Unfolding Sennedjem's Tomb

H. Farid and S. Farid

KMT: A Modern Journal of Ancient Egypt, 12(1):46-59, 2001

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It is ironic that the Ancient Egyptian tombs, once sealed, were not intended to be seen by outsiders. Yet the highly valued and often reproduced tomb decorations have had a profound influence on art and have contributed significantly to our understanding of the Ancient Egyptian culture. This article describes how recent advances in computational and digital technology can add a new perspective to these marvels of antiquity. Of particular interest to us has been the development of a technique for digital reconstruction of tombs, allowing for the creation of undistorted panoramic views of tomb interiors that are simply unattainable with traditional imaging methods. We begin with a few words about a chosen tomb that is well suited to this treatment, then describe briefly the computational steps, followed by comments on the interplay between multiple, related scenes, which are made clearer when viewing the tomb in its entirety.