Tutankhamun Facsimile Opening Presentation

the short video you are about to see is based on footage that was first recorded in 2009 in the Valley of the Kings when we recorded the tuba to cover the second part of the film is based on images recorded in Madrid what we tried to rima t realize the digital data that we recorded and the final part has happened since January this year as we put together the facsimile on its site next to Carla's house the beginning of the film in 2009 shows large numbers of visitors walking in the Valley of the Kings the problem then was explicit the large numbers of people want to visit the site that was built to last for eternity but was never meant to be visited in the last few years sadly and a great master Egypt there have been very few visitors but the visitors will return they'll return in far greater numbers than those who were there in 2009 and 2010 the Valley of the Kings is visited by thousands of tourists each week and on busy days over a thousand people buy tickets to visit the tomb of Tutankhamen their presence is a major cause of damage and decay in the valley today's visitors more than ever before are aware that their presence is a part of the problem in 2008 dr. Zahi Hawass launched an ambitious plan to preserve the valley by building facsimile of the tubes that are either closed for conservation reasons or in need of pleasure for preservation the first tombs that we recorded are the tombs of Seti the first Nefertari and Tutankhamun the University of Basel with the Friends of the royal tombs of Egypt the foundation for digital technology and conservation and factum attic have been given permission to carry out this task the original plan was to start work on the tomb of Seti the first but due to the discoveries in the tunnel and the continuing excavation work within the tomb it was decided that it was better to start in the tomb of Tutankhamun the equipment that had been designed specifically for working in SETI had to be modified and adapted for the smaller and more confined space of Tutankhamun factor Marty basically is recording with three different types of equipment the first is three-dimensional laser scanning and three-dimensional white light scanning so recording the relief of the surface the resolutions are between 100 microns a tenth of a millimeter and 700 microns the second type of recording is high-resolution photographic recording - one and the third approach is a close analytical observational study of the surface structured light or white light scanning is done using a nub 3d intraplate system this recording system projects patterns of structured light on to the surface and records the distortions that happen to a theoretically flat plane the data is sufficient to record the irregular surface of Tutankhamen but not to record the relief carvings on the sarcophagus or in the tombs of SETI and Nefertari factor Martez real core skills lie in the field of laser scanning after the initial server were carried out in the to set to the first in 2001 we developed a two camera one laser system to record true resolution without post-processing 100 microns in conservation lasers are often used for cleaning in effect burning the surface of the object one of the fundamental tasks is face vacuum artist since we began this project was to persuade the entire conservation community that a red light laser scanner similar to a barcode reader in a supermarket is actually one of the safest methods of recording any object on the area around Tutankhamun as he lies in the figure of Osiris being drawn on his Brier the paint surface is incredibly complex it's this complexity that will allow the flexibly to actually function and be convincing this complexity mixed with very high resolution color photography and mix with the observational details that we record from the surface and the clothes color matching that enables us to produce a facsimile with exactly the qualities machine of tone of the original surface in 2009 fatimata carried out the highest resolution recording of a large-scale site that's ever been attempted we developed a lot of the equipment we developed a lot of the protocols for doing the work but really that was the beginning virtual reality is one thing re materializing the virtual is another the first critical process is merging together the color data and the three-dimensional data this is a new technology requiring new skills and new solutions many of which have been developed in-house in fact once the data is prepared it opens the doors to a new level of study the most important which is monitoring the condition of the surface so when you can zoom into the data up to eight times magnification and study it in ways that have never been possible before you can understand what's happening to the surface how it's breaking down why it's cracking why the black colors are cracking differently from the others you develop an intimate understanding of why the surface looks like it does it's interesting to think that Carter only had access to Harry Burton's amazing black and white vertex now we can look at the surface at levels of resolution that were never imagined before data in a virtual form can facilitate study but what it's transformed back into a physical state it can transform our understanding of the importance of the object transforming the data into a physical state means cutting the three-dimensional recording back into a physical material at an accuracy of 240 microns a quarter of a millimeter you seeing a surface gradually materialized before your eyes is an extraordinary sensation adding color to that surface is magical one of the most important aspects of the whole of the production of the facsimile was to build a flatbed printer that could over print in perfect register so we could print Dianna's membranes of printable slightly elastic material and fix it to the undulating surface that's been carved from the three-dimensional data fixing the skins to the surface is an entirely new technology it's dependent on pressure-sensitive contact adhesives we use a microbacteria of the surface which have a slight relief as critical exact registration points and position and reposition the elastic membranes until they're an exact register with the surface that moment is another magical moment when the realism of the surface and color merge and where the object starts to feel like the original to the color and surface form irregular shape panels divided along natural cracks on the surface these are then assembled together to form an object that could be transported to Egypt you no it's very good for us because we have a solution something Jonnie making me happy because now if I have any damage if you have any division our tool we can make a copy of the stone and we can protect our tone the original phone is worth something good for Egypt and for sandy wood here in the future whoa - thanks Ramone is the most famous King yeah all over the world it's not the most important one is a statistical point of view but is the most famous one as an architect all all all artists life to build some people to be shown everyone will see - until appreciate it but concept here is completely different you build something designed by somebody thousand years ago and it will not be seen then it's just for me suits different experience the uncomputable water ever I did before no sin itself it's something you have not happened before at least even this is just the start you've just seen the facsimile re materializing in desert space next to Carla's house in an extraordinary space desire but the Egyptian architect Eric won this is the beginning of the next phase of the project like every rebirth it's part of a cycle the next cycle will involve the transfer of the skills the technology and the knowledge that's been acquired while we've made the too much income Egypt's culture is cultural heritage that's of importance to the world and it's important that that cultural heritage is preserved for future generation the responsibility for looking after the site rests on the shoulders of many different people and I hope is that with the help of the many tourists who come with their assistance in understanding the fragility of the relationship between the past and the present that we can build a new contract a new way of thinking about how tourism can add freedoms heritage our hope is that the visitors will go to see first the original tomb and then the facsimile and they'll talk and it's talk that brings about change its people seeing and walking into the facsimile and like so many people have done over the last few days saying it's the same exactly the same it feels the same but that's not the end that really is the beginning and the beginning is to reprove the terms of setting and then the two will Nefertari and then less famous tubes that are equally important for the stories they tell and we want to thank deeply thank from the many people in fact and we've worked on this project to the many people in Egypt have worked on this project we want to thank everyone for being given this opportunity to demonstrate that when people work together with the right interests and in the right ways remarkable things can happen you

Channel: Experience Egypt

Views: 271,834

Rating: 4.4559722 out of 5

Keywords: sharm el sheikh, ancient Egypt, Hurghada, sharm el sheik, egypt holidays, el gouna, Taba, pyramids of Egypt, cairo, egypt, egypt pyramids, hurgada, dahab, red sea, holidays, ETA

Id: MX9E3DUAfRc

Length: 15min 17sec (917 seconds)

Published: Sun May 04 2014