Using Computer-Aided Restitution of Hieroglyphic Inscriptions
as a Means to Reconstruct Ancient Egyptian Temples.
Main author:
Nathalie Charbonneau
Ph.D. candidate
School of Architecture
University of Montreal
2940, chemin de la Côte-Ste-Catherine
Montréal (Québec) H3T 1B9
Tel : (514) 343-6007
Fax: (514) 343-2455
[email protected]
Co-author:
Prof. Jean Revez
Department of History
University of Quebec in Montreal
Case postale 8888, succursale Centre-ville
Montréal (Québec)
Canada H3C 3P8
Tel: 514-987-4154
Fax: 514-987-7813
[email protected]
Using Computer-Aided Restitution of Hieroglyphic Inscriptions
as a Means to Reconstruct Ancient Egyptian Temples.
Abstract
Ancient Egypt's impressive stone architectural heritage is testimony to the will of an ancient
people to use the most precious and durable material to build sacred monuments. Although the site
erected in honour of the god Amen-Ra in Karnak is probably the biggest monumental pharaonic complex
ever built and is one of the country's greatest touristic attractions, many of its buildings have yet to be
reconstructed. On the one hand, some ten of thousand of individual blocks lay strewn about the whole
site. These blocks were originally part of architectural structures that have long since been dismantled,
most often than not by the pharaohs themselves. On the other hand, pollution and the ravages of time
have done a lot of damage to the buildings, especially to the decoration and texts engraved on the temple
walls.
The main purpose of this paper is to propose an original way of assisting archaeologists and
epigraphists in restoring by computer means damaged or missing parts of ancient monuments, based on
the sequence of some standardized hieroglyphic inscriptions often carved on Egyptian temple walls. We
have chosen to use the computer language Scheme in order to interpret and restore the sequence of
hieroglyphic signs that make up the texts adorning one monument, the seventh pylon at Karnak, that will
serve as our case study.
Keywords: Digital methods in archaeology - Heritage reconstruction - Ancient Egypt - Hieroglyphs Scheme.
1. Re-building Egyptian temples.
No ancient culture, whether Near Eastern or Classical, has built so huge and spectacular
monuments as the Ancient Egyptians. As significant in its time as the famous pyramids built at an earlier
period on the Giza plateau near modern Cairo, the temple of Karnak (just north of present-day Luxor)
stands out as one of the most important and complex religious sites in Egypt.
Measuring close to 1 km in length and 0.8 km in width, the cult center devoted to the god AmenRa was inaugurated under the Middle Kingdom pharaohs around 2000 B.C. and was still operating more
than two millennia later, when Roman emperors added constructions of their own.
It thus comes to no surprise that uninterrupted building activity over such a great span of time
has made it very challenging for Egyptologists to distinguish between countless architectural phases of
expansion. This task becomes even more daunting when one bears in mind that lack of space in the
Karnak precinct compelled many a pharaoh to take apart older buildings in order to make room for new
ones. Remnants of these dismantled buildings are to be found inside the foundations or inner structures of
constructions still in place. Ten of thousands of stone blocks, if not more, together with innumerable
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fragments belonging to former architectural features that no longer exist, lay strewn about the whole site
of Karnak (figure 1).
Figure 1. Scattered blocks (photographed by J. Revez).
One of the chief goals of the permanent French-Egyptian scientific mission based in Karnak is
not only to safeguard the site, but also to see to it that the buildings are restored to their original glory. A
very successful strategy has been implemented in order to search for loose blocks across the whole sacred
area and then to put them back together. The so-called «Open-air museum», which is located in the northwestern corner of the site, is full of shrines and courtyards that had been taken apart during pharaonic
times, but have since then been partially or in some cases entirely reassembled. The archaeological
reassembly of ruined monuments from fallen or decayed fragments (incorporating new materials when
necessary) is known as anastylosis.
2. Dividing up anastylosis into three main categories: architecture, iconography and philology.
This sort of feat was made possible only through minute examination of the blocks and
fragments that made up the monument to be rebuilt. The people at the French-Egyptian Center in Karnak,
as it is still the case with many other scientific teams, have performed this great deed in large part without
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the help of computers. We believe that it would be advantageous to resort to computer-aided modelling in
order to help the search for blocks so as to put them back together in virtual space. On account of the
computer’s sorting and generating capacity, it would be possible to suggest to archaeologists different
ways of positioning the blocks (for a summary on various computer projects dealing with Karnak, see
Revez & al., 2007).
In recent years, our team within the CAD Research Group (GRCAO)1 has sought to initiate and
propose novel methods of computer-aided architectural reconstitution in the field of cultural heritage.
This paper reports on an ongoing research project that seeks to evaluate empirically to what extent it
would be feasible to develop a software program enabling the reconstitution of selected parts of the
temple of Amun-Ra in virtual space.
In order to implement this software program, we broke down into three main categories the most
important features to look for when seeking to determine the initial location of any given block or
fragment that is found out of place. So, the system we are currently developing is based on three sorts of
criteria, namely architecture, iconography and epigraphy. We will simply introduce the first two criteria,
but will turn our attention mainly to the third one.
2.1 Architecture
The first feature is of architectural nature. In Ancient Egypt, some kinds of stone were preferred
over others when used in the making of certain architectural features. For instance, obelisks, doorjambs
and lintels were usually made up of pink or black granite; columns and walls were built out of sandstone
whereas limestone or calcite was commonly used for small shrines. The type of stone architects made
use of could also depend on the location of the quarry being exploited at any given time; limestone
stemming from the vicinity of Luxor is mostly used in the early history of Karnak; later buildings are
often made up of sandstone coming from a quarry located further south. Another important architectural
criterion to take into consideration when trying to find out the original location of a misplaced building
block is its shape. If the contour of an architectural feature is convex, it may be part of a column shaft; if
it is concave, it might belong to a cornice; if the side of a block is slant, it could originally fit into a wall
that bore an angle of varying degree; if on the contrary the side is perfectly straight, it might be part of an
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architrave; if the block reproduces the form of a plant (a papyrus or lotus, for instance), it most likely
belonged to a capital. (Goyon, J.-C. & al., 2004).
In order to resort to the computer in the restitution process, it is necessary, first and foremost, to
list every single block in a database. Afterwards, one may input different kinds of information, such as
data regarding the type of stone and the morphology of the blocks. The computer is then able to proceed
to thousands of comparisons, quickly and efficiently. The blocks can be sorted by size and geometrical
form, in order to identify those having complementary characteristics. The results of these operations are
likely to provide archaeologists with information regarding the position the blocks might have had
initially.
2.2 Iconography
The second criterion used in order to identify the original position of a loose block is
iconographical. For instance, the numerous small scenes carved into the interior walls of Egyptian
temples are mostly of religious nature. Seen only by a privileged few (the priests), they show the king in
an intimate setting, making numerous offerings to various deities. On the contrary, the character of the
large reliefs engraved on the exterior walls is far more military; intended to impress the passer-by, they
often depict the pharaoh leading Egyptian troops to victory against foreign enemies. Consequently,
determining the thematic nature and the scale of objects that are etched into the surface of a block go a
long way in identifying its former location.
In order to provide input to the database, these iconographic elements must be surveyed. The
process of computer-aided reconstitution is thus far more complex than a mere form recognition process,
since it also involves recording and sorting the information. Meyer and collaborators (2006) have
developed a method to quickly and efficiently carry out this kind of survey, not only on walls but also on
columns. Subsequently, by sorting through the listed elements, the computer program can identify blocks
on which iconographical elements, corresponding to the missing fragments on a given damaged wall,
appear. The results of this sorting process are liable, once again, to provide archaeologists with more
information regarding the position the blocks might have occupied initially.
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2.3 Epigraphy
Last but not least, the third decisive factor, that enables researchers to fit together blocks or to
match them to a still standing structure, is epigraphical. Indeed, Egyptian temples are not only covered
with images, but with inscriptions as well (figure 2). The texts inscribed on the surface of a wall can
either directly relate to an adjacent scene or can be totally unconnected to it, in which case it constitutes a
complete and independent unit in and of itself. Noteworthy of mention is the fact that the majority of texts
carved on temple walls are ritualistic in nature and are thus not unique, contrarily to the historical
inscriptions engraved on free-standing stelae that are more diverse in content, since they often relate to
exceptional events; writings on temple walls are more likely to convey established practices, such as
ritual acts or religious feasts, for which there are numerous textual parallels.
Figure 2. Hieroglyphic inscriptions (photographed by J. Revez).
A text carved into any given single building block is very likely to be part of a larger inscription
that runs along a whole series of blocks. Therefore, in our endeavour to restore selected parts of the
temple of Amun-Ra and in order to enable the system to position the blocks so as to assemble meaningful
sequences of hieroglyphs, it is of the utmost importance to consider the semantic aspect of the Egyptian,
and not only the geometrical shape of the hieroglyphic signs.
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The system must ‘understand’ the inscription appearing on the block, so as to be able to suggest
various alternate ways of beginning, or ending the truncated message. Therefore, this research project
focuses on the possibilities of developing a program in such a way as to ‘teach’ the computer how to
decode sequences of hieroglyphic signs. Manifestly, we have here to deal with a language characterized
by complex orthographic and grammatical rules, different from those say of modern English. For
instance, orthography is far more flexible in ancient Egyptian than in Indo-European languages, since the
aesthetic arrangement of hieroglyphic signs into groups (whether on a papyrus scroll or on a temple wall)
determined to a large extent the spelling of words. In order to illustrate this flexibleness, we will comment
briefly on two of the most basic rules: the spelling of Egyptian words and the declension of nouns.
In Ancient Egypt, most hieroglyphs represented a series of sounds known as phonograms. For
example, the symbol representing a heart and a windpipe
was pronounced « nefer ». Since
was made
up of three consonants, in this case n + f + r, philologists refer to this symbol as a triliteral sign. In order
to help the reader vocalize this triliteral sign, the scribe could add uniliteral signs representing single
consonants, that is, in the example given above, « n »
, «f»
and « r »
. These uniliteral signs,
known as phonetic complements, could be written before, after or before AND after the triliteral
hieroglyph representing the heart and windpipe (Allen, 2001). As a result of this, there can be up to
seventeen different ways of combining a triliteral sign with its phonetic complements. Since Egyptian
words were in turn usually composed of several biliteral (hieroglyph signs expressing two consonants)
and triliteral signs, each accompanied by a varying degree of phonetic complements, the number of ways
of spelling a word was further increased (figure 3).
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Biliteral sign :
Phonetic complement 1 :
Phonetic complement 2 :
or
1-
23-
45-
67-
Figure 3. Schematic representation of the several way of spelling a biliteral sign
It is also worth mentioning that, although the Egyptian rule for forming plural nouns is
consistent, the way in which plurals are transcribed in hieroglyphs is not rigid. Nouns add the symbol of
the quail chick
(phonogram w) in the word in order to form the plural. However the sign that
distinguishes the plural from the singular is often omitted in writing. A frequent means of marking the
plural is simply by adding three short strokes at the end of a word. These «plural strokes», that have no
phonetic value, are known as determinatives. They can be written horizontally
, vertically or grouped
(depending on the scribe’s preferences and the shape of the surrounding signs) and sometimes dots
were used instead of strokes. Furthermore, in cases where a hieroglyphic sign represents an image (called
«pictogram») rather than phonograms, the sign can be written out three times in order to express the
plural. Nouns can not only be in the singular, dual and plural forms, but also have a gender. For example,
feminine nouns typically end with
(phonogram t).
It is obvious that, contrarily to the rules guiding the spelling of words that we are in the process
of programming, dealing with more complex verbal sentences is at this stage of our project premature.
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We have begun by developing a lexicon, listing the hieroglyphic words most often found in Middle
Egyptian texts (Figure 4), and especially those written in Egyptian temples. Since the number of Egyptian
words is very large, the user will be able to add new words into the database as he/she sees fit; the lexicon
is thus interactive.
Figure 4. Interface enabling the user to visualize and scroll through the lexicon.
The system offers two levels of interaction. On the one hand, it offers the user the possibility of
capturing roots of words and inserting them in the lexicon. He/she can do so using either the pictograms
or the alphanumeric codes based on the list in Gardiner’s Egyptian Grammar (1969) (Figure 5). On the
other hand, for each root, the system automatically generates the different ways of spelling the word. So,
the lexicon is structured and implemented as if it were a dictionary able to rewrite itself every time it is
consulted.
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Figure 5. Interfaces of data capture.
When working on hypotheses of reconstitution, the user, namely the Egyptologist, inputs the
truncated message appearing on the blocks of a damaged wall. With the assistance of the lexicon, the
system is able not only to decode the truncated message but also to suggest various alternate ways of
beginning, or ending, the sequence of hieroglyphs3. For example, if we had in English the truncated
sentence « Paul is h… », the program would put forward certain hypotheses in order to complete the
sentence. It would assume that an adjective is missing and, by sorting through the database, would
suggest several ones beginning with the letter « h», such as hungry, happy, healthy, etc.
At the end of the sorting process, the graphical user interface we are developing displays
sequences of hieroglyphs liable to complete the truncated message coherently. It is important to
emphasize the fact that our computer program is not completely autonomous; a human intervention is
required. Indeed, faced with the several suggestions generated by the system, the archaeologist must
choose from among alternate options; he/she must identify those which are actually adequate to complete
the truncated message in a given context. Afterwards, the search engine automatically sorts through the
blocks listed in the database, in order to retrieve the elements on which the required sequences of
hieroglyphic signs appear.
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3. Using the 7th Pylon in the temple of Karnak as a case study.
Monumental gateways known as pylons are a good starting point for proposing an original way
of assisting Egyptologists in restoring by computer means damaged or missing parts of ancient
monuments. Pylons are relatively simple structures that are uniform on the architectural, iconographical
and epigraphical plane. Typically, these imposing towers, that formed the entrances to the main sections
of the temple, consisted of a pair of tall quadrilateral masonry masses with sloping sides and a doorway
between them. One large scene almost systematically adorns the sides of each gate. It shows the large
figure of a pharaoh smiting foreign foes with a mace or a dagger, in the presence of a god to whom the
temple is built. Kneeling in front of the king are the enemies who plead in vain for mercy (figure 6). The
texts that accompany this scene are the transcription of a standardized dialogue between king and god;
underneath is a toponymic list of all the foreign cities that have been captured by the pharaoh. In the
temple of Karnak, no less than ten such pylons have been erected, giving Egyptologists plenty of material
to draw comparison from.
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Figure 6. South face of the West massif of the VIIth pylon in Karnak (photographed by J. Revez).
We are currently working on a case study dealing with the South face of the West massif of the
VIIth pylon. The main objective of this case study is to fill textual lacunae by proposing sets of known
parallels that would serve three purposes:
- to fit the damaged part of an inscription that is no longer readable on an existing pylon;
- to fill the space between two separate blocks, where a now missing block once fitted; this
usually happens when the upper part of a pylon has collapsed;
- to recognize a loose block as formerly belonging to a pylon, by matching traces of the text
engraved on it with the conventional texts usually inscribed on pylons.
Testing our approach by using the sequence of hieroglyphs engraved in the columns at the top of
the pylon will enable us to check its validity.
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Conclusion
The significance of this research project stems form the fact that, nowadays in the broad field of
archaeology, the computer is mostly used for simple tasks, such as drawing the contour of hieroglyphic
signs on scanned photographs. Yet, the computer, thanks to its indexing, sorting and generating
capacities, can efficiently manage databases listing tens of thousands of scattered blocks. By developing
an approach based on the implementation of an interactive lexicon and basic spelling rules, we are
seeking to achieve the development of a computer assistant appropriate for the epigraphist. Our aim is to
implement a tool able to generate data liable to help him/her to put forward and validate hypotheses
regarding the restitution of selected parts of a site.
As our software program is still under development, we are currently undertaking an evaluation
of its usefulness in the deployment of the archeologist’s reasoning. We are aiming to evaluate to what
extent such a program could prove an adequate tool in bringing the archaeologist to consider hypotheses
which might not have occurred to him/her otherwise. These tests auspiciously demonstrate the possible
interactions liable to take place between the user and the interface. It is hoped that, in the near future, our
software program will help archaeologists in their tentative moves towards the reconstitution of
archaeological sites such as Karnak.
Acknowledgements
We should like to thank the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council who funded this
research project. The research project team is formed of the following people: Head researcher: Temy
Tidafi, Co-researchers: Giovanni De Paoli, Pierre Bonnechère and Jean Revez, Research assistants: Anis
Semlali, Ivanka Iordanova, Hicham Zakaria, Carlantonyn Dufault and Nathalie Charbonneau.
Notes
[1] In the School of Architecture of University of Montreal.
[2] We made use of Scheme, a well-known functional programming language, in order to describe the
grammatical rules efficiently.
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[3] It is worth mentioning that this is by no means a system based on artificial intelligence since the
software program cannot produce knowledge, nor learn from the user’s experiments. It can only interpret
and apply the grammatical rules encoded.
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