How Harvard Professors are Restoring History

During the writing of our recent feature story on the use of 3D technology in restoring history we spoke to staff at the Harvard Semitic Museum. We received such a large amount of great information about the museum that we unfortunately could not include all of it in our original feature story. The information was so interesting and offered such an insight into an iconic museum however, so we decided to publish the interview as a stand-alone piece.

We spoke with Professor Peter Der Manuelian, Faculty Director, Dr. Joseph A. Greene, Deputy Director and Curator, and Dr. Adam Aja, Assistant Curator of Collection. The following answers are a collation of these three persons’ responses.

3DN: How have you as archaeologists, historians and curators as well as the museum itself, benefited from 3D technologies?

Modern digital 3-D visualization make possible the full-scale virtual reconstruction of ancient architectural and archaeological remains which survive today only as damaged or partially preserved ruins. Using digital animation, adding color and lighting effects, it is possible to show how these sites and monuments changed through time, from their original construction and ancient use to their eventual abandonment and destruction.