New 3D models, Shrine 4 Gebel el-Silsila West

The Project is happy to announce that yet another two 3D-models have been uploaded to our Sketchfab page, this time focusing on Cenotaph/Shrine 4 on the West Bank. The first model shows the shrine as it is preserved today, while the second shows a digital reconstruction and interpretation of how it may have looked prior to the earthquake. 

Fractured statue group in shrine 4, photograph John Ward

3D image current preservation (here)

3D image digital reconstruction (here)

3D photography and model by Stefan Lindgren, HumLab, Lund University http://www.humlab.lu.se/en/person/StefanLindgren/

still image of the digital reconstruction by Stefan Lindgren

The monument in focus is a niche located on the southern side of ‘shrine 4’ (James and Caminos 1963, 16-18) that has been broken in three parts due to a fracture in the bedrock plausibly caused by a natural catastrophe/earthquake. The room initially measured 1.27 m deep x 1.50 m high. Three statues are seated on a bench, facing forward towards the north-facing opening/door. The three statues depict two men and a woman. While there are no preserved inscriptions or decoration, it can be presumed that the main male figure depicts a man called Djehutmose, who was a scribe of the treasury during the 18th or early 19th Dynasty (based on an adjacent, plausibly associated hieroglyphic text) (James and Caminos 1963, 16). 

Shrine 4, Gebel el-Silsila West, photograph by John Ward

This shrine, together with 31 more, are currently re-documented and prepared for a new and updated publication, which will include not only the original epigraphy, but also later graffiti, architectural components, and state of preservation by the current archaeological project on site. By means of newer, digital equipment and software, painted details faded to the naked eye, become visible and bring more information in terms of each shrine’s original decoration (see some examples attached herein).

original photo from the ceiling in shrine 4, photograph by Maria Nilsson

D-Streched image emphasizing certain colours

Original photo of one of the statues in shrine 4, photograph by Maria Nilsson

Image in DStrech revealing original colour

Original photo of painted and etched graffiti in Shrine 4, photograph by Maria Nilsson

Details in DStrech

Link to DStrech software here