Our 2003 field work was our most ambitious yet, but thanks to the great team (below) we were able to pull off nearly everything we'd hoped to do.  What follows is an informal recounting that was written in the field--for a look at our process and results in more depth, please see our 2003 Interim Report.

Concept sketches for an animated sequence
in the tomb of Ramsses II.

December 29, 2002: Seven straggling travelers, weighed with more gear than Noah had animals upon the ark, arrive in Luxor with the rising sun.  Kevin was disappointed that he wasn’t offered any of Egypt Air’s fabled pound cake on the flight from France; but other than that, sailing was smooth for the whole journey.

December 30, 2002:  We launched some initial test scans at the Ramasseum (Ramses II’s temple along the Nile’s West bank) using the Mensi long-range scanner.  Philippe oriented us with a history lesson about the Ramesseum and the Ramesside Period.  Our hosts, Dr. Christian LeBlanc and Dr. Monique Nelson of the French Mission updated us on their excavations and findings at the site.  LeBlanc is unearthing a school for Ramses’ scribes, and burial shafts of six Pharonic priests. Nelson has found a large statue of a jackal buried several meters into the ground. 

After lunch, we were privileged to tour Deir el Madina with another French specialist who is staying at the Mission.  Known as the Village of the Workers, this site was the home base of the artisans and scribes who built the tombs.  They left rich detailed records, both personal and administrative, of daily life in Egypt.

December 31, 2002:  We began working at the Ramesseum early in the morning.  Ralph is crafting a documentary about Insight’s work, so he and Kevin needed to investigate sunrise light conditions in order to plan for video shots.  Philippe, Jenea and Brett planned viewpoints for further architectural scans.  Casondra shadowed Ralph to learn the capabilities of the Canon GL2 video camera.  We all brainstormed about how to engineer a platform for a vertical tracking shot so Ralph can capture a time lapse sunrise over the Colossus of Ramses II.

By this time word had spread through Luxor that we are back.  All of our Egyptian friends began to seek us out.  Rekindling our friendships is always the best part of coming to the Middle East.  The people of Egypt are as warm and beautiful as their ever-present smiles suggest.  This culture is all about people.  No matter where we go we are confronted with curiosity about our American pace.  We are required (it is rude to keep hurrying) to slow down and take tea, talk, get to know each other.  Our culture could learn something from this. 

January 1, 2003:  It is the day we have all been waiting for, the ceremonial re-opening of the tomb of Ramses II!  The American Ambassador to Egypt and the Supreme Antiquities Inspector for Luxor both participated.  Later, back at the Ramasseum, we had the opportunity to show a presentation of our work to the Ambassador and his family.  The Ambassador’s wife is originally from Silicon Valley, so she fully understands the visionary aspirations of new media pioneers.  Everyone present was receptive to our ideas and we are invited to show more at the American Embassy in Cairo.  

January 4, 2003:  All systems were go with the GSI configuration.  Their customer service is efficient and supportive.  They were quick to respond to our inquiries.  Jenea and Casondra embarked upon a scan-a-thon in the tomb. 

The people of Luxor had been asking every day, “When is Jerry coming?” Here he is!  Unfortunately for all of his Egyptian friends, he arrived late at night; so fanfare celebrating his arrival had to wait until the next day.  Does Luxor elect a mayor? If so, Jerry would win hands down.

January 5, 2002:  Jenea was stricken with the same virulent virus that preyed on Casondra.  Brett filled in as the other half of the dynamic scanning duo in the tomb.  They ran tests to determine why the scan data is producing little ripples.  By systematically changing variables, they determined that they needed to adjust the laser strength.  Or rather, they need to stop adjusting for laser strength and let the 3-D camera auto focus for best results.  Kevin registered the data as they collected it.  Russ kept photographing.  Back at the Ramasseum Philippe continued to scan and Ralph worked on video documentation.

January 6, 2003:  Tom arrived.  Casondra and Tom worked in tandem as a scan team last year, so it was natural for them to fall right back into their rhythm.  Off site, Brett and Ralph, built a leveled support system to replace the tripod we had been using to scan the tomb walls.  Using the tripod is slow and does not work for documenting points where the ceiling is high.

January 7, 2003:  Last but not least, Todd arrived today.  We intercepted him from his airport taxi and put him to work straightaway in the tomb.

January 9, 2003—We have tested the new support for the Minolta 900 scanner that we are using in the tomb.  We are able to scan in a much more precise, systematic way than  the tripod allowed.  Thank you, Ralph and Brett, for your McGyver style ingenuity!  Problem solving out in the field always requires an extra degree of creativity because  things like readily available materials, tools and power that we take for granted at home are often limited.

With twice as many people on the team this year as compared to last, tighter organization among the group and more specific delineation of tasks has become necessary.  Casondra created a daily schedule and a sign up sheets for jobs so that we can stay focused.  More so than at home, however, we all need to remain very flexible and ready to switch gears on a moment’s notice.  So much is beyond our control, and we often have to adjust our pace and our aims to be sensitive to cultural politics and the schedules of those outside of our group.

January 10, 2003—Again, Friday is an Islamic holy day so there is no work.  On this Friday we took a “field trip” to two sites within driving distance, Abydos and Dendara. At Abydos is a temple for Sety I, Ramses II’s predecessor.  Yards away stand the remnants of another small temple to Ramses II.  Some exquisite color remains in this temple.  We also enjoyed fragments of life-sized alabaster figures which were sensitively carved and caught the light in a way that made it seem that the statues might come to life.

Dendara is a temple to Hathor.  The goddess in her cow-eared aspect tops pillars everywhere.  The sky goddess Nut is also prevalent.  Three nested Nuts graced the ceiling of one room.  Another room explicitly shows her powerfully swallowing the sun and birthing the moon, as was her role each night.  The story of Isis and her sister Nephthys is repeated throughout.  In it, their jealous brother Seth hacks the god Osiris to pieces and scatters those pieces all over the land.  Isis and Nephthys gather them, and Anubis, protector of the dead, reassembles them.  With wings the sisters fan the breath of eternal life into Osiris and he becomes a primary god of the Netherworld.  The phallus, however, is missing, so Isis fashions one from clay.  She impregnates herself upon it as a bird and conceives Horus, who grows up to rule Egypt and to bring justice for Seth’s heinous crime.  The story explains the resurrection theme that was so important to Egyptian belief.  It also explains why pharaohs were associated with Horus in life and with Osiris in the afterlife.

January 11, 2003—An especially busy day for all!  Recently Dr. Leblanc unearthed a pre-Ramesside skeleton at the Ramesseum.  Today Jerry shot some detailed photographs of the grave, including the in-tact necklace of scarabs around the neck of the person past.  Dr. Leblanc and Dr. Nelson were most appreciative. 

Jerry and Ralph have begun reviewing and editing video footage.  Ralph, Philippe, Kevin and Tom discussed storyboards for the fundraising documentary with Dr. Leblanc.  Everyone is set for the shoot in the tomb on the 14^th (Tuesday). 

Todd is still plugging away in Maya, articulating complicated movements of the animated cobra.  Casondra finally had the opportunity to see the elegant jackal head that Dr. Nelson unearthed at the Ramesseum.  She took digital photos and measurements of fragments from this jackal and/or others (there were likely a whole line of them protecting the temple) and created a database.  She and Philippe made a noble effort to scan the head using the Mensi, but the statue fragment is resting in a deep narrow shaft.  They could not get the piece in frame without tipping the scanner too far and losing it. 

January 12, 2003—Le scanner est tombe! Le scanner est mort!  (The scanner fell. The scanner is dead.)  A solemn day to say the least.  One group was working in the tomb, the other was working at the temple.  The group at the temple had an accident with the Mensi long range scanner.  The center of gravity was just a hair off, and the scanner, on its tripod, fell onto the limestone of the Ramesseum's first pylon.  Luckily no one was hurt.  Kevin, as the director, was very diplomatic about the unfortunate incident and recognized it as one of those things that happens when working in the field.

The day was also full of great gifts, though.  Jenea, Tom, Brett, Todd and Jerry were awed with the grandeur of Hatshepsut’s temple.  Back in the Valley of the Kings, Kevin, Russ and Casondra wrapped up scanning work an hour early in order to do some comparative research in the tombs of Queen Tausert and Seti II.

To reiterate, however, the best part about working in Egypt is the relationships we develop.  Our friend Ali, who works for Dr. Leblanc, watches out for us and always helps us with logistical issues like airport transportation and confirming flights.  He invited us to his house for tea and scrumptious desserts prepared by his wife.  They recently had a fourth baby girl and they wanted to share her gurgling smiles with us.  We also met his other three beautiful daughters, ages 4, 9 and 11, for the first time.  They all fell in love with Jerry who entertained them with his digital camera.   They were mesmerized by its ability to produce instant images of the family. 

After the visit, Brett and Jenea went shopping in the souk and Casondra went to the hotel to book more hotel rooms and transportation in Cairo.  While there she got “trapped” (as if she doesn’t love it) in a lot of political debates from all corners of the hotel.  Israel moved into the Gaza Strip today and Bush is mobilizing more troops to the Persian Gulf.  Everyone has questions about America’s stance on Palestine and of course on the impending war with Iraq.  They tell Casondra that she must do something.  Casondra assures them that many Americans are trying to understand the Israel/Palestine conflict better.  As an example she points out that over 800 people attended a recent lecture at Berkeley delivered by Palestinian human rights activist Hanan Ashrawi.  She also cites the scale of recent peace protests in San Francisco and in Washington, D.C..  The Egyptians in the room emphasize that Americans think that Arabs hate them, but this is not at all true; they hate our country’s current politics, not our people.  They fear for the Arab world because of America’s recent actions and because of the likelihood of war in the near future.

January 13, 2003—Today was comparatively mellow.  Casondra and Philippe spent the morning documenting more jackal fragments.  They took a side trip down the road from the Ramesseum to the temple of Merneptah to see more complete jackals that have been restored.  Stylistically they are quite different, and not nearly so graceful and serene, as Dr. Nelson’s find!  It is helpful, though, to get a sense of scale and proportion.

Otherwise, most of us were in a “typical” groove.  Everyone else was either scanning in the tomb or filming at the Ramesseum.  After lunch Casondra continued registering Minolta scan data, and Todd continued animating in Maya.  Philippe worked on epigraphic drawings at the Ramesseum, and Kevin met with the German Mission because they are interested in incorporating 3-D data into their archaeological work. 

January 15, 2003—Tom left for Amsterdam early this morning.  Todd and Jerry toured the temple of Ramses III, commonly known as Medinet Habu.  This temple is unique for a couple of reasons.  First, by this time in history, people were aggravated by successors effacing their monuments.  So Rameses III executed a solution; he carved the decoration of his temple so deep (about 3-4 inches) that no one could possibly scrub it out.  Second, this temple incorporates the styles of the people Ramses III conquered during his reign.  Where Nubian conquests are described, Nubian styles are co-opted.  Where Assyrian conquests are depicted, Assyrian styles are appropriated.  Thus the temple takes on a fascinating composite visual program.

January 16, 2003—Today is our last day in Luxor!  Todd left before dawn for Frankfurt.  Ralph, Jerry and Brett captured the last of their sunrise shots at the Ramesseum.  Mother Nature cooperated generously.  Casondra, Kevin, Russ and Jenea finished scanning in the tomb, and they filled in any holes (missed shots) found in registering the data over the course of the past several days.  Luckily, everyone did a tight job, so there were but a few holes to recapture.  Mostly they came from instances when power went out during downloading or saving.  Kevin and Jenea scanned some reference scenes of the Amduat (a chapter in the Book of the Dead) in the tomb of Merneptah.

The lead foreman at the Ramessuem invited us to his house for tea.  He wanted us to meet his family.  We shared time and warmth with his wife, his sister, and several of his children, who were in their teens.  We got a tour through the family photo album, which included visits to the Ramesseum by many archaeologists from America and Europe.  We apparently hold an elite status, however, as no one else seems to have been invited to the house!

We had dinner as a group at Malgatta (the French Mission house).  The cooks prepared a big send off meal for us.  Dr. Nelson brought a special dessert and champagne from town.  Brett, Jenea and Jerry also brought Middle Eastern pastries from the best bakery in Luxor called Twinkie.  We stopped by our hotel in Habu to say our good-byes and exchange hugs and double kisses (one on each cheek, as is the Arabic custom) with our local friends.  We headed for Luxor airport in two station wagons loaded with equipment.  We caught our flight to Cairo at midnight.

January 17, 2003—We had one day in Cairo, and we certainly made the most of it.  We spent the afternoon at the Cairo Museum.  The place is full of treasures, but those from the tomb of Tutankhamun are beyond verbal description.  Solid gold blazes in the form of jewelry and the pharaoh’s death mask.  His throne, his adornments, his weapons—all are inlaid with precision and detail that is beyond comprehension considering that these were all made by exacting hands and not by machines.

January 19, 2003—Back home!  After a transatlantic flight we landed in the Big Apple, Casondra’s favorite city in the grand old U.S. of A..  We had to do some coaxing to get her on the connecting flight with us to go back to California.  “Where but New York do people have the spirit to disco dance with me at the airport coffee shop?”

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