BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

3-D Printing the Ancient World

Bible and archaeology news

Researchers at Harvard University’s Semitic Museum are using new photomodeling technology to construct undamaged re-creations of Mesopotamian artifacts damaged over the millennia. Researchers Joseph Greene and Adam Aja have revived a second millennium B.C.E. ceramic lion broken in the Assyrian invasion of the ancient city of Nuzi 3,000 years ago. After photographing the broken sherds from hundreds of angles, creating 3-D models and comparing it to complete statuary from Nuzi, the Harvard team was able to print an intact 3-D replica of the original statue, which will be put on display in an upcoming exhibit at the Semitic Museum. 3-D printing has been used in the past to recreate cuneiform tablets and Roman tools, and the Semitic Museum researchers are enthusiastic about the future of the project. Joseph Greene told Wired that the burgeoning new technology “can be used not only for objects, but also for standing monuments.”
 

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Interested in the latest archaeological technology? Researchers Thomas E. Levy, Neil G. Smith, Mohammad Najjar, Thomas A. DeFanti, Albert Yu-Min Lin and Falko Kuester at the University of California, San Diego’s Calit2 laboratory recently released the FREE Biblical Archaeology Society eBook “Cyber-Archaeology in the Holy Land — The Future of the Past,” featuring the latest research on GPS, Light Detection and Ranging Laser Scanning, unmanned aerial drones, 3D artifact scans, CAVE visualization environments and much more.

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