Seeing it like this kills all mystic notions I had regarding these tombs. And I don't mean this in a negative way, it sort of opens your eyes to what this thing actually is - a conglomeration, made by many artists and engineers, pouring their hearts and souls into building something to last a millennia. Truly beautiful.
That is until you remember it was all in service of some rich guy who thought he was a god, and had them build this as a monument to his supposed might. Ironically, his existence was entirely inconsequential, and merely provided an excuse for the true geniuses of the time to tunnel their talents into a magnum opus. They, together, were the true gods.
Only true ideals transcend time, and any individual thinking himself a god would be wise to acknowledge that; you can become a god only if you let youself die and embody an ideal fully.
Ramesses missed the point so hard it's hilarious.
Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb
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#52There are lots and lots of hieroglyph written on these walls. I'm assuming that the researchers have deciphered what those means (Rosetta Stone)? I really wish I could read what these means in English. That would really give a great insights about what people (maybe the pharaohs and/or rich people who can afford to build tombs like that) during that time thought was important/noteworthy.
> I really wish I could read what these means in English. You can buy them on Amazon. Search for "pyramid texts", "book of the dead", etc.
Lichtheim edited a 3-volume "Ancient Egyptian Literature" which contains a lot of funerary inscriptions. I'd second wl's post above: if you don't have tolerance for really dull writing, avoid.
Almost all of that "genre" is of the "seen one, seem them all" variety. Most of it's very formulaic—think nicene creed or traditional church hymns, but less interesting. There were a bunch of standard texts that were reproduced on many tombs, and as time went on this body of necessary texts grew, so that's very likely what a lot of this is. Sometimes you'd get some passages of history but those are usually about as dry as the tombs themselves. More often those are on monuments, not buried in tombs, anyway.
"Mirrors for princes" (instruction texts for rulers, often both moral and practical in nature), scribal training texts (yes, really), and their few actual stories that survive, are all way more interesting than the stuff inscribed in tombs, in general. A lot of those don't survive in hieroglyphs, though, but in hieratic or demotic script.
Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb
#53Stupid question but a serious one on my end : I would pay to get an actual guide to go through this and teach me, just like I did on travel. Would you? It seems like between the environment, Covid and the geopolitical situations in many places it could be a way to still feel like I can enjoy some of the priceless pieces the humans have created.
National Geographic has a VR app that does something similar: https://venturebeat.com/2019/11/10/machu-picchu-is-coming-to...
Also Anne Frank's House, recreated in 3d with some documentary: https://www.oculus.com/experiences/go/1596151970428159/?loca...
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#54Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb
#55Was impressed, until I got to the very end, were you see multiple depictions of people being beheaded. (With blood fountains from their neck.) You then remember that pharaohs were not gentle people.
Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb
#56Seeing it like this kills all mystic notions I had regarding these tombs. And I don't mean this in a negative way, it sort of opens your eyes to what this thing actually is - a conglomeration, made by many artists and engineers, pouring their hearts and souls into building something to last a millennia. Truly beautiful. That is until you remember it was all in service of some rich guy who thought he was a god, and ha…
I'm not an expert in any way, but aren't you jumping to conclusions (or rather, we, collectively) about what the builders were like, what their worldview was, etc? We don't even know when the pyramids were built, or how. There's a lot of writtings and drawings and other archaelogical treasures left behind; but still, are we at a point where we can say we understand the building, builders and their world? Maybe it's just the inner child in me that wants these things to remain a mystery forever...
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#57Wow! This is by far the best thing I've seen this year. Excellent work! Thank you
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#58Ha, it's awesome how much further we have gotten from the times of Quicktime VR! So much of details and clarity.
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#59Incredible :-). Though I can't help but feel those wooden light-boxes take away from the grandness of it. They look like something hammered together by a weekend hobbyist.
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#60I love digital explorations like this, but the step length of these google maps style walkthroughs drive me insane. I often want to look at the detail of something that happens to be in between two steps, and it's just not possible.