Digital Karnak is a 3D, immersive, interactive model of Egypt’s Karnak site, one of the largest temple complexes in the world, and one with a rich political, religious, and architectural history. At the core of the Digital Karnak project is a 3D reconstruction of the complex that illustrates the major phases of construction in the site’s 2,000 year history. While video of the model has been shared through the project website, scholars and the public have never been able to interact dynamically with the model themselves. The recent release of the VSim prototype, a new NEH- funded software to facilitate educational use of academically generated 3D content, now allows 3D projects like Karnak to be annotated, shared, and viewed in real-time by researchers and students. This workshop will present the Karnak model utilizing VSim and show participants how to "fly" and interact with the model on their own computers. Please RSVP if you you plan to attend.

Elaine Sullivan is an Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Her work focuses on applying new technologies to ancient cultural materials. She acts as the project coordinator of the Digital Karnak Project, a multi-phased 3D virtual reality model of the famous ancient Egyptian temple complex of Karnak. She is project director of 3D Saqqara, which harnesses Geographic Information Systems (GIS) technologies and 3D modeling to explore the ritual and natural landscape of the famous cemetery of Saqqara through both space and time.

This workshop is sponsored by the UC Santa Cruz Department of History, Digital Humanities at Berkeley, and the UC Berkeley Department of Near Eastern Studies. Inquiries may be directed to Prof. Rita Lucarelli (rita.lucarelli@berkeley.edu).