resolution photographs of tombs’ interiors, let visitors walk through virtual burial chambers using stereo headsets. Visitors can move around inside the tombs and even walk up to a wall to examine a particular relief or other detail. About 20 tombs have been modeled in detail so far, with hundreds more to go.

“My hope is eventually to fly drones over the site, documenting everything from the air,” Manuelian said. “And complementing that with walks up and down the ‘streets’ [between rows of tombs] creating 360-degree panoramic visualizations, all linked to the more-traditional archaeological data that we have already assembled.”

For someone like Torres, studying a tomb that has one room in Boston and the rest in Egypt, a virtual model is the only way to see the intact structure, so she’s planning on creating one as part of her doctoral work.

“This tomb is divided between two countries,” she said. “3D modeling is the only way we can put it back together again.”

The overarching goal, Manuelian said, is to make scholarship in Egyptology more accessible than ever. And, while digital images may not fully replace the real thing, he said, foundational study can be conducted using the wide array of material presented by the project, allowing scholars to conserve scarce resources for when they’re essential.

The project’s 3D re-creations and data visualizations, together with the capabilities of the Harvard Visualization Center, also allow the Giza Project to give students a unique educational experience. Last fall, Manuelian gathered his students in a tomb in cyber space, using the center’s virtual reality headsets, and linked the class to students in Zhejiang University in China. Students’ avatars gathered at the virtual site — in this case, the Sphinx — with the technology, allowing Manuelian to act as a cyber tour guide.

“The project is all of these diverse approaches,” Manuelian said. “It’s a traditional database and website. It’s the intelligent linking of this photo to that tomb to this diary page. It’s the 3D modeling as we try to build more and more of the necropolis all the time. And it’s ultimately intended to enable the kind of remote teaching — what I call educational telepresence — where we can all be at Giza virtually and visiting the site and having a lecture inside a decorated tomb chapel no matter where you live.”

Torres said there is an irony to studying Giza: It is one of the world’s most famous archaeological sites, but in many ways it is still unknown. While the pyramids and Sphinx are world-famous, and have been for centuries, in their shadow new tombs are still being uncovered, while known tombs, workers’ houses, and other sites are yet to be fully explored and studied.

“Giza is such a well-known site, but in some sense, it’s understudied,” Torres said. “Because the pyramids are so amazing, the things all around them fade.”

With so much work to be done, the access to digitized documents and materials might inspire scholars curious about ancient Egypt but without access to the sites themselves or a major Egyptological library to take up the job.

“I think that’s the way to go forward, to make sure everyone has access,” Torres said. “Possibly there are geniuses who don’t have a great library and could do something wonderful with the information.”

Another graduate student, Hilo Sugita, plans to study the sarcophagi found at Giza. Using the Giza Project’s data, she can examine photographs of inscriptions, find their original locations within tombs, and even create 3D models.

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“We have photographs, journals, glass negatives, letters, artifacts, publications,” Sugita said. “I think the Digital Giza Project is amazing because we’re trying to collect all the data about Giza everywhere and make it available on the website. You don’t have to go to the MFA, you don’t have to travel to Berlin.”

Technology’s advance is not without challenges, however. The digitization of archaeology, Manuelian said, is something like “the Wild West,” with competing file formats and uncertainty about how the growing data troves will be translated into next-generation software.

In addition, standards for what goes into a 3D re-creation are loose. Should a digital model reflect the state of a tomb as it was found, for example, or is it OK to color in reliefs on the walls to match paint residue found there? How far should digital re-creations go in filling in missing details, some of which are backed by scholarship, but others of which are more speculative, driven by knowledge of common practice rather than evidence at that specific site?

Early in the spring term, Manuelian gave students in his Gen Ed “Pyramid Schemes” class, which provides an overview of ancient Egypt, a glimpse of Giza using Giza Project models. The students visited the Harvard Visualization Center’s home on the second floor of the Geological Museum building, which is equipped with a curved floor-to-ceiling screen occupying one full wall and a suite of 3D and virtual reality tools.

He gave them a tour of both the technology — which can depict sites in detail — and the archaeology, showing them three-dimensional re-creations viewed with 3D glasses and letting them walk through a tomb via a virtual-reality headset.

Manuelian also encouraged students to not only soak up the experience, but to think about the challenges inherent in such an approach, where it might further education and scholarship, and what its shortcomings might be. And, with so much work still to do, he also made a pitch.

“This is a project that is waiting for people like you,” he said.

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Giza 3D is a historically accurate, in-depth recreation of the great pyramids in your web browser

It's not terribly convenient for most of us to grab a flight to egypt and visit the great pyramids of giza, but a new project is attempting to bring an in-depth recreation right into your home in glorious 3d..

By Nathan Ingraham

Via Kill Screen | Source Giza 3D and Discovery

Share this story

It's not terribly convenient for most of us to grab a flight to Egypt and visit the great pyramids of Giza, but a new project is attempting to bring an in-depth recreation right into your home in glorious 3D. A collaboration between software design firm Dassault Systèmes, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and Harvard University has yielded Giza 3D, a site hosting an in-depth 3D model of the pyramids that was recreated based on rigorous scholarly data. Back in the first half of the 20th century, archeologist George Reisner spent a good portion of his life researching and excavating the Giza pyramids as part of a Harvard University / MFA expedition. The MFA then spent the last decade or so digitizing documents from the expeditoin, which were then used by Dassault Systèmes to create the Giza 3D simulation.

Peter Der Manuelian, professor of Egyptology at Harvard University and director of the MFA's Giza Archives recently told Discovery News that this project was buit with historical accurace being of supreme importance, saying "many 3-D models of ancient sites have more to do with fantasy and video games than with archaeology." He went on to say that "our reconstructions strive to reflect as much existing excavation data as possible, and that includes a meticulous study of ancient colors, inscriptions, textures of walls, buildings and objects."

The site itself contains a vast amount of information, with a guided, interactive tour through ten different areas of the Giza plateau — each site also contains an object gallery and photo gallery, as well as a link to the MFA's database of relevant documents. The 3D models are smooth and detailed, and there's also a 3D mode that works with a pair of anaglyph glasses. With full control over the camera, you can fly in and out of different regions at will, and click on objects for more info. One note before visiting the site: you'll need to install a plugin before viewing, and Mac users will need to use Firefox in 32-bit mode. If you're at all interested in the history behind one of the great wonders of the world, this project is certainly worth a look.

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Giza Project

The Giza Project is non-profit international initiative based at Harvard University. Through digital archaeology, we assemble, curate, and present archaeological records about one of the most famous archaeological sites in the world, the Giza Pyramids and surrounding cemeteries and settlements. The Project manages arguably the world’s largest digital archive of Giza material. We use this data to build immersive 3D model reconstructions and other media as we develop powerful new teaching technologies and research tools.

Digital Giza, is the Project’s online digital repository of all archaeological documentation from  multiple institutions , presented free to all, alongside  Giza 3D , a virtual environment based on some of that documentation. Anyone can easily access real, detailed information about Giza and its archaeological history while also “experiencing” some of it as well!

The Giza Project opened at Harvard in 2011. The small original staff already had a long, proven track record of mastering methods of archaeological information management with the Giza Archives Project of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. From 2000–2011, major support from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation helped this visionary project to realize the goal of digitizing and posting for free online all of the archaeological documentation from the Harvard University—Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition to Giza, Egypt (about 1904–1947).

The Giza Project at Harvard expanded this scope beyond just the Harvard–MFA Expedition. By partnering with many other institutions around the world with Giza-related collections, we continue to consolidate as much archival data as possible about this complex site. The massive process of integrating and standardizing all of this information is ongoing. Read more about how the data records are created and organized.

In addition, the Project is developing how this vast quantity of information can contribute to 3D virtual reconstructions of Giza monuments as they may have looked in ancient times. These models provide new ways to engage with Giza, allowing visitors to sightsee, explore, and interact with the Pyramids and their surrounding cemeteries and settlements, all from a computer or other digital device.

To date, the Giza Project has released approximately 20 tombs and monuments in detail, with many hundreds more still to be done.

Through generous support from the National Endowment for the Humanities in several important aspects of our work, we continue to integrate this virtual environment with more than a hundred years of scholarly research about Giza, using cutting-edge technology to study the distant past and preserve knowledge about this important cultural heritage site for the future.

We also continue to explore and develop new ways to experience ancient Giza interactively, including virtual and augmented reality apps, 3D scanning and printing of ancient artifacts, and online teaching initiatives.

THE DIGITAL BRAIN BEHIND DIGITAL GIZA

Digital Giza is more than a simple website. It’s run by a vast database called the  Giza Consolidated Archaeological Reference Database  (GizaCARD). The GizaCARD organizes over 150,000 files and records from the collections and archives of museums, universities, and Egyptian excavation projects from around the world, from the 1800s to current ongoing work.

But the GizaCARD doesn’t just store all of this data and information. It also builds connections: individual Giza monuments, artifacts, documents, and many kinds of media are connected via database records whenever they relate to each other.

The result is a huge “web” of interrelated archival records that enable you to access all the information you need as you explore each record, without having to conduct multiple searches or open lots of different pages.

And since this website pulls from the database in real-time, any information you access here will always reflect the most up-to-date information that The Giza Project has made available.

The wide range of records that the GizaCARD links together for access through the Digital Giza website includes:

• Pyramids, tombs, and monuments
• Giza maps, plans, and architectural drawings
• Excavation photographs
• Archaeologists’ field diary pages from past excavations
• Archaeologists’ notes
• Artifact photographs and illustrations
• Site and monument photographs
• 3D graphic models of Giza monuments and artifacts
• Reference documentation for 3D media
• Interactive Media
• Published books and articles
• Unpublished manuscripts
• Object register books
• Packing lists for artifact transport
• 360-degree panoramas
• Audio recordings
• 2011 – Ongoing
• Harvard: Barajas Dean’s Innovation Fund for Digital Arts and Humanities
• NEH: Digital Humanities Advancement Grants
• Peter der Manuelian Principal Investigator
• Cole Crawford Developer
• Luke Hollis Developer
• Nick Picardo Researcher
• Rashmi Singhal Developer
• Anthropology
• Archimedes Digital
• Arts and Humanities Research Computing (DARTH)

Visit the Pyramids of Giza Without Even Leaving Your Couch

By ellen gutoskey | apr 15, 2021.

If going to the Giza Plateau in person is the ultimate way to experience the ancient Pyramids of Giza, Harvard University’s Digital Giza is at least the next best thing.

As Nerdist reports , Digital Giza is an offshoot of Harvard’s Giza Project , an international endeavor to catalog and consolidate archives and information about the Giza Plateau from all over the world. Researchers have used this data to create a digital platform with 3D models, virtual walking tours, and other free interactive resources to help people explore the region from afar.

You can, for example, amble around the largest of the three pyramids, commissioned by King Khufu around 2550 BCE and also known as the Great Pyramid . Not only is it the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it’s also the only one that still exists (That said, historians aren’t sure that some of them ever existed at all—hard evidence of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Colossus of Rhodes, for example, has proven difficult to find.) The other two pyramids that tower over the rest of the plateau are the Pyramid of Khafre and the Pyramid of Menkaure, built by (and named for) Khufu’s son and grandson, respectively.

Digital Giza offers plenty of sites to explore beyond those three edifices. The Great Sphinx , thought to have been built during Khafre’s reign, is also a must-see. While it’s currently the same sandy color as the rest of the plateau, pigment residue suggests that it might’ve once been painted red, blue, yellow, and perhaps other vibrant hues. The platform also has virtual tours of several extravagant tombs, complete with details about the art and sculptures you see inside.

If you’re interested in an immersive (and educational) virtual vacation, you can explore Digital Giza here .

[h/t Nerdist ]

Virtual Travel

A Smithsonian magazine special report

Take a Free Virtual Tour of Five Egyptian Heritage Sites

The sites include the 5,000-year-old tomb of Meresankh III, the Red Monastery and the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Barquq

Theresa Machemer

Correspondent

Earlier this month, Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced the release of five new virtual tours of historic sites, adding to the range of online adventures that you can now embark on from home.

The tours explore the tomb of Meresankh III , the tomb of Menna , the Ben Ezra Synagogue , the Red Monastery and the Mosque-Madrassa of Sultan Barquq . Each virtual experience features detailed 3-D imagery through which users can “walk” by clicking hotspots along the structures’ floors.

As James Stewart reports for the Guardian , the tours boast “beefed up” 3-D modeling made by experts with Harvard University’s Giza Project . Unlike their real counterparts, most of which charge a small entry fee, the virtual renderings are free to all.

“The virtual tours target both [international] tourists and Egyptians, a ministry spokesperson tells Al-Monitor ’s Amira Sayed Ahmed. “They serve the double purpose of promoting Egyptian tourism nationwide and increasing Egyptians' awareness of their own civilization.”

Two of the tours—the tombs of Meresankh III and elite Egyptian official Menna —include background information accessible by clicking circles overlaid atop specific features. The former’s tomb, dated to some 5,000 years ago, is the oldest of the Egyptian sites available as a virtual walkthrough. Meresankh, a queen wed to King Khafre, was the daughter of Prince Kawab and Hetepheres II of the fourth dynasty, and the granddaughter of Great Pyramid builder Cheops, also known as Khufu.

Harvard archaeologist George Andrew Reisner discovered the queen’s tomb in 1927. He later stated that “None of us had ever seen anything like it.” Today, the burial place’s paintings and carvings remain well-preserved, showcasing hunters catching water birds, bakers making triangular loaves of bread and servants holding offerings.

In the northern chamber, along the wall furthest from the virtual tour’s starting point, ten statues of women stand shoulder to shoulder—an unusual sight among Gaza tombs. The statues “serve to emphasize Meresankh’s position among her queenly relatives,” the tour explains. Along the path to the 16-foot-deep burial shaft, users pass a pair of statues depicting Meresankh and her mother, Hetepheres II, with their arms around each other.

The path leads down a spiraling staircase into the burial shaft, where Meresankh’s black granite sarcophagus—originally created for her mother but re-engraved upon the queen’s death in 2532 B.C., according to the History Blog —was originally found. The tour includes a reconstructed image of the chamber with the sarcophagus in place, but the actual coffin is now kept at the Egyptian Antiquities Museum in Cairo.

The tomb of Menna, dated to the 18th dynasty (about 1549 B.C to 1292 B.C.), is “one of the most visited and best preserved” from the era, the ministry writes in a statement quoted by Live Science ’s Laura Geggel. The tomb’s decorations suggest the elite official was a scribe in charge of the pharaoh’s fields and the temple of sun god Amun-Re.

Menna’s tomb also includes informational blurbs highlighting such features as paintings of the scribe’s family, including his wife Henuttawy and their five children. Curiously, all of the paintings of Menna have been defaced.

“The ancient Egyptians believed that the soul of a person inhabited paintings of them and destroying the face would ‘deactivate’ the image,” the tour notes. “Why would someone want to destroy the memory of Menna?”

The tomb also served as a point of communication with the dead. It once featured life-size statues of Menna and Henuttawy that family members could make offerings to, ask for favors or visit during festivals.

The other three tours do not offer information blurbs at this time, but they still have plenty of detailed 3-D imagery for virtual visitors to explore. The Red Monastery , a Coptic church in Upper Egypt, features ornate frescoes, while the 14th-century Mosque-Madrassa is known for its immense size and innovative architecture. The Ben Ezra Synagogue in Old Cairo is alleged to be the site where baby Moses was found.

“Experience Egypt from home,” says the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities on Facebook . “Stay home. Stay safe.”

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Theresa Machemer | READ MORE

Theresa Machemer is a freelance writer based in Washington DC. Her work has also appeared in National Geographic and SciShow. Website: tkmach.com

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Take an 360° Interactive Tour Inside the Great Pyramid of Giza

in Architecture , History | July 31st, 2020 1 Comment

You can’t take it with you if you’ve got noth­ing to take with you.

Once upon a time, the now-emp­ty  Great Pyra­mid of Giza  was sump­tu­ous­ly appoint­ed inside and out, to ensure that Pharaoh Khu­fu, or Cheops as he was known to the Ancient Greeks, would be well received in the after­life.

Bling was a seri­ous thing.

Thou­sand of years fur­ther on, cin­e­mat­ic por­tray­als have us con­vinced that tomb raiders were greedy 19th- and 20th-cen­tu­ry cura­tors, eager­ly fill­ing their vit­rines with stolen arti­facts.

There’s some truth to that, but mod­ern Egyp­tol­o­gists are fair­ly con­vinced that Khufu’s pyra­mid was loot­ed short­ly after his reign, by oppor­tunists look­ing to grab some good­ies for their jour­ney to the after­life.

At any rate, it’s been picked clean.

Per­haps one day, we 21st-cen­tu­ry cit­i­zens can opt in to a pyra­mid expe­ri­ence akin to  Rome Reborn , a dig­i­tal crutch for our fee­ble imag­i­na­tion to help us past the emp­ty sar­coph­a­gus and bare walls that have defined the world’s old­est tourist attraction’s inte­ri­ors for … well, not quite ever, but cer­tain­ly for  Flaubert ,  Mark Twain , and 12th-cen­tu­ry schol­ar  Abd al-Latif .

Fast for­ward­ing to 2017, the  BBC’s Rajan Datar  host­ed “ Secrets of the Great Pyra­mid ,” a pod­cast episode fea­tur­ing Egyp­tol­o­gist  Sal­i­ma Ikram , space archae­ol­o­gist  Dr Sarah Par­cak , and archae­ol­o­gist, Dr  Joyce Tyldes­ley .

The experts were keen to clear up a major mis­con­cep­tion that the 4600-year-old pyra­mid was built by aliens or enslaved labor­ers, rather than a per­ma­nent staff of archi­tects and engi­neers, aid­ed by Egypt­ian civil­ians eager to barter their labor for meat, fish, beer, and tax abate­ment.

Datar’s ques­tion about a scan­ning project that would bring fur­ther insight into the Pyra­mid of Giza­’s con­struc­tion and lay­out was met with excite­ment.

This attrac­tion, old as it is, has plen­ty of new secrets to be dis­cov­ered.

We’re hap­py to share with you, read­ers, that 3 years after that episode was taped, the future is here.

The scan­ning is com­plete.

Wit­ness the BBC’s 360° tour inside the Great Pyra­mid of Giza.

Use your mouse to crane your neck, if you like.

As of this writ­ing, you  could   tour the pyra­mid in per­son , should you wish—the usu­al touris­tic hoards are def­i­nite­ly dialed down.

But, giv­en the con­ta­gion, per­haps bet­ter to tour the King’s Cham­ber, the Queen’s Cham­ber, and the Grand Gallery vir­tu­al­ly, above.

(An inter­est­ing tid­bit: the pyra­mid was more dis­tant to the ancient Romans than the Colos­se­um is to us.)

Lis­ten to the BBC’s “Secrets of the Great Pyra­mid” episode  here .

Tour the Great Pyra­mid of Giza  here .

Relat­ed Con­tent:

What the Great Pyra­mid of Giza Would’ve Looked Like When First Built: It Was Gleam­ing, Reflec­tive White

How the Egypt­ian Pyra­mids Were Built: A New The­o­ry in 3D Ani­ma­tion

The Met Dig­i­tal­ly Restores the Col­ors of an Ancient Egypt­ian Tem­ple, Using Pro­jec­tion Map­ping Tech­nol­o­gy

Ayun Hal­l­i­day  is an author, illus­tra­tor, the­ater mak­er and Chief Pri­ma­tol­o­gist of  the East Vil­lage Inky  zine.  Fol­low her  @AyunHalliday .

by Ayun Halliday | Permalink | Comments (1) |

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Comments (1), 1 comment so far.

Absolute­ly love this. I hope to see a video of the Great Pyra­mid as it was when it was com­plete­ly whole.

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Giza 3D: Harvard's Journey to Ancient Egypt

Harvard University brings the Giza Plateau to life. Watch to learn more about their Giza 3D project, the Harvard Semitics Museum, and virtual reality technology of the future.

3D virtual tour 'Inside the Great Pyramid' where you can freely look around the Great Pyramid of Giza

Then, the viewpoint moved in front of the pyramid entrance. The screen says 'You're now standing on the blocks of the Great Pyramid at Giza. For the first time ever, you can explore the entire pyramid interior.' For the first time in history, it is possible to explore all inside the pyramid)' is displayed, and first you can experience a tour inside the pyramid while watching the text on the screen. Click 'NEXT' ......

Looking back from the entrance, the cityscape of Cairo and the Nile River in the background were introduced. You can continue the tour by pressing 'NEXT' more and more, or you can change the viewpoint and position without pressing the button.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built about 4500 years ago ...

The internal structure of the pyramid looks like this. The right end is the entrance, from which the passage towards the central part of the pyramid extends and branches into the upper and lower sides. Three main stone chambers have been identified: the 'King's Chamber' at the top, the 'Queen's Chamber' at the bottom, and the 'Crypt' at the bottom, but little is known about their uses. About.

The hole we enter this time is said to have been dug in 820 by

As you go through the passage extending from the entrance ......

We have reached the junction of the ascending and descending passages. The descents are usually blocked and not accessible to tourists, but the 3D tour allows access to the descents.

It seems that the long and narrow descent passage continues endlessly ... ...

Eventually you will reach a point where you cannot go straight.

When turning a curve ......

Reached the basement at a point about 30m underground.

The purpose of the crypt is unknown, but some archaeologists have suggested that Khufu's sarcophagus was originally intended to be buried here.

Return to the junction of the ascending passage and the descending passage, and head for the ascending passage this time.

As you go through the aisle ......

Arrive at the branch between the Queen's Chamber and the King's Chamber.

The lower room is the Queen's Chamber.

Walk down the narrow passage towards the Queen's Chamber.

This is what it looks like between queens. In addition, although it is named Queen's Room, it is not believed that the Queen's body was actually enshrined.

There is a gap of unknown use in the eastern wall.

In addition, there are holes in the north and south walls that are considered to be ventilation holes.

Return to the fork, and this time go to the ascending passage.

Go on a long uphill road ......

Reached a point where the road is level.

It is believed that the entrance to the King's Chamber was blocked by a huge trapdoor to keep out intruders.

This is the king's room.

The only object is a granite sarcophagus. It was made by hollowing out a single rock, and because it is larger than the entrance, it is believed that it was brought in before the roof was completed.

There are several layers on the roof, and it is believed that it is a space to protect the king from the weight of the pyramid.

Like the Queen's Chamber, there are holes in the room that are considered to be ventilation holes in the north and south, and are connected to the outside of the pyramid.

This is the end of the tour, but you can still roam freely inside the pyramids. Click the block icon at the bottom left of the screen ......

You can see a 3D map of the internal structure.

Looking up at the ceiling ......

You can move the camera to see places that are normally difficult to see.

The Giza Project also offers 3D tours for ruins other than the Great Pyramid of Giza, such as 'Tomb Of Iasen (Iasen's Tomb)' and 'Tomb of Queen Meresankh III (Tomb of Meresankh III)' from the

Related Posts:

Oct 28, 2022 17:00:00 in Review ,   Web Service ,   Art , Posted by log1h_ik

The Horizon of Khufu: A Journey in Ancient Egypt in London

Explore one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World—an archaeological treasure trove and a monumental testament to Egyptian architectural genius. Embark on an immersive journey through space and time to explore Egypt's Giza Pyramid, the resting place of Pharaoh Khufu, constructed over 4,500 years ago in the 4th Dynasty and until now a forbidden realm to the public! The experience allows visitors to physically move and interact within a shared virtual reality space, providing a deeply emotional and engaging dive into the heart of Egyptian culture.

ABOUT THE EXPERIENCE

A captivating journey that transports you through time and space

Uncover the mysteries of the Great Pyramid of Giza and experience the funeral rites of an Egyptian king! This unique journey aims to make a significant part of the Giza Plateau pyramids accessible to all, unlocking a treasure trove of history for everyone to explore.

Dive into history with the immersive power of virtual reality.

Equipped with a virtual reality headset, the experience takes you on a journey through ancient Egypt and the customs of the time. This expedition is full of scientific, cultural, and ethnological references to explore the era of the pharaohs.

An Authentic and Unique Adventure

The 'Horizon of Khufu' Immersive Expedition has been designed to be as accurate as possible. After several years of research and data collection in the field, in collaboration with Peter Der Manuelian, Professor of Egyptology, and his team from the Giza Project at Harvard University, the experience has come to life. The goal is to offer you an experience based on real data, combining architecture, science, and history, for an authentic immersion.

Practical Info

• ⏳ Duration: 45 minutes
• 📍 Location: Westfield Stratford City Mall. 1, The Street, London E20 1EJ, United Kingdom
• 👤 Age requirement: 8+ with a minimum height of 1.30m
• 💵 Price: discover our different ticket options

It was absolutely amazing, the most exciting VR experience I’ve ever done!

This experience is amazing from start to finish

The experience is of being immersed into the animated world of ancient Egypt

Great immersive experience, really felt like you were amongst the pyramids

Unbelievable! So realistic I actually thought I would fall off the side of the pyramid!

THE HORIZON OF KHUFU: LONDON LOCATION

Any questions? Find the answers here!

THE EXPERIENCE

Yes. We invite our guests to take photos and videos for personal use only and would love for you to tag us at @horizonofkhufu_stratford .

Please note, the use of flashes and tripods are strictly prohibited. Press photography (and any other photography for professional use) is only possible if authorized by a staff member.

We recommend dressing comfortably and wearing suitable shoes. Because you will be wearing a VR headset, please refrain from wearing hats or caps.

For everyone's safety, we kindly ask you to store your backpacks and handbags in the lockers provided on site.

• Middle or Higher rate DLA for care and/or mobility.
• Receipt of Personal Independence Payment (PIP).
• Evidence of being severely sight impaired.
• CredAbility Access Card – + 1 category requirement.
• A recognised Assistance Dog ID Card.
• The Fever App, available on Google Play and Apple Store .
• The Fever website .

LOCATION & PARKING

Health & security.

Virtual reality provides a reliable and enjoyable experience, but it may be uncomfortable for some individuals. It's not recommended for those with claustrophobia.

People prone to motion sickness may also experience discomfort when using a VR headset. This might lead to symptoms like drowsiness, increasing the risk of injury during real-world activities.

Children aged 8 to 12 must be accompanied to take part in the experience.

The Horizon of Khufu experience is suitable for families with children aged 8 and above. Children under the age of 8 are not allowed to participate, even when carried by an adult, for safety reasons.

GROUP BOOKINGS

Presented by

In partnership with

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The Pyramids

The pyramids - 3d virtual tour.

The Pyramids virtual tours can be started by clicking the preview window or by downloading the stand-alone versions. Just drag the mouse to the direction you want to look. Use the scroll wheel to zoom at the details. Press F9 to get a list of the 3D sites you downloaded (residing in the same directory). To install the listed sites as a screensaver press F5 . Our advise is to install all the sites, including The Pyramids , as a screensaver. When the screensaver starts, a random site is chosen and shown around automatically (this gives the impression of looking at a documentary in HD quality). To see the usage of other keys press F1 . Press Ecs to exit.

Panorama shootings for The Pyramids were done in the year 2010. Shooting equipment was Nikon D90 digital camera, 10.5 mm fisheye lens, panoramic tripod head and a tripod. For The Pyramids more than 800 pictures were taken. The pictures that are taken for different angles are later combined using a computer to form a full 360 degree panoramic view, surrounding the viewer both horizontally and vertically.

History of The Pyramids

The Egyptian Pyramids were built as tombs for deceased Pharaohs and their consorts. For thousands of years they were the largest structures on earth. The earliest pyramid known is that of The Step Pyramid in Saqqara. It was built in the year 2650 B.C. Near the Step Pyramid there are many mastaba tombs belonging to the Pharaohs family. Unlike the rooms inside the Pyramids, their walls are richly decorated.

The best known pyramids are undoubtedly the ones at Giza. The largest of them is The Great Pyramid of Keops that was built around 2589 B.C. It is 145.75 meters high. It is also the only remaining “Seven Wonders of the Ancient World”.

The Pyramid of Khafre (143.5 meters high) is believed to be built by Mycerinus, the son of Khafre. The Pyramid of Mycerinus that Mycerinus started building for himself is finished by his son Shepseskaf.

The Bent Pyramid in Dahshur is considered the first ‘real’ pyramid. It's limestone outer casing is largely in tact. Pharaoh Sneferu, who wasn't very happy with the Bent Pyramid, ordered the building of The Red Pyramid to the North.

Sun Boat Museum

In 1954 a real sized old Egyptian boat was found in a pit near the Great Pyramid. It took 14 years to put together the 1200 peaces using old materials like wooden nails and ropes of grass.

We would like to thank Mr. Mohamed Abdel Fatah, Mr. Ibrahim Ahmed Hussein and their family and friends for their support during our stay in Egypt.

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