The Impact of 3D VR Reconstructions

The Impact of 3D VR Reconstructions: Amarna

Question - Do you agree with the theory on the significance of the location of the temples in relation to the figures on the stela?

A VRML model of the landscape of Amarna
A VRML model of the landscape of Amarna with the conceptual lines projected

A selection of JPEG still images of Amarna

Background information
Barry Kemp has drawn attention to the significance in the location of places for the cult of the king and the women nearest to him on the plan of Amarna, and Michael Mallinson has noted the geometric alignment of major features at the site (royal tomb, Great Temple, Small Temple and King's House, Boundary Stelae). This schematic version of the Amarna landscape builds on their observations, by projecting the principal motif of Amarna Art (worship of the sun disk by the king, his wife and his daughters) onto the conceptual lines between the major monuments at the site. The calcite block UC 401 bears a depiction of Akhenaten, Nefertiti and Meretaten offering to the sun: in this VR landscape, the rays of the sun follow the alignment of the royal tomb and Great Temple, while the body of the king is in place with the Small Temple (centre of the cult of the king) and King's House (one of the palaces), and Nefertiti stands in line with the centre of her cult (the site known as Kom el-Nana today), with their eldest daughter Meretaten at the outside, on the cityscape at the southern extreme of the city, the position of another place of worship for a woman of the royal family (the site known as Maruaten).
[Boston 1999: 74]

Does the Amarna question emerge from the pages?

Does the reconstruction help you learn about the site, or impose itself as reality?

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