Design Notebook Entries

• September 5th, 2001
• September 10th, 2001
• September 12th, 2001
• September 16th, 2001
• September 25th, 2001
• October 1st, 2001
• October 9th, 2001
• October 15th, 2001
• October 23rd, 2001
• October 30th, 2001
• November 6th, 2001
• November 15th, 2001
• November 24th, 2001
• November 28th, 2001
• December 3rd, 2001
• December 11th, 2001

The purpose of this notebook is simply to chronicle the thought processes and rationales that go into the choices that I make while reconstructing the temple complex.

September 5th, 2001

I begin this project knowing little to nothing about Egyptian architecture and art with only cursory knowledge of Egyptian religious concepts and beliefs. The first assignment was to produce two very rough sketches of the front and side elevations of the temple. These can be viewed here. I chose to sketch only the sanctuary now, but in time, the entire temple complex must be modeled, including the Gem-Pa-Aten structure that dominates the western half of the site. To produce the sketches, I utilised both the floorplan from the earlier excavation reports and the reconstruction drawing by B. Kemp in the 1986 excavation report. Because my research is in the initial stages, I can only guess that the latter report is based on newer and more accurate methods of archaeology, but this may or not prove true in the end. In my own reconstruction, I will of course fully evaluate each report's description of the temple complex. For the time being, however, I will base my sketches mainly on the latter publication. top^

September 10th, 2001

I've read the photocopies that I made on Thursday from three different texts concerning specifically the Great Aten Temple. The first I read was taken from Tell El Amarna by Sir W.M. Flinders Petrie, published by Aris & Phillips Ltd., Warminster, WILTS, England, 1894. This is the archaeological report written by Petrie. It seems to be sort of an armchair style report, with little attention given to possible reconstructions. Detail too is lacking in this report, but it does provide descriptions of the buildings, sculpture and artefacts as they found them. These details will be no doubt invaluable in the decoration of my models, adding realism and detail. The second excerpt read was taken from Amarna Reports IV by Barry J. Kemp of The Egypt Exploration Society, published in London, 1987. This report on the 1986 survey of Amarna builds on Petrie's and Carter's excavation as well as Pendlebury's in 1934. The text neglects to provide much artistic information, but instead is a wealth of knowledge for the architectural reconstruction that I must complete by December. Building materials are mentioned, and aerial photos are provided. Finally, Kemp attempts a possible reconstruction of the Sanctuary and mentions where he was forced to make choices due to lack of evidence. No doubt I will use his reconstruction as the basis for my own, but it will be most interesting to see where I will make changes and why. The last text I read was the relevant portions of A Survey of the Ancient City of El-'Amarna, by Barry J. Kemp and Salvatore Garfi, published by the Egypt Exploration Society, London, 1993. Here the religious functions of the temple are brought into light, utilising the architectural schema as well as religious artefacts such as the ubiquitous ushabtis found all over the site. Finally, this text brings together the entire complex, acknowledging that it indeed functioned as a whole, not unlike a city within a city, complete with butchers and bakeries. Top^

This journal entry is dedicated to those who perished in yesterday's terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington D.C. Let us mourn the dead and bring those who are responsible to swift justice.

I've run into significant problems trying to import the underlay into the form-z program. However, I am ready with the scans of both the Sanctuary and the Gem-Pa-Aten at this point. I have decided to create the models of both these structures in detail at this point. The entire temple complex is close to a kilometer long and over 300 metres wide. To model in detail the entire complex would, in my opinion, be simply to large an endeavour for this course. However, a model with less detail is certainly possible; this would provide the viewer with an overview of the complex who could then select an area to investigate. The detailed models will be the Sanctuary, the Gem-Pa-Aten and possibly the North Entrance Pavilion. The final goal will be to create a presentation where the site is portrayed as a synthetic, functioning whole. Though the viewer will be able to zoom in and dissect certain areas, these must be treated as part of this temple complex. Top^

September 16th, 2001

I have successfully completed my rough model for the sanctuary of the Great Aten Temple complex. I received a bit of help from Jeff Bull who aided me on the ramped surfaces. At his point, the fear barrier of the form-z modeling program has been overcome for the most part and I am a bit more comfortable with the program and familiar with some of its capabilities. There is much to relate, so let us delve into my rationales and decision making processes in the building of this model. (To see a snapshot of the model at this point click here.) First, the ground plan that I found was taken from the old Petrie excavation reports. I imported that into form-z as an underlay and began to build onto it. However, I also had an artist's rendition of what the sanctuary may have looked like from the much newer 1987 report by Barry Kemp. At this stage in the project, I made a somewhat arbitrary decision to follow the newer plan for the most part; fine-tuning the model with evidence that I shall uncover will come later. The scale I used was written on the side of the older floorplan and I transferred it to form-z as 1/32"=1'. Admittedly, many of the other measurements, such as the height of the columns, etc., were eyeballed from the 1987 rendition. The heights of the structures as taken from the ground level are as follows: the outer platform=4', the column porch=8', each step is 6", the inner platform is 10', each altar is 3'6" high, the flag poles are 30', the height of the upper walls are 16', the entry door masses are 27' high, the smaller chapel doors are 19', and columns with two 6" bases are 22' high. All of these measurements are eyeballed for the time being. The colors are arbitrary; the wooden doors and the outer stone ramps are rendered with texture maps to show my competence with those tools. The next three tasks at least are clear. One, the discrepancies between the excavation floorplans must be resolved. Second, more accurate scaling needs to be done. Third, the model must be rendered with artwork and texture maps. I have so far put in about 8 hours in the computer lab and feel I have much to show for it. Work is going faster and easier, but by no means fast and easy! I am very much looking forward to the final product. Top^

September 25th, 2001

Not much to say for this entry, only that I am continuing to work on the model and experiment with texture mapping. I spent a night in the computer lab with Richard trying to project the hieratic graffiti onto the wall with a light source! It didn't work too well- back to the drawing board again. Top^

October 1st, 2001

For tomorrow, we are to have an example of an image appropriately textured onto part of our structure. In my case, I have chosen some hieratic graffiti for one of the rear altars and a carved block for decoration on one of the outer altars. Each was decaled onto the altar itself, but in the case of the graffiti, an alpha channel was created in Photoshop for purposes of transparency. As for the accuracy of the depictions, that is another matter. The graffiti(taken from Pendlebury's imagery) may have been scribbled onto the altar after the death of Akhenaten or even perhaps by a former priest of Amun, secretly hanging onto the old religion while pretending to be a faithful follower of the Aten. The stone block is also Amarnan in origin and may have been used on the talatat blocks that made up the sanctuary itself. The altars were presumably decorated in painted reliefs, so it seems imperative to show at least one in such a state. Top^

October 9th, 2001

The assignment for today consisted of creating annotated views which can be seen here. I created four views, each with questions, decisions so far, and the functions of each area shown. I am not going to repeat the conclusions I reached on that page, but it should be mentioned that each area that was focused on presented unique challenges in the reconstruction process. The next stage is to render the rear enclosure area and the wall surrounding the sanctuary. At this point, I have written off attempting to reconstruct the Northern Entryway or the Gem-Pa-Aten due to lack of time. I would rather do a good job on what I have in front of me than a poor job on additional projects. Top^

October 15th, 2001

The first draft of the project is due tomorrow. I have far to go at this point. Lynn has offered me a chance to publish this model and website in a online journal of sorts. I have agreed to attempt to bring my project up to snuff by the Nov. 29 deadline. It will not be easy. My website is practically in shambles and my model is adequate but not acceptable to me. It seems that with unlimited time and energy I could create a masterpiece, but I must learn to accept that this is an impossibility. Looking at how much time and effort has already gone into this project I am amazed at how little there is to show for it. So much of this course has been a learning process of entirely new skills. I have to say that in terms of pure workload, this is the most challenging class I have ever and most likely will ever take. With luck though, these learned skills will pay off in future projects. Top^

October 23rd, 2001

Rollover Gif animations were the name of the game today in class. I have never previously created a rollover so this was an entirely new experience for myself. The concept is incredibly simple: find an image of your model in ruins and render a view that mimics the vantage point of that picture. Next, use Dreamweaver to create a 'rollover effect', so when one places the cursor over the image of the ruins, the reconstruction pops up, an effect not dissimilar to those Greece and Rome architecture books with the plastic film with a reconstruction on it fitting over the portions of the ruins that are now lost. In any case, the two views chosen were an aerial view taken during the Pendlebury excavations and one of the remains of the rear ramp taken during the Kemp excavation. I tried to align the pictures as close as possible, and the finished products can be seen here and here. Finally, I added the surrounding walls of the sanctuary and the rear enclosure area. Both present problems brought up in the discussion section and the four annotated views from October 9th. Top^

October 30th, 2001

In class we made two flythrough animations of our models. The process is not an easy one, forcing me to take care with the placement of the keyframes as they affect the perception of movement through the structure. The flythroughs can be seen here and here. As one can easily see, they are crude and far too fast. I plan on producing two more, one entering the sanctuary via the ramps and main entrance, much like the main procession would have done and one showing how the pharaoh may have utilised the rear of the structure. A voice-over would also be of some use here for explanatory purposes. Otherwise, the casual observer would have no idea what they were seeing and why. Top^

November 6th, 2001

The assignment for class today was to create panoramic views of the model. In the computer classroom we produced a single panoramic view of the model. I have added five additional views to it and placed them on an image map similar to that for the static views. The six views I have chosen each have some significance to them, meaning that each panorama serves a purpose that couldn't be achieved as fully with a static image. Starting from the rear of the sanctuary, the first panorama is taken from the vantage point of the eye-level of one standing on the square platform. This, of course, is what the pharaoh may have seen if the theory concerning his presence in that area is correct. All along the extending walls and along the rear wall of the inner sanctuary were musicians, performers and religious attendants, according to the aforementioned theory. The next QTVR is situated at the eye-level of one who is standing more or less in the center of the inner sanctuary, a privileged spot most likely reserved for the priests of the Aten cult. Further to the south is a view showing what the view may have been from the portico of the sanctuary, clearly showing the royal statues and intricate columns. Next there is a panorama depicting what one may have seen on the upper ramp leading into the inner sanctuary. Finally, a object QTVR was rendered of the entire site, allowing one to manipulate the model from different angles in real-time. Top^

November 15th, 2001

This past week has seen me busy with my website which has been neglected as of late. Numerous additions have been made, in terms of both content and aesthetics. I have finalized the Egyptian nav-bar which resides on the bottom of every main branch page. The 'back' button will now properly bring you back a page instead of going back home. My goal is to make the interface as easy as possible while allowing those with modems a chance to visit my site. Also, it seems that the information I have assembled here is haphazardly presented- this will be remedied soon. Top^

November 24th, 2001

I have been very busy with my other classes and have not touched my model since November 8th. However, I have done some research and made additions to my website. Specifically I am looking for statues to replace some of the ones I have already placed on the portico. As shown in the ancient depictions of the sanctuary, there were four statues of the pharaoh, two with the white crown of upper Egypt and two with the red crown of lower Egypt. So far I have been unsuccessful in obtaining such images as they must be completely frontal for them to work properly. In terms of the website I have followed up on last weeks progress with further interface refinements. All pages should be properly linked and navigable. Finally, I feel I must create a 'virtual tour' option to better control the information that the viewer sees as well as sequence and interactivity of the text and images. This will hopefully be completed by the Friday deadline. Top^

November 28th, 2001

Today I completed the 'new and improved columns' for the portico. This was long on my list of things to spruce up and I've finally gotten around to it. Previously I had constructed a palmiform type column that resembled palm fronds lashed to a pole. However, upon further research it became clear that that type was not often utilized in the 18th dynasty. Thus, I have constructed a new type in the papyriform style. The most popular type during the time of Akhenaten was the multi-stemmed variety leading to a tapered capital. I attempted to decorate it using similar examples as a guideline, specifically the 'birth room' of Amenhophis III at Luxor, the Small-Aten Temple at Amarna and the hypostyle hall colonnade at Luxor, built by Tutankhamun. I selected examples just prior to, concurrent to and following the building of the sanctuary of the Great-Aten Temple at Amarna in a way to triangulate a probable column type. To see a few screenshots of the changes made on November 28th click on this link. Top^

December 3, 2001

I present tomorrow in class after being bumped last week. The additions I have made at this point are as follows: the draft night and day renderings are finished and a star map was created of Caironian stars using the program 'Starry Night'; one of the new and improved flythroughs is complete and the other is still chugging along; the six snapshots used in the poster have been replaced with more recent examples and it is now complete(though I may replace one with a nighttime shot before printing); the acknowledgments page is complete; the design notebook has been significantly updated; and the Discovery Channel page is now up. Unfortunately, the virtual tour has not been finished, due to my lack of superhuman strength and stamina. The presentation really could have used it, but c'est la vie! I'll have to wing it...Addendum- with extreme frustration, I am sorry to say that four of the renderings for the poster need to be redone, representing eight hours of lost time. This is a prime example of the need for Hal 9000, without the madness, of course. Top^

December 11th, 2001

       I have been working for days on end on this project and feel like I shall never finish. I've been finishing up the odds and ends of the project and have now turned my attention to finish this damn website. I even tried my hand at Perl, with little success. I won't give up, though. To anyone (except Lynn) who finds a typo or flaw or inconsistency in my presentation: please, be my guest and try to do any better under the circumstances! I knew I would have to go 'above and beyond' the work of the other students, but I never expected this. I must say that I've been blown away by the undergrads of the class. Though many of my website ideas were appropriated by others, many aspects were improved upon and were more thought out. I am clearly not a web designer and never will be. I can critique a site, but I simply lack the artistic and human interface talents necessary for a coherent and easily navigable website. The extent to which this project has taken its toll upon me may never be fully known to anyone. My regrets are that I do not have the superhuman stamina to bring this project to its proper conclusion. Given more time, I would have improved the website, tweaked the model and furthered my research. I must say that I am quite pleased with the model and multimedia, but I'd better be after five days of rendering for Flythrough #3, not to mention post-production time. More alternate reconstructions would have been nice, especially in the case of the ramps. A separate section on the history of Egyptian religion and on the priests would also be most appropriate in my project. Alas, I am but a mere mortal, one that has other work and a somewhat ravaged life. I found this project incredibly difficult to bring to a conclusion, always wanting to improve certain areas.

      However, though it is 5:40 AM and I have reason to complain, what I have learned from this project has been incalculable. Though not perfect, this website and model may represent some of the most solid work I have ever done. In the areas of the ramps and rear enclosure, I feel that I have added to the scholarship on these features. If only I knew in September what I know now...

      On a final note, I cannot wait to get to home for Christmas and to England for New Year's and to see Sarah. I dedicate this project to her and to the victims of the Sept. 11th tragedy. Let us hope that through learning about our past we may learn from our mistakes and create a better future.

 

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