Live data from Hacker News

Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

my.matterport.com

71–80 of 95 posts

Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

#71
Beautiful and fascinating site.

The artifacts of the capture and rendering process strike me as deeply weird - they do funny things to my brain as I navigate around. I've done some photogrammetry so I understand why they exist - they have chosen to never show the holes in the mesh - but I've never seen exactly this aesthetic effect. Maybe someone could use this as a video effect like Radiohead did for lidar point clouds a tech generation ago.

https://youtu.be/8nTFjVm9sTQ (2008)

Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

#72
post #48

There 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.

As someone who has a decent grasp of Middle Egyptian hieroglyphs, I think your enthusiasm for these texts would be destroyed by reading them. I know from experience that the quickest way to bore someone I'm guiding through an Egyptian exhibit is to start reading and translating inscriptions. The context for much of what is written is more impenetrable than the language itself. You pick up a lot of that context by nec…

So all those headless guys with their arms tied to the back all around the caskets are some kind of boring groceries list?

Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

#74
post #6

That's just bonkers. So much writing on the walls! I wish the navigation was a little more like a FPS and less like Myst III, but I had to keep reminding myself: this isn't some level designer from 2000's, this is an actual tomb designer vision from 5000 years ago. Just bizarre. I wonder what it would look like illuminated by torchlight.

The gamer in me is a little disappointed by the real thing. I'm imagining Lara Croft walking down this corridor, and then, turning around and walking right back out.

I had the same feeling. I’d heard all kinds of stories about dangerous trapped tombs, but it turns out it’s just a long underground walk.

Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

#75
I wonder if the motif of the eagle with its wings spread originated from around this time. In case you miss it, look up at the doorways to the levels; truly beautiful work there and very well preserved (probably due to it being out of normal reach).

Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

#76
post #51

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 ha…

[deleted]

Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

#77
post #51

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 ha…

  I met a traveler from an antique land,
  Who said — “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
  Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
  Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
  And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
  Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
  Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
  The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
  And on the pedestal, these words appear:
  'My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
  Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!'
  Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
  Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
  The lone and level sands stretch far away.”

Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

#78
post #72
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has a decent grasp of Middle Egyptian hieroglyphs, I think your enthusiasm for these texts would be destroyed by reading them. I know from experience that the quickest way to bore someone I'm guiding through an Egyptian exhibit is to start reading and translating inscriptions. The context for much of what is written is more impenetrable than the language itself. You pick up a lot of that context by nec…

So all those headless guys with their arms tied to the back all around the caskets are some kind of boring groceries list?

Powerful rulers subdue their enemies. It's a common formula seen over and over in various royal tombs and elsewhere. Sometimes, like in the case of the Libyans in some periods, the enemies the king claims domination over haven't been seen or heard from in generations. These kinds of inscriptions can tell us interesting things about foreign relations sometimes, but it's not the type of thing that's easy to extract.

As karatestomp states, there are far more interesting texts out there. The Story of Sinuhe says more about the milieu it was written in than most monumental or funerary inscriptions. It also happens to be one of the world's earliest surviving literary masterpieces. The Story of Wenamun argues against the common notion that the ancient Egyptians didn't have a sense of humor.

Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

#79
post #51

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 ha…

I met a traveler from an antique land, Who said — “Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things, The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed; And on the pedestal, these words app…

Ozymandias! My favorite poem.

Re: Pharaoh Ramesses VI Tomb

#80
This is awesome.

I would like an option to toggle 'How it looked like when it was constructed' which shows rendered image of the historical architecture in its pristine condition[1]. Like, Pyramid's white limestone finish.

[1]https://needgap.com/problems/55-how-ancient-architectures-lo...

Post reply on HN