Unfinished Pyramid

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Description

Type of resource three dimensional object

Creators/Contributors

Creator Sullivan, Elaine A.

Bibliographic information

Contained on project page
Title
Model Metadata: Dynasties 12-13
ORIGINAL OWNER OR SPONSOR OF STRUCTURE (Owner/Builder)
Title
Unknown (the 'Unfinished Pyramid')
TYPE OF MONUMENT (Type)
Title
Pyramid
TEMPORAL PERIOD OF ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION (First Period)
Title
Middle Kingdom
DYNASTY OF ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION (First Dynasty)
Title
Dynasty 13
ROYAL REIGN OF ORIGINAL CONSTRUCTION (First King)
Title
Unknown
SITE
Title
South Saqqara
MODERN SCHOLAR/EXPLORER FIRST DOCUMENTING STRUCTURE (Discoverer)
Title
Jéquier
YEAR OF REDISCOVERY IN MODERN TIMES (Years)
Title
1929.0
TYPE OF STRUCTURE (3D Model Type)
Title
Custom model
DATE OF MODEL CONSTRUCTION OR UPDATE (3D Model Date)
Title
2015.0
NAME OF 3D MODELER
Title
Elaine Sullivan
SOFTWARE USED FOR MODEL BUILD
Title
SketchUp Pro
COPYRIGHT (Copyright)
Title
UC Regents, 3D Saqqara Project
SOURCES/REFERENCES FOR 2D BASE DATA (Citation)
Title
Polygon created for the 3D Saqqara Project, 2013
COMMENTS ON 2D DATA (Annotation)
Title
Polygon sized based on dimensions in Lehner (1997: 187)
BASEMAPS/IMAGERY UTILIZED FOR GEO-REFERENCING 2D BASE DATA (Maps Used)
Title
Geo-referenced on MHR Le Caire map H24 combined with Microsoft Streets basemap
DESCRIPTION – ORIGINAL HEIGHT OF STRUCTURE IN METERS (Height Original(m))
Title
Unfinished (uncertain preserved height)
DESCRIPTION – ORIGINAL LENGTH OF STRUCTURE IN METERS (Length Original(m))
Title
78.75
DESCRIPTION – ORIGINAL WIDTH OF STRUCTURE IN METERS (Width Original(m))
Title
78.75
SOURCES/REFERENCE USED AS BASIS FOR 3D MODEL CONSTRUCTION (3D Data Source)
Title
Mark Lehner, The Complete Pyramids (London: Thames and Hudson, 1997; Gustave Jéquier, Deux Pyramides du Moyen Empire, Fouilles à Saqqarah (Cairo: Institut français d’archéologie orientale du Caire, 1933)
DESCRIPTION – ORIGINAL ENCLOSURE WALL DIMENSIONS
Title
The wavy enclosure wall measured 123.5m each side, with a height of 2m (Jéquier 1933: 55-56)
DESCRIPTION – ORIGINAL EXTERIOR MATERIAL (3D Texture)
Title
Mud-brickBricks on the superstructure averaged 42x22x12cm (Jéquier 1933: 60) and this size was approximated for model texturing
UNCERTAINTY LEVEL FOR 3D MODEL CONSTRUCTION
Title
3.0
Elevation - placement in model ASL
Title
49.0
Discussion of virtual reconstruction and interpretative choices
Title
The base dimensions of the structure cited in Lehner (1997: 187) were used for the model reconstruction; Jéquier 's plan (1933: pl. XIII) shows the core of the pyramid in mud-brick (~78m per side) and a sinusoidal (wavy) mud brick wall (~1m thick) appears to have surrounded the entire precinct on four sides; Lehner suggested that there was “no evidence of cult buildings” at the precinct and called the remains a “substructure” (1997: 187)Jéquier 's ground plan does not match exactly the sizes for the structures stated in his text, so the model reconstructions followed the stated dimensions, and not the planThe model includes a highly schematic representation of the wavy enclosure, not exactly following the ground plan, as such an irregular feature was difficult to model, and areas where the wall was uncertain have been modeled in (in partial transparency in the downloadable models to highlight the difference between areas documented archaeologically and those merely suggested by plan XIII); a photo from the excavation (Jéquier 1933: pl. XIV) showed the base of the pyramid as a series of decaying mud bricks (surrounded by a revetment trench lined with stone that was cut about 2m into the ground, not included in the model), this image was utilized to approximate the general appearance of the unfinished superstructure; as the height of the unfinished superstructure is not specified, the model raises it up 3m above ground level, but this is completely hypothetical and just elevates the ruin slightly above the enclosure wall
Part of publication
Title
Sullivan, Elaine A. Constructing the Sacred: Visibility and Ritual Landscape at the Egyptian Necropolis at Saqqara, Redwood City: Stanford University Press 2020, http://doi.org/10.21627/2020cts
Location https://purl.stanford.edu/kj088cq8114

Access conditions

Use and reproduction
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons license. The material is made available for non-commercial, research purposes. Any third party material may need to be permissioned separately for reuse.
Copyright
Stanford University, 2019.
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND).

Collection

Constructing the Sacred Archive

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