Tenth International Congress of Egyptologists Abstracts of Papers

XICE – Abstract of Papers
So maps seem to hesitate between praise and palimpsest. Moreover ancient greek
beliefs are not passively developed by geographers. For modern cartographers, they
constitute ideological and political options. When a geographer chooses to draw
Acheron river in Egypt, then the Egyptian civilisation becomes the origin of western
civilisation. When he denies the antiquity of Egypt, then he underestimates the
importance of the filiation in order to distinguish Europe from a civilisation based on
a theological system criticized widely by philosophers from the 18th century.
Exploring 3D mapping applications for the risk assessment and monitoring of
the conservation procedures of the Tomb TT14
Monica Hanna
The mural paintings documentation, preservation and conservation are from the most
complex procedures that require precise monitoring. The walls of Theban Tomb 14
(TT14) in Dra‛ Abu el-Naga are in a serious need for those complex procedures based
on its bad preservation status that resulted from flash floods and nineteenth century
raids. Attempting to use 2D representation of the data needed for those procedures has
proved to be quite inaccurate in the situation of TT14 where the painted walls are far
from being smooth or straight to allow for basic 2D epigraphy drawings overlaid with
photographs. The original bedrock of the tomb is bad and so the Ancient Egyptian
used many admixtures to prepare the surface for the painted pilaster for such a “low
cost” tomb. This has resulted to a very challenging situation of the tomb in terms of
studying, and planning conservation procedures. To be able to accurately
georeference the information, a 3D scan of the tomb was done and then nearly
orthorectified photographs were taken to be meshed together and provide a sort of a
3D state of preservation map for the tomb. On the 3D model, 3D polygons were
drawn after systematic meticulous observation in the tomb to specify the different
areas current preservation status as well as ancient technique of the surface wall
preparation. These polygons are linked to the data pertaining to those areas. This data
is composed of alphanumeric elements such as descriptive texts, archival
photographs, and laboratory analysis such as archaeometrical data results. The
polygons allow for measuring, area and volume and thus help decision making and
monitoring for future conservation procedures through risk assessment based on
statistical data. This will allow for future better allocation of the resources for the
conservation procedures and monitor the process of the conservation through its
different stages over time.
New directions and applications: the Tomb of Menna Project (TT 69)
Melina Hartwig
The tomb of Menna (TT 69) is one of the finest painted, non-royal Egyptian tombs
open to the public today. Its decoration represents the height of ancient Egyptian
painting, a visual textbook of what the Egyptians could do in that medium. Over the
next two years, The Tomb of Menna Project will conserve and document the
archaeology, architecture, decoration and texts in the tomb using a number of new
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