Em Hotep:  January 27 marks the one year anniversary of the premier of Khufu Reborn at la Géode in Paris.  Of course, January 25 marked the one year anniversary of the January Revolution in Cairo.  Much has changed in Egypt in the last year, and the story continues to develop.  How has this affected your ability to work on-site, particularly with the planned survey with Laval University?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:  First of all, your question makes me think about something none of us can control:  Time!  Time flies…  It has already been one year since the premiere of Khufu Reborn at la Géode.

Jean-Pierre Houdin with his father, Henri, refining the internal ramp theory

This also begins my thirteenth year of research on Khufu’s pyramid, which has expanded to include research on the other large pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty.  When you consider twelve full years dedicated to one single quest, to learn how these large pyramids were built, that’s a lot of time invested in learning, analyzing, researching, thinking, modeling and simulating on a single subject.

In life, you learn in school—at high school and then at university—before having a job for most of the rest of your life, where your education continues.  That is what I did.  I studied architecture at the Beaux-Arts in Paris between 1970 and 1976, so that is six years spent earning my Ph.D in architecture.  Then I ran my own architectural business for more than 22 years, so that is another 22 years of field training, from designing structures on paper and computer modeling to actually being on-site to assist in their construction.

Then in January, 1999, came the big jump into the unknown, in every sense of the word.  To leave a comfortable life to focus exclusively on the search for an explanation about one of the last great enigmas of our day:  to understand a 45-centuries-old civilization in what is its biggest achievement—the pyramids.

A new life, full of uncertainties about my own future, but rich in knowledge and understanding because of this determination to resolve an enigma, something you can’t get in high school or university because they simply don’t have the answer.  This is not the kind of quest where the answer is there waiting for you in a book; for this sort of quest you have to become the scholar and write the answer yourself, based on the compilation of your learning and the addition of your own research.

Jean-Pierre Houdin at la Géode, Paris, in 2007 for the premier of the first part of his work, Khufu Revealed (photo courtesy Jean-Pierre Houdin/Dassault Systèmes)

After twelve years of research I’m still not a knighted Egyptologist, but I’ve surely acquired more knowledge on the specific subject of the pyramids than almost any other human being, Egyptologists included.  This had to be said…for those who missed this point…  My work incorporates the knowledge of Egyptologists, both what has been written and those who have worked directly with me, the expertise of engineers and computer modeling specialists, as well as my academic and practical experience as an architect and a builder.  All of these are required to understand the enigma of the pyramids.

Now, a year is gone and not a quiet one on the Egyptian soil.  While we are celebrating the first anniversary of the Géode première, Egyptians are celebrating the first anniversary of the Tahrir Square revolution, a search for a new beginning after sixty years of a non-democratic regime.  And this revolution was absolutely needed and is still not fully achieved.  Any revolution takes time to succeed…

It is not hard to imagine that, on the Egyptology side, or at least on my own research side, nothing could have happened during this period of time.  But there have been some important developments with the SCA and the Ministry of Antiquities that could clear the way for a better relationship with the authorities in charge.  We should expect less personal decisions regarding the authorizations to carry out a survey. The new Ministry of Antiquities, Dr. Mohamed Ibrahim, made it clear that now any approval regarding any mission or survey will be decided by the SCA council members and not by one man. There again, time will tell.

Meanwhile, we are still preparing, with Dassault Systèmes and Laval University, the future mission on site using an infrared camera, a truly non-destructive technique because we won’t touch the pyramid at all.  Experiments are being set for the coming weeks on the “Redoute”, a fortified building in the walls of Old Quebec.

The Project Khufu Team at Laval University (left to right) Xavier Maldague, Matthieu Klein, Mehdi Tayoubi, Jean-Pierre Houdin, Richard Breitner (Courtesy Mehdi Tayoubi/ Dassault Systèmes)

But I often ask myself, what is going wrong with our world?  Why is there this resistance to letting science move forward?  I have put forward a totally coherent theory from A to Z based on dozens of clues that I have gathered, most of which are right before our eyes for anyone to observe.  The theory is fully explained and can literally be experienced thanks to the same virtual reality and 3D technology that engineers and architects use to design modern structures.  We have many non-destructive techniques available, some of which could give a definitive proof in a few days, whilst others, like Multipolar Infrared Vision (the one in preparation) would take a little more time, but would be well worth it for Egyptology and the people of Egypt themselves.

A year from now, January 25, 2013, we could celebrate the second anniversary of the Tahrir revolution with a tremendous asset for the future of Egypt: a complete understanding of the big pyramids and a new reason for millions of tourists to come in Egypt—rediscovering Khufu’s Pyramid, walking in its internal ramp and visiting its two antechambers.

Should I be wrong…science would have been respected and Time could pass on the pyramids.  The worst thing is to do nothing.

Now…I don’t think that I will be wrong, because…

Em Hotep:  I saw where Japan recently did a television special on your work. Are there other documentaries forthcoming that we can look forward to?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:  In fact, in 2008 and 2009, several documentaries, all co-produced by Dassault Systèmes, were filmed in Egypt about my work.  The National Geographic Channel produced Unlocking the Great Pyramid (also known as The last Secret on BBC), Gedeon (for French Channels France 2/France 5) produced Kheops Révélé (directed by Florence Tran) and NHK Japan produced three different versions.  All of these documentaries were big successes and greatly helped the theory being known all around the world.

Mehdi Tayoubi and Florence Tran (Courtesy Mehdi Tayoubi/Dassault Systèmes)

Recently, I discovered the long NHK version about the theory and I was really impressed by the meticulous and scientific approach to my work.  Although it was in Japanese, thanks to the images and 3D animations, I was able to fully understand all the processes and details of the theory.  The Japanese director had remarkably transmitted the message.

Over the last four years I have seen evidence of the impact these documentaries are having:  each time one is broadcasted somewhere on Earth, the day after I always receive e-mails from viewers telling me that they are totally convinced and that they support me and my work.  By now I have received hundreds and hundreds of e-mails, and I always reply.  I’m proud of having so many ambassadors for the theory almost everywhere on the globe.

We have no plan, for now, to make a new documentary but this could change very quickly if we get permission for a survey on site.

Otherwise, time is not lost at all.  With the “Khufu Team” (lead by Mehdi Tayoubi and Richard Breitner) at Dassault Systèmes, we are now working, with the CATIA software, on the modeling of the last pyramid of Khufu’s father Snefru, the Red Pyramid at Dashur.  The architectural legacy between the Red Pyramid and the Great Pyramid is amazing and the building processes are similar, although with some design differences regarding the internal ramp.

Richard Breitner and Jean-Pierre Houdin guide us through the 3D virtual reality world of Khufu Reborn at la Géode one year ago today (courtesy Tayoubi/Dassault Systèmes)

You will be surprised by the cleverness of the architects and engineers.  Just as Khufu’s pyramid is a “Chef d’oeuvre” of great engineering due to its size and its multiple internal chambers and corridors, Snefru’s Red pyramid is equally a “Chef d’oeuvre” for its fineness, simplicity, purity and over all, for how quickly they were able to built it.

Last but not least, I’m very proud to learn more and more every day that the theory is being taught to pupils and students in many parts of the world.  Slowly but surely, this theory is gaining momentum in schools and universities, replacing theories that have been stubbornly taught for more than a century despite their lack of evidence and common sense, theories that literally cannot fit within the topography of the Giza Plateau.

Em Hotep:  In the comments section of the Pyramid Shafts article there was much discussion and explanation by you regarding the shafts, and I have had several people send me some questions which I have promised to ask you. I will be publishing the follow-up article about the Djedi Project and interviews with Shaun Whitehead and Mehdi Tayoubi about this project the first part of next week. I know the shafts play a role in the development of your theory, both as explanations as to their purpose and as clues to the antechambers. May I revisit the question of the pyramid shafts with you after the Djedi article/interviews are posted?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:  Absolutely…once your article and interviews about the Djedi Project have been published, your readers will then have a strong base to understand my own ideas about these shafts. The Queen’s Chamber and the King’s Chamber shafts seem to have the same purpose, but this is not the case.  More to come.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2012.  All rights reserved.

Inside:  Current projects in the Valley of the Kings, Steve’s meeting with the new head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and a picture of KV64 you will not see anywhere else!

Em Hotep:  How did you happen to be on the site of KV64 to take this photograph?

The newly-discovered tomb KV64 (left) next to KV40 (right). KV64 was discovered during routine clearing of debris by a team from the University of Basel in their work to document uninscribed tombs in the Valley of the Kings (photo by Steve Cross)

Steve Cross:  The photo was taken from the path along the cliff top above the Valley.  This was for the study I was doing on the ancient workmen’s huts which required me to walk all the paths and photograph and map the huts.  I had special permission to photograph from the Director of the West Bank.

Stephen Cross

Em Hotep:  What is the current policy on photography in the Valley of the Kings?

Steve Cross:  Photography outside and inside the tombs in the Valley is still banned I’m afraid.  I did mention this to [Dr. Mohamed el Bialy] the new head of the SCA saying it was bad for tourism and he said he is thinking of stopping the ban.  The ban on photography inside tombs will of course remain.

Close up of KV64 (left) and KV40 (right)—before being identified as a tomb in its own right, KV64 was simply called KV40b (Photo by Steve Cross)

Em Hotep:  Is there anything you can share with us about the work going on around KV64?  Elsewhere in the Valley?

Steve Cross:  The University of Basel is investigating all uninscribed tombs in the Valley, a very necessary task that has been a long time in coming.  During this work surface clearing is taking place which is how they discovered KV64.  My specific interest is that more workmen’s huts are also being uncovered.  As many of the groups of huts can be dated, they are invaluable for working out the stratigraphy of the Valley.

Detail of KV64 (photo by Steve Cross)

A Finnish Mission is also excavating the Village de Repose at the top of the col between the Valley and Deir el Medina.

Sarcophagus of Merenptah (photo by Hajor)

Edwin Brock and Lyla Brock are also working in KV8, Merenptah, re-constructing and photographing the sarcophagus.  This must be an immensely satisfying task!

KV34, Tuthmosis III, is unfortunately closed for restoration.  (My favourite tomb!)

Em Hotep:  You mentioned that you had an opportunity to speak with Dr. Mohamed el Bialy, the new Director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.  What is your impression?  Did he speak about the near and distant future of work in Egypt?

Dr. Mohamed el Bialy

Steve Cross:  Dr. Bialy is a lovely man.  He is also a scholar, he was director of the West Bank, then Aswan, and he has also excavated in his own right, e.g. the clearance of KV42.  I had a very good chat with him and he stated that no one man now has the power to make a decision, anything now must go to the committee in Cairo.  He toured the East and West Bank monuments and I think we will see some changes for the better now.  I believe that archaeology in Egypt can now return to normal scientific work.

Obviously the state of the country is still in flux and plans for the future must wait until after the elections and a new government has also been elected.

Em Hotep:  Can you tell us about any current project s you have going on?

Entrance stairs to KV34 (photo by Hajor)

Steve Cross:  Yes, writing!  Always writing!  Is it not funny that a few seasons excavating can lead to years of study, and writing it up?  After all, there is no point in excavating unless it is published for all.  I just finished a paper on the workmen’s huts and it’s off to the journal.  This was the purpose of my last trip to Luxor.  I’m also working on another paper on just how arduous it was to cut a royal tomb, but this is on the back burner for now.  To be honest, in some ways the workers who made the tomb interest me more than the kings, their lives and working practices.  I would love to see the huts reproduced in a side wadi with men performing the tasks the ancients did in making a tomb, mixing plaster, grinding inks, filling lamps etc.  Perhaps even cutting of a sample tomb?

There is a section off cliff face to the west (right) of the staircase up to KV34 that is fractured across its bottom and is in danger of falling.  The SCA asked if it could be saved as it is full of ancient graffiti.  I am working on this and will try to get the World Monument Fund involved.

Em Hotep:  Can you tell us anything about future plans you have?

Steve Cross:  I have been asked to write a chapter for new book on the Valley that will be published next year.  I am currently collecting the research for this.

And one day, Inshalla!  I hope to excavate again in the Valley!

Stephen is a member of the Egypt Exploration Society, The Geologist’s Association (UK), the Merseyside Archaeological Society and the Liverpool Geologist’s Association. He writes and lectures on the Valley of the Kings. He was an advisor to the SCA excavations in the Central Area and KV8 digs, 2008/09 seasons.

For a the full-sized untouched photo of KV64 click here

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2012.  All rights reserved.

All pictures of KV64 are used with permission and are the sole property of Steve Cross, copyright by Steve Cross, 2012, all rights reserved.  Photos “Sarcophagus of Merenptah-KV8” and “Entrance to KV34” by Hajor are used in accordance with the Creative Commons share alike license.

As always, these are not typical bloggers (have I mentioned how much I dislike that marginalizing term, blogger?), these are folks who are thoughtful, critical, analytical, and who often have direct channels to the primary sources.  Don’t forget to check out the comments sections, as this is where the story tends to develop.  And you have my word that these kind people will welcome your comments and questions as well.

• Egyptological:  Tomb K64 in the Valley of the Kings – The Story as it Broke by Kate Phizackerley

• Luxor News:  KV64 – Breaking News 22nd Dynasty tomb by Jane Akshar

• Egyptology News:  More re: new VOK discovery by Andie Byrnes

• News From the Valley of the Kings:  KV64 is the Tomb of Ni Hms Bastet by Kate Phizackerley

• Egyptians:  KV 64 Found? By Tim Reid

(Kate gets two entries because VoK is her bailiwick)

My good friend Marc Chartier of Pyramidales (and more recently of Égypte-actualités, but more on that endeavor later..) had a chance to sit down recently with Jean-Pierre and discuss these questions and more.  Thanks to Em Hotep’s partnership with Pyramidales, I am able to bring you the English language version of this interview.  Enjoy, and please feel free to join the conversation, as they say…

In January 2011, Pyramidales joined the international press at La Géode in Paris for the premier of Khufu Reborn, the second phase of Jean-Pierre Houdin’s work with the Great Pyramid originally introduced to the world in 2007 with Khufu Revealed.  Thanks to the Passion for Innovation program, Jean-Pierre has enjoyed full access to the technology and talent of Dassault Systèmes, the world leader in industrial 3D CAD and simulation, to integrate and test his theories in a virtual environment based on the most thorough surveys of the pyramid and the Giza Plateau to date (you may enter and explore the simulation yourself online here).

Subsequently, Pyramidales fully described and illustrated these new developments regarding the construction and the technical configuration of the Great Pyramid of Giza (see the Pyramidales Interviews in the right sidebar).  Now, as we come up on the one year anniversary of Khufu Reborn, Pyramidales again joined Jean-Pierre for a discussion of how the work is progressing, in particular, how the new material covered in “Phase II” has been received and interpreted by expert and amateur enthusiasts of Egyptology and the public in general.

It is with warm gratitude to Jean-Pierre that Pyramidales brings this interview to you.

Pyramidales:

Jean-Pierre Houdin, it has been nearly a year now since you premiered, at an international press conference, the continuation of the work you first presented in Khufu Revealed back in 2007 explaining your research and work regarding the manner of construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Looking back, how do you assess the reactions generated both among the general public and from specialists and experts in the field of Egyptology by these extensions to your original theory?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:

The presentation of Khufu Reborn, on January 27^th, 2011, at la Géode, was already for me the expression of a major vote of confidence from my friends on the “Khufu Team” at Dassault Systèmes.  For reasons that have nothing to do with science, no scientific research has been carried out on-site since the revelation, on March 30th, 2007, of the theory of the internal ramp; the result is the inability to get scientific proof of the existence of an internal ramp.  Otherwise, the discovery by Dr. Bob Brier, while filming a documentary in 2008, of a large unknown room behind the notch on the north-eastern edge was a clue of great importance.

Given this context, the decision made four years later by the “Khufu Team” to help me, by means of an extraordinary 3D animation, to go even further in my revelations with the announcement of the possible existence of two antechambers next to the King’s Chamber, was for me a major event for the theory. After nearly eight years of silence on this aspect of my work, I can now demonstrate the consistency of this research.  No previous researcher has delved as thoroughly into the study of Khufu’s pyramid as we have, both with regard to the architectural project drawn up by the designers of the time as well as the implementation of the project.

In addition to the satisfaction they bring, public reactions are quite telling: one can observe in my proposals the gradual development of my theory and how each progression of the work consistently builds a more complete picture, based on simplicity and logic, which fully answers the questions that are related to the construction and purpose of the Great Pyramid.  The public is finally able to see the genius of the ancient Egyptians by understanding how an “inexplicable” mystery—how the Great Pyramid was built—involved neither magic nor miracles, just tried and true construction methods.  The theory explains how simple human intervention addressed seemingly impossible tasks.  Now, about the construction specialists, there again the response has been very positive.  The 3D presentation spoke their language very convincingly.

Finally, let’s talk about experts in Egyptology … the French ones!  They have not deigned to usefully express themselves since the initial presentation of the theory, so why should it be different now, particularly if the generally positive reception the work has gotten elsewhere reflects them in an unflattering light?  In contrast, many foreign Egyptologists have shown a growing interest in my work.

Unfortunately, as always, traditional Egyptological explanations about the pyramid of Khufu are based on a trompe-l’oeil: a north-south cross-section showing three rooms, some corridors and the Grand Gallery.  Looking at the inner works of the pyramid from just this perspective has resulted in theories that simply do not hold up under careful analysis.  These theories collapse when examined in light of how the different internal parts are laid out and relate to each other, how the funerary rites and processions would have been conducted, and especially in terms of building principles.  Yet the construction of the pyramids during the Fourth Dynasty, with Snefru, Khufu and Khafre, was the result of practical know-how, of course constantly improved, but in the service of architectural continuity.

An example of this sort of misinterpretation is the so-called “rupture” of Khufu, based on the famous north-south cross-section view.  This is not a rupture at all.  This erroneous conclusion is based on an Egyptological interpretation of the monument, not from an architectural interpretation.  But the pyramid was designed by architects, and it takes the perspective of a fellow builder to bring together all the elements in a way that allows us to understanding the intentions of the designers.  The stones speak to those who can understand their language … an architect, for example.

Pyramidales:

It seems to me, after a very thorough survey of the literature both in print and on-line that that your name remains primarily associated with the first phase of your work, in particular, with the internal ramp aspect of your theory.  In other words, Khufu Revealed is more well-known while Khufu Reborn seems to remain confined to more confidential spheres.  Do you feel that the second phase of your work, especially as it relates to the two antechambers next to the King’s Chamber, is encountering some difficulty in gaining traction?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:

This apparent state of affairs is absolutely not related to the “quality” of the information revealed on January 27 (the probable presence of two antechambers close to the King’s Chamber), but to the “quantity” of information that has spread on the web after the press conference.  When Khufu Revealed premiered on March 30, 2007, there was an extraordinary “cocktail” between quality and quantity of news, the theory being propelled, thanks to a very innovative presentation in 3D animation and in real time, to the top of the news cycle for more than 24 hours.  The news went around the world with the time zones.  This type of “state of grace” is exceptional and it clearly set the bar very high for any new statement on the subject.

The purpose of the press conference on January 27, 2011, was quite different: push the theory a little deeper into the minds of people, by revealing the elements (the two antechambers) that could have blurred the message if they had been included in the 2007 presentation.  The conference itself was a great success, major French television channels (TF1, FR2, and FR3 in particular) talking extensively about the event in their mid-day and evening news.  As for news agencies and newspapers, they have widely spread the information on their side, except for a large agency that has managed to “conveniently” miss the subject, resulting in fewer articles than we enjoyed in 2007.

But I believe that above all, there was a major event nobody could have anticipated or planned for, and which partly stole the show to “Khufu Reborn”: on January 25, 2011, the first news about an embryonic revolutionary movement was arriving from Cairo… on January 27, the day of the conference, the revolution in Tahrir Square was already on the front page in all media.  You know what happened next.

Also, when you search the theory on Google, there are more responses related to 2007 than to 2011. This is only linked to the quantity of information available, not to the quality.  But I can tell you, and the “Khufu Team” certainly agrees with me, that the message is very well perceived.  Every day I receive, from everywhere around the world, many e-mail from passionate people who know a lot about pyramids and who are totally convinced by the overall consistency of the theory.

A visit to the official Khufu Reborn website made by Dassault Systèmes enables visitors to put their “feet on the site” and explore both the theory and the pyramid and its environment in a way that has never been possible before.  People can visit the website and see how the entire theory fits together and when they emerge from this journey their emails to me show that they are “getting it” and their understanding of this work leaves little room for doubting the veracity of the theory.

Finally, I conclude on this issue by taking your sentence: “In other words, Khufu Revealed is more well-known while Khufu Reborn seems to remain confined to more confidential spheres

For me, on the front line, I perceive absolutely no confinement.  Khufu Reborn perfectly complements Khufu Revealed and anyone who is interested in my work ends up having knowledge of the theory as a whole.  The goal is reached.  As for the “confidential spheres”, I would say that these terms are more applicable to a very small number of people in the world of Egyptology who have chosen to ignore me. Too bad for them, the dialogue would have been interesting.

Pyramidales:

During your public presentation of Khufu Reborn last January, contacts were established with two experts from Laval University in Quebec, for a possible in-situ observation of the Great Pyramid, using the technique of Multipolar Infrared Vision.  Can you share the current status of this project?

And a necessary complement to this question: such a project presupposes an implied agreement at the highest levels of Egyptian Antiquities.  Now Egypt has experienced the upheavals that we have all witnessed.  Will the appointment of a new Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, and a minister of Egyptian Antiquities, possibly open a window to the completion of your project?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:

The collaboration with a team from Laval University, consisting of Professor Xavier Maldague, Matthew Klein and Clemente Ibarra Castanedo, is developing very well.  Working meetings were held in June at the university and we have established a specific protocol, with a strategy for the establishment of a mission.  In addition, a Multipolar Infrared Vision campaign was set up in Quebec: the experience is being applied to the “Redoute”, a fortified building in the walls of Old Quebec, with local authorities being warmly receptive to the project and amenable to making the building available.  We will therefore be able to refine the protocol based on the results acquired during this local project.

This leads me to answer the second part of your question: as always, it is essential that any survey to be carried out on-site is conducted with the cooperation of our Egyptian counterparts and in accordance with the legal authorities of the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA). The current situation in Egypt does not leave a clear vision of what is going on with the SCA, the post of Secretary-General being successively held by several people in a very short time.  The current elections are an additional element of uncertainty about the future of this service.  It follows that it is unfortunately impossible to see at the moment a “window” to complete the project.

Pyramidales:

Does your theory as formulated in Khufu Reborn represent the culmination of your “reconstitution of the building site” of the Great Pyramid?  Or is it likely to have new developments or improvements?  If so, what are the new areas of your research?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:

The theory is now globally formulated, funerary architecture is determined, construction processes are detailed and the entire Giza Plateau is integrated into the explanation of the project and its progression. But as in any hypothesis, the details can still be improved.  However, they will render the theory even more relevant.  I am very pleased because the theory became more refined and simplified while its developments and its logic were enhanced.  Every step, every detail, every process, every architectural choice are supported by solid arguments or evidence visible in situ.

Countless 3D simulations conducted with the CATIA software provided by Dassault Systèmes allowed the team to construct a perfect virtual model of the pyramid and its place on the Giza Plateau, and within this environment we were able to simulate and test any concept or potentiality, and it is through this process that the refined theory has emerged.  Now, only confrontation with the reality will allow us to correct any differences in detail.

Doubt is part of the research, of course, but it is more and more difficult for me to imagine any other way apart from the technique of “building from the inside” for the construction of the Great Pyramid.  When I try to put myself “at the outside” in order to address the issue, and because of all the knowledge I gained during twelve years of research, I always understand quickly that I stumble against an impossibility.  I had the time to turn the problem in every way, believe me!

As I often say, Khufu’s pyramid has not arrived on the Giza Plateau by chance: it is the result of an evolution in the art of building from the early mastabas.  Having studied all the pyramids built from Djoser up to Menkaure, it is now appropriate that I specify for each one their specific mode of construction, especially the two pyramids of Snefru at Dahshur (the Bent and the Red Pyramids) and Khafre’s pyramid in Giza.  If construction “from the inside” is the rule, there will still be variations adapted to each of the monuments in the building processes.  The modeling of these pyramids will demonstrate these changes and can only complement and strengthen the principles of the theory.

Pyramidales:

Henri Houdin, Jean-Pierre's father, attentive to his son's research

Khufu’s pyramid is considered the ultimate pyramid architecture on the Giza plateau, the culmination of the skills of the Egyptian builders.  Does this mean that this pyramid is unique?  Or do you think that the techniques used in its construction – in particular, from your point of view, the internal ramp – have also been used to build other pyramids, Khafre, for example, or Menkaure as well?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:

As I indicated in my previous answer, Khufu’s pyramid is, at the beginning of its construction, the culmination of the expertise of Egyptian builders and is absolutely not a unique monument, although this pyramid is unique in its category (funerary architecture in the heart of the monument).  The construction technique of “building from the inside” was applied to all large smooth pyramids built after the Step Pyramid of Saqqara.  This does not mean that all smooth pyramids were built in part by an internal ramp.  This technical process was only necessary for the large smooth pyramids of the Fourth Dynasty (Bent, Red, Khufu and Khafre … and certainly Meidum).  For all other pyramids from Menkaure and after, Egyptians will continue to build “from the inside”, but without recourse to an internal ramp; a construction trench penetrating in one side of the building will be reserved during construction before being recapped at the end of construction.  There are traces of trenches in the ruins of the pyramids of Neferirkare and Sahure at Abusir.

Pyramidales:

A fundamental question to me: regarding the multiple contemporary theories which succeed each other in an attempt to decipher – at last! – The “secret of the pyramids”, what are, in your opinion, the strengths, or even more, the skills, that any researcher must or should show in this field?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:

I believe it is important to think first to the monument itself, to understand the design philosophy, to follow the logic of the scalable architecture of the time, to analyze in detail the components, and especially to not come proposing a gadget that could respond to a specific point of construction.  The Great Pyramid of Khufu was built using processes that were simple, logical, and controlled, they just did so on a larger scale than before.

The schedule of conditions was clear: build a pyramid, just a pyramid, and not, for example, build a big ramp “at lost” or build locks to build a pyramid.  Resources in Egypt were precious, and one had to build without wasting any material or effort.  Extracting a stone to build an external ramp was not an end but a step in the life of this stone.  Processes tailored to each major stage of construction lowered the cost of construction, because the same stone used in one phase (the external ramp) was recycled in the next phase, becoming a component of the building itself. This is the great art of the Egyptians of the time.

What are the necessary skills?  Certainly a good knowledge about construction, that makes sense to me … especially when I see some theories that ignore gravity!

I do not think that we can learn much just from the study of ancient texts, especially when these texts are so few and sketchy.  Herodotus is absolutely not sufficient, far from it!

To the contrary, we have to draw upon the totality of knowledge this period has left to us, a surprisingly vast reference library.  One can find common parameters, an architectural language and religious principles, and understanding these elements is mandatory to solving these puzzles.  By understanding how these principles have been applied elsewhere we can extrapolate how they may have served in the building of Khufu’s Pyramid.

Pyramidales:

You have lent your voice to encouraging and promoting the Earth Pyramid project developed by Steve Ward.  Why do you think this initiative is promising?  What does it reveal?

Jean-Pierre Houdin:

I have been in touch with Steve Ward for more than a year.  Steve found my theory simple, logical, ecological and perfectly suited to his project to build a modern pyramid today.  So there was already a likeable side in this encounter via the Internet.  But what attracted me the most was the idea of the Earth Pyramid Project: to build a monument intended to cross the centuries for future generations, involving the younger generations of today in a large rallying movement.

Why is this initiative promising?

We never get something for nothing.  The men and women who will support this initiative are themselves those who will make the initiative promising.  But the Earth Pyramid project has a lot going for it that makes me hopeful:  the project is positive, constructive, generous, peaceful, somewhat utopian (we will always need dreamers), dedicated to children around the world who have a sacred need to have another vision of Earth than the one they see all day long in the TV: wars, crises, disasters, famines … there is nothing very positive in all this.

So when someone is deeply motivated, fights for a noble and smart idea (transmitting messages from children intended to be read in a thousand years), I support it, it’s as simple as that.  It’s a bit of fresh air in a quite turbulent world.  And the symbol of the pyramid containing a “time-capsule” is a great idea.  It is clear that this type of monument can defy time without too much trouble … These are just the actions of men that can disrupt their life: who would dare attack a symbol dedicated to children from around the world?

Andie and Kate have both made unique contributions to the field of Egyptology, shattering the notion that the Egyptological blogosphere is the domain of semi-informed speculation and the musings of “mere amateurs.”  We already owe them a debt of gratitude for setting the bar high and establishing an expectation of credibility, and I am personally very excited to see where this new endeavor will lead.

Egyptological is divided into three sections—Journal, Magazine, and Colloquy—according to content.  And as always, your comments and participation are heartily encouraged.  For those of us who cannot contain ourselves to a comment, there is a section where you can submit your own original articles, papers, reviews, and photographs.

Heads up students: this is an excellent opportunity to have your work seen and reviewed by peers, professionals, and everyday folk who share your passion.  Let’s all get behind Kate and Andie to make Egyptological a voice to be relied on/reckoned with!

It is probably not a coincidence that the Seventh World Mummy Congress was convened at the University of San Diego, a short trip across town from the San Diego Museum of Man, where Mumab had just settled into his new home.  Mumab—short for Mummy of University of Maryland at Baltimore—has the distinction of being the first modern ancient mummy.  The inspiration for his creation came in the mid 90’s when mummy expert Dr. Bob Brier realized that the only way to know how ancient Egyptian mummies were made would be to mummify a human cadaver using the same tools and methods the Egyptians used.  And so he did.

In this article Em Hotep will look at the history of Mumab—how he was made, what was learned from him, and what he is up to now.

When you think of royal Egyptian mummies, the name Mumab probably does not come to mind.  And to be certain, Mumab did not begin as royalty, at least as far as we know.  When he first appears in our story he is simply the cadaver of a Baltimore man in his 70’s who had donated his body to science before passing away.  When he filled out his donor card he was probably unaware that he would ultimately become the first human being to receive a royal Egyptian mummification in over 2,000 years and the benchmark against which actual royal mummies would be compared.

Bob Brier (Courtesy of University of Richmond)

Mumab could not have been in better hands for his transformation.  Dr. Bob Brier, Senior Research Fellow at the C. W. Post Campus of Long Island University, has an extensive history with mummies and the mummification process.  In addition to his work with ancient Egyptian mummies such as Tutankhamun and Ramesses II, Dr. Brier has conducted research on more recent quasi-royal mummies like Vladimir Lenin and Eva Perón.  If you want to make a modern mummy using ancient Egyptian methods, Dr. Brier is your best choice.

Dr. Brier’s research kept forcing him to confront the same problem—that the primary and secondary sources on how the ancient Egyptians mummified their dead were incomplete, and in some cases, probably inaccurate.  Certain questions were simply not addressed, and certain answers seemed off the mark.  What really happens when you try to remove a human brain via the nostrils using a long metal hook?  As with any subject in science, the only real way to have a better understanding of how mummies were made was to test hypotheses and attempt to reproduce results.

Ronn Wade (Courtesy of CNN/Turner Broadcasting)

Mumab came into being during the early summer months of 1994 to do just that.  Dr. Brier partnered with Dr. Ronn Wade, Director of the Maryland State Anatomy Board and Director of the Anatomical Services Division at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, and a huge supporting team of artists, scientists, and technicians, to faithfully reproduce an Egyptian mummification.  After replicating scores of ancient mortuary tools using authentic materials and designs, and gathering embalming materials from the same sources the ancients would have used, they were ready to begin.

In order to fully appreciate Mumab’s contribution to our knowledge of ancient Egyptian mummification we should first take a look at what we knew beforehand and how Dr. Brier’s work changed that.

Tombs and Mummies:  If you have one, you’ll want the other

Life goes on in the afterlife—wall painting from the Sixth Dynasty tomb of Metchetchi (Photo by Keith Payne)

Ancient Egyptians were incredible tomb builders.  From the simple shaft tombs to the Great Pyramid, when it came to the afterlife the Egyptians liked to be well prepared.  This might lead to the incorrect assumption that the ancient Egyptians were obsessed with death, but that was simply not the case.  They were obsessed with life, and they did not want it to end.  The Egyptian idea of the afterlife was a lot like mortal life, only better.  If you can imagine getting to retire while still in your prime, and never getting older, then you will have a pretty good idea of what the ancient Egyptians had in mind.

However, as is always the case with the hereafter, there were conditions attached.  Along with all of the normal expectations about living a just life, the ancient Egyptians believed that the preservation of the body was absolutely essential for passage into the afterlife.  Over time this led to the development of one of the most complex and ritualized religious systems in history, one which has left us some of the most beautiful sacred monuments and iconography ever created.  But even from the earliest days of predynastic Egypt, mummification was an established part of Egyptian religion.

Egyptian mummification was the process of preserving a body by completely drying it out before decomposition had a chance to take root.  Decomposition is caused by bacteria, and bacteria require moisture to thrive.  If you remove all of the moisture from a body before the bacteria has a chance to become established then you can prevent decomposition.  This is the same reason why salted meats and dried fruits and vegetables were so important prior to refrigeration—dehydration prevented spoilage and increased shelf life.  Drying out a human body can increase its shelf life by thousands of years.

Ginger—one of the more famous examples of a predynastic natural mummy

Dr. Brier believes that this connection between preservation of the body and the afterlife developed pretty early in Egyptian history, when the Egyptians realized that a body buried in the hot desert sands did not decay, and that it retained much of its physical characteristics.  Unlike a decayed body, a mummified body could be recognized as the person it once was, which suggested that something of the individual person could survive physical death.  This imperishability of the body therefore became associated with the perpetuation of the human spirit after death.

Recreation of a pre-dynastic sand burial in the Royal Ontario Museum (Photo by Keith Schengili-Roberts)

But there was a problem with sand burials.  While it’s true that the dehydrating effects of being buried in hot sand led to really effective mummifications, the body was also vulnerable to exposure.  Winds could uncover the mummified body which then allowed scavengers to damage or destroy it, defeating the whole purpose of mummification—to preserve the body intact.  Egypt was also subject to occasional flash flooding, which could not only carry the body away, it also reintroduced moisture and bacteria to the mummy.

So the Egyptians began thinking in terms of protection.  Obviously the body had to be interred someplace that would be safe from animals and the elements, but this presented its own difficulties.  A body placed inside a tomb without first being preserved would decay the same as one left out in the open.  Somehow they had to find a way to mummify the body before putting it into its tomb, but time was of the essence.  If the body was not dehydrated quickly enough, decomposition could begin.

One easy solution would have been to bury the body in a sand pit until it was mummified, then transfer the body to its permanent tomb.  But this still left the body unprotected during the sand burial, and when you are talking about the afterlife, you want to leave as little to chance as possible.  If you wanted to be absolutely certain that your body was preserved intact, then you wanted both a safe place for mummification and a safe place for interment.  Safe mummification meant drying the body out quickly, but without the benefit of the hot desert sands.

A natural mummy from El Museo de las Momias Guanajuato, Mexico (Photo by Tomas Castelazo)

Sand burials made natural mummification possible—mummification that occurred entirely without extra efforts being made to preserve the body.  But sand burials were too unpredictable.  Maybe the body would be preserved for the ages, but probably not.  This necessitated a new innovation—burying people inside tombs cut into the limestone bedrock.  But even in a tomb, an unpreserved body would still decay, so with the advent of the Age of the Tomb Builders we also have the beginning of artificial mummification, the process of drying and preserving the body under “laboratory conditions.”

For this reason it can be said that if you had a mummy then you also wanted a tomb, and vice versa.  Having a mummy meant that you would also want the protection afforded by a sealed tomb, otherwise your mummy would be subject to the animals and elements.  But simply putting a body in a tomb did not prevent decomposition, so the body had to be mummified first.  The two were sort of a package deal.

So, how were mummies made?

Mummy Making 101

While they may not have been obsessed with death, the ancient Egyptians were obsessive record keepers.  They wrote down everything, from transactions between merchants to poems and love letters.  But two things are conspicuously missing from the written record:  how to build pyramids and how to make mummies.  Bob Brier suggests that mummy making might have been kept mum because it was a trade secret, but we are not entirely without clues.

Huy's mummy workshop

One source of insight comes from the tomb of Huy, himself an embalmer.  As stated above, Egyptians believed the afterlife was sort of a better version of their mortal lives, and so they decorated their tombs with scenes from their daily lives, including both work and play.  Being an embalmer, Huy chose to illustrate his tomb with a scene from his mummy workshop.  Dr. Brier points out that while this scene does not show an actual mummification in progress, it does show some of the tools used, and from this we can get an idea of how Huy plied his trade.

Herodotus—early authority on mummification (Photo by Marsyas)

Another source is the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, who lived in the fifth century BC and travelled to Egypt around 454 BC.  Although Herodotus did not witness a mummification first hand, he does seem to have found a chatty embalmer who confided in him three different methods which conveniently correspond with upper, middle, and lower class patrons.  Since the account of an upper class mummification was obviously the most complete (no cutting corners), that was the description most useful to Dr. Brier.

Based on sources such of these, a generally accepted, albeit incomplete, description of the process of royal mummification arose.  The reader should bear in mind that this description is concerned mostly with the practical concerns of mummification—how to dry out a body, and fast.  Mummification was also a very sacred ritual that involved processes that were of a strictly spiritual nature.  For a more complete account, the reader is referred to Dr. Brier’s book, Egyptian Mummies: Unraveling the Secrets of an Ancient Art.

Replicas of the sort of hooks used to remove the brain and clean the cranial cavity (Photo courtesy of The Science Museum (UK) Science and Society Picture Library)

The embalming took place inside a sacred tent called the ibu, or, “Place of Purification.”  The body would have first been washed with palm wine and then rinsed with water.  Next, the brain would have been removed.  The ancient Egyptians did not see the brain as a vital organ—thought and emotion were believed to take place in the heart, so the brain was simply removed.  Long hooks were inserted through the nostrils and into the skull, where it was originally believed they were used to tear away the brain a piece at a time.  As we will learn a little later, this was probably not exactly how the hooks were used.

Egyptian priests used mixtures of palm wine and fragrent resins to cleanse and seal the body

Once the brain was removed, palm wine and resin were poured through the nostrils to rinse and purify the hollow skull.  This would have removed any remaining blood and brain matter, and the natural disinfecting properties of the wine and resin would have helped kill bacteria, further hampering decomposition.  As the wine evaporated the resin would gradually harden, effectively sealing the skull from within.  More resin would be added later.  Once the brain was removed, the embalmers would have then begun the removal of the internal organs.

Bronze embalming tools (Photo courtesy of The Science Museum (UK) Science and Society Picture Library)

Extraction of the internal organs was important because, being composed of very soft and moist tissues, they were prone to rapid decay.  Bear in mind that the goal of mummification was to preserve the body before decomposition set in, so the embalmers would have wanted to empty and purify the torso as soon and completely as possible.   A small incision would have been made on the left side of the body through which the organs were removed.

Herodotus speaks of the embalmers using a knife made of black stone, probably obsidian, to make this incision.  However, since copper and bronze cutting tools have been found with other embalming tools, it was assumed that the stone knife was probably used for ritual purposes.  But as we shall see, Mumab taught us that Herodotus was probably right about the stone knife being used to make the incision.

Weighing the heart against the feather of Ma’at—one of the trials of the afterlife (Photo by Jon Bodsworth)

Like any modern surgeon, the priest responsible for removing the organs through this small incision would have had nimble hands.  The heart was not removed because it was thought to be the center of human thought and emotion, and would be needed to pass the trials of judgment and enter the afterlife.  Other than the heart, everything else came out.  Once the organs were removed, the liver, intestines, stomach, and lungs were separated and readied for preservation.

The organs would have first been washed with palm wine and the aromatic resins of frankincense and myrrh.  In addition to the preservative qualities of these resins, Drs. Brier and Wade discovered that the frankincense and myrrh helped mask the rather unpleasant odors of working with a dead body.  As devout as the embalmer priests may have been, they were only human, and temperatures inside the ibu tent would have soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit.   Any relief from the smell would have been welcomed.

Canopic jars of Sitwerut, wife of Horkherty (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Once they were cleansed, the liver, intestines, stomach, and lungs were packed with natron into four special vessels called canopic jars.  Canopic jars could be made of anything from pottery and limestone to more precious materials such as alabaster or even gold.  There were specific jars for each of the four organs, and their look and religious function evolved over time.

During the Old Kingdom Period canopic jars were plain-featured with unadorned lids.  Old Kingdom canopic jars were rarely inscribed in any sort of way.  During the Middle Kingdom Period inscribed canopic jars were more common, and the stoppers were shaped like human heads, presumably the deceased.  By the Late Period the jars were much more ritualized, with lids shaped like the heads of the Four Sons of Horus, the gods responsible for the protection of their respective organs.

With the brain removed and the viscera packed into their canopic jars, the embalmers were now ready to begin the preparation of the body itself.  First the inside of the torso would be cleansed with palm wine and fragrant resins to flush out any remaining soft tissues and blood.  Then the inside of the body was stuffed with small sacks of natron to absorb moisture from within, and the body itself would have been covered in a mound of natron to pull moisture out.

Natron with a bowl of sawdust, also often used in mummification

Natron is a naturally occurring mixture of sodium chloride (salt), sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), and sodium carbonate decahydrate (ash soda).  Many of the rivers and lakes in Egypt’s delta had a high level of salinity, and when water from these sources evaporated they left deposits of natron on their banks.  One area had such an abundance of these salt lakes that it was named Wadi Natrun, the Valley of Natron.  Harvesting this valuable resource for the embalming industry would have undoubtedly been a lucrative business.

Bag of natron from Tutankhamun's embalming cache (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Natron is vital to mummification because it is the key to dehydrating the body fast enough to prevent decomposition.  Natron helps break down fats into oil and then absorbs these and other liquids from the body.  As the natron absorbed the bodily fluids it would harden into a crust which could then be removed.  Another chemical change that occurs with natron is that as it absorbs moisture it increases in alkalinity, which further helped with mummification by inhibiting the growth of bacteria.

Two of the unanswered questions about mummification, prior to Mumab, were A) how much natron did it take to mummify a human body, and B) how long did mummification take?  There were no real clues pertaining to the first question, but Herodotus contended that 70 days was the standard period for mummification.  After 40 days or so the sacks of natron would have been removed from the body cavity and then replaced with clean natron sacks, resin-soaked linen, aromatic herbs, and wood chips.

It was believed that after 40 days the body would have been finished drying.  The abdominal incision would have been sewn up, the skull stuffed with resin-soaked linen, and all other openings sealed.  Originally the organs would have been left in the canopic jars, but in later years the organs were removed, wrapped in resin-soaked linen, and sealed up inside the body

The body would have then been washed again with palm wine and anointed with resin and pleasant-smelling oils.  The body was now ready to be wrapped in linen, with resin applied to the bandaging to act as a glue and sealant.  The mummy might have had certain details and scriptures painted on it before being placed inside of one or more coffins and finally interred.

A fully wrapped and painted mummy, currently in the British Museum (Photo by Klafubra)

Opening of the mouth ceremony—preparing the body for the afterlife

In all, the “70 Day Rule” for mummification could be broken down into 15 days for cleansing and purification, 40 days for dehydration in natron, and then 15 days for wrapping and final rites.  This 70-day cycle also coincided with the 70 days the star Sirius spent “dying” as it made its journey across the night sky into the grave of the horizon.  Sirius, the “Dog Star,” was associated with Anubis, the god of mummification and the afterlife.

So now we will jump forward 2,000 years to Baltimore, 1994, where two mummy detectives were about to tackle some of mummification’s unanswered questions.

Mumab

Ronn Wade and Bob Brier

Sources such as Herodotus and tomb paintings, as well as the evidence of the mortuary tools themselves, gave a fairly good idea of how mummification was performed, but Egyptologists knew the picture was incomplete.  They knew, for example, that natron was the key to fast dehydration, but how much natron was required?  These were the types of questions that led Bob Brier to his epiphany—if he was really going to know how the ancients performed mummification, he would have to make one himself.  Dr. Brier decided to reverse engineer an ancient Egyptian mummy.

The potential benefits of doing an ancient Egyptian mummification under controlled conditions were huge.  Not only would it provide answers to questions like how much natron would be needed, it would allow Drs. Brier and Wade to test hypotheses such as whether or not an obsidian knife could have really been used to make the abdominal incision, or how effectively the brain could be removed by pulling it out with long hooks.

Dr. Tori Randall prepares a 550-year-old Peruvian child mummy for a CT scan for the San Diego Museum of Man. Mumab can serve as a point of comparison for actual ancient mummies (Photo by Official U.S. Navy Imagery)

Another advantage of Mumab was that he could serve as a sort of benchmark for mummy studies.  Unlike actual ancient mummies, Mumab’s embalmers knew all of his pre- and post-mortem conditions—how he died, how he was mummified, and how his body looked and behaved during each phase of his transformation.  Mumab would be the case study against which other mummies could be compared.

For the mummy to be an ideal benchmark, the donor had to be as average and unremarkable as possible.  He or she (it ended up being a he) would have to be similar in height and build to an average Egyptian, and he would need to have died of natural causes.  No major surgeries, as these would have produced “forensic artifacts” that one would not see in an ancient mummy.  No major diseases either, as these would have caused potentially unpredictable side effects and results from the mummification process, limiting his use as a benchmark.

As for the mummification itself, Drs. Brier and Wade would have to strictly follow what they knew of the ancient process.  All of the embalming tools would be expertly made replicas of the same tools the ancients used.  This meant recreating details even when the exact function was unknown.  The embalming board, for example, was depicted with what Dr. Brier describes as “railroad tie-like” horizontally-running slats that would have elevated the body several inches above the board.  At the time, the reason for these slats was unknown, but they were faithfully reproduced.

Linen from Tutankhamun’s embalming cache (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The ingredients would be, as much as possible, gathered from the same sources the ancient Egyptians would have used.  Four hundred pounds of natron were gathered from the Wadi Natrun.  Frankincense and myrrh were brought from Yemen, the same trade routes that supplied the ancient embalmers.  In some cases ingredients and materials had to be sought where available.  Palm wine, for instance, was acquired from Nigeria, and they had to go to Ireland to purchase 100 yards of pure, untreated linen.

The atmosphere and working conditions were also reproduced as accurately as possible.  For the embalming, Drs. Brier and Wade erected their own ibu tent inside a room at the University of Maryland Medical School.  The temperature inside the tent was kept at a constant 105 degrees Fahrenheit, with 22% humidity—the same conditions under which the ancient embalmers would have worked.  With the tools, ingredients, and working conditions reproduced as faithfully as possible, they were ready to begin.

So how exactly did this work? (National Geographic)

One of the first things Drs. Brier and Wade learned was that a brain cannot be pulled out of the skull through the nostrils by long hooks.  Brains are pretty mushy, so it was sort of like trying to pull soft tofu through the neck of a wine bottle with a fondue fork.  They discovered that the hooks were probably used to scramble the brain into a liquid that could then be poured out.  The barbed shape allowed pieces of linen to be inserted and then pulled back out, so the hooks were a kind of multi-purpose cranial cleaning tool.

Another thing Mumab taught us was that Herodotus was right about the stone knife.  Dr. Brier had enlisted a large team of specialists to make the tools he would need to assure they would be both authentic and of appropriate quality.  What he discovered in the ibu tent was that the obsidian knife worked considerably better than the copper and bronze knives.  In fact, obsidian is able to take an edge 1/6^th the thickness of a modern scalpel, and is used by some surgeons today.  Dr. Brier reported that the “stone knife” used by the ancient embalmers cut more cleanly and neatly than surgical steel.

Regarding the embalming board, they learned the purpose of the “railroad tie-like” slats.  During the drying out phase, when the body is covered with natron, it is just as important that it lies on top of a bed of natron as well.  Gravity pulls the moisture in a dead body downward.  If a body is left lying on its back, the fluids will pool in the parts that touch the ground—the upper back, buttocks, and backs of the legs.  This is why dead bodies appear heavily bruised on their downward facing side.

For this reason, there had to be a good quantity of natron beneath the dehydrating body.  But if you lay a body on top of a pile of something the consistency of table salt for forty days, you find that another effect of gravity is displacement.  The natron will gradually conform to the shape of the body as the heavier parts push it outward and away.  This results in thinner layers of natron where you need it the most—the upper back, buttocks, and the backs of the legs.

Mumab on his mortuary board

The horizontal slats on the surface of the embalming board created furrows into which the natron could be packed, and these troughs held the natron in place throughout the entire drying process.  Parts of the body that did not lie flat, such as the neck and the small of the back, could be situated over the slats (with natron beneath them as well, of course), so that as the body settled the lower parts would still be nestled in a thick bed of natron.  So the embalming board was specifically designed to allow the back of the body to dehydrate evenly.

Once the body was packed in natron it was time to close up the tent and wait.  Dr. Brier decided on a 35-day drying period.  At the end of the 35 days the tent was reopened and the natron was removed from the body.  The first thing the researchers noted was that after 35 days in natron the mummy looks pretty much the way it will thousands of years later.  So it is not the passage of time that gives mummies their characteristic withered look, it is the actual dehydrating process itself.

Another thing Dr. Brier noticed was that Mumab weighed more than expected.  The body weighed 180 lbs at the beginning of the drying process, and after 35 days he only weighed 60 lbs.  That was a significant loss, but it was still too heavy for a fully desiccated body.  Mumab was not done yet.  But there were no signs of decomposition either, and the presence of moisture in the larger muscles meant that the body was still a little flexible.

Wrapping Mumab

Dr. Brier had first thought that since the body had not completely dehydrated in the 35 day period that the experiment had failed, but he wanted to be certain, so he decided to put the mummy back into the ibu tent for another three months.  Rather than simply repacking the body in natron, the team decided to do a preliminary wrapping, which is when Dr. Brier began to suspect that the goal of the 35 day drying period may not have been total dehydration after all.  The flexibility provided by the remaining moisture made wrapping the mummy much easier than it would have been if it was completely dried out.

When the Egyptian priests applied the linen wrapping they didn’t simply roll the body up like a cocoon, they wrapped the limbs individually and a lot of attention was paid to detail and thoroughness.  Completely dried out bodies are very brittle, and the sort of jostling required by wrapping the body would make damage very likely.  But after the 35 day period (or 40, by Herodotus’ reckoning) the body was dry enough that it could receive a preliminary wrapping without having to worry about decomposition taking place under the bandages, but pliable enough that the body would not be damaged during this process.

Pliability also meant that the body could be posed during the preliminary wrapping.  This was important for royal mummies because the positioning of the arms denoted social rank.  Once the mummy was completely dried out this would have been impossible.  The arms would have simply broken.

Ptolemaic Period mummy on display at the Louvre,Département des Antiquités égyptiennes. This sort of intricate wrapping would have required constant manipulation of the body, including the limbs. Could this be done with a fully dehydrated body? (Photo by Dada)

So Mumab taught us that the 35 (or 40) day drying period in natron was not intended to completely dry the body out.  When the mummy is drying it is important to have as much of the skin as possible in direct contact with natron.  This means that posing the mummy in its final position during the 35 day period would probably not have been possible as this would have meant that part of the arms and torso would not have been exposed to the drying agent.

Mumab wrapped

Dr. Brier concluded that the 35 days in natron dehydrated the body just enough to stall decomposition until the total process was completed, but not so much that the body could not be posed and safely receive its preliminary wrapping.  When Mumab was finally taken out of the tent after the three month period, Dr. Brier’s conclusion was vindicated—the body now weighed about 38 lbs, so it was completely dehydrated, and there had been no decomposition.  The experiment was a success.

The final step was a complete set of CT scans of the mummy.  This was important for researchers who would come later to compare actual ancient mummies to Mumab.  The CT scans were a sort of road map of what a royal mummy could be expected to look like.  Also, one of Mumab’s feet was left unwrapped so that every couple of years a tissue sample could be taken to assure that all was well and there was still no decomposition.

Bob with Mumab (Courtesy of National Geographic)

Mumab filled a lot of the gaps in what we knew about ancient Egyptian mummification.  We now know how the brain was probably extracted—not piece by piece, but more like pouring gravy from a teapot.  We know that the sharpest tool in the embalmer’s kit was not made from copper or bronze, but from obsidian.  We know how the design of the embalming board assured even dehydration and prevented pockets of blood and fat from settling and putrefying.  And we know that the mummy was not removed from natron at 35-40 days because it was finished, but because it was ready for wrapping and posing.

Dr. Brier also learned how much natron it takes to mummify an average human being—400 lbs—which is a good thing, because that was all he had collected!

Mumab Today

After being stored at room temperature for sixteen years at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Mumab still shows no evidence of decay.  He made his West Coast debut on June 10, 2011, when he went on permanent loan to the San Diego Museum of Man Modern Day Mummy exhibition.  Although he takes center stage, he shares the spotlight with shrunken heads from Ecuador, a 1,800-year-old mummy from Denmark found in a bog with a noose around his neck, as well as other mummies from around the world.

The exhibition includes a lecture series covering subjects such as the role of MRI and CT scans in mummy forensics, funerary practices in American history, comparing Hollywood mummies to the real thing, and natural mummification in Southern California.  The exhibit also takes a look at the sort of difficulties mummy researchers might encounter while working in the field, such as what to do when a mummy cannot be moved due to technical, cultural, or ethical reasons.

Lemon Grove Girl and Infant—one of the ethical dilemmas mummy researchers face is what to do with stolen mummies (Photo by Superfem)

One example of an ethical dilemma comes from the SDMoM’s own collection.  Two of the mummies on display, those of a young woman and a baby, come with a troubling provenance.  Thought to be around 500 years old, the mummies were discovered in a cave in Chihuahua, Mexico, in 1966 by two teenagers who then smuggled them illegally across the border and stored them in their garage, where they were left to be rediscovered by new owners.  Naturally, the police were called but, once murder is ruled out, what does one do with stolen mummies?

In this case the mummies were given to the SDMoM by the government of Mexico, but not all situations are as open and shut.  What if the mummies had been purchased from a private collection before their history was uncovered?  Reputations and careers have been damaged by circumstances such as these, and museums typically end up losing both the money invested and the mummies themselves, all because somebody somewhere along the chain of custody did not follow protocol.

Non-invasive methods such as this CT Scan of a Peruvian mummy allow for better analysis of mummies with minimal risk of damage (Photo by Official U.S. Navy Imagery)

By lending his star power to the SDMoM, Mumab is helping bring attention to these matters.  The ethical issues of properly handling and studying mummies were also the focus of this year’s World Mummy Congress, which is probably part of the reason why the attendants were treated to a fieldtrip to the SDMoM exhibition.  Advances in noninvasive analysis, such as CT and MRI scans, help address some of these concerns, but science can only go so far.  Mummies were once living human beings, and not all of them donated their bodies to science.

Mumab will continue to play his role as ambassador between ancient mummies and modern researchers in his new home at the San Diego Museum of Man.  As the tools and methods of mummy studies continue to evolve, Mumab will undoubtedly have more to teach us in the future.  And he will have plenty of time to do so.  Thanks to the expert treatment of Drs. Brier and Wade, Mumab can expect to be around for at least a few thousand years more.

Mumab at his new home (Courtesy of the San Diego Museum of Man)

To see more images of Mumab at the San Diego Museum of Man, as well as learn more about the Modern Day Mummy exhibition, be sure to read Modern Day Mummy—The San Diego Museum of Man Takes You From the Lab to the Field here on Em Hotep!

Bonus Video

If you would like to watch a full-length lecture by Dr. Bob Brier discussing Mumab, the following video has been provided to the public by the University of Richmond.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2011.  All rights reserved.

The following photographs and images are used in accordance with the GNU Free Documentation License and may be reused under the same provisions:  PredynasticBurial-ROM.png by Keith Schengili-Roberts; natural mummy from El Museo de las Momias Guanajuato, Mexico by Tomas Castelazo; AGMA_H~1.JPG by Marsyas; MiddleKingdomCanopicJar_RosicrucianEgyptianMuseum.png by Captmondo; painted Mummy_at_British_Museum by Klafubra; Egyptian_mummy_(Louvre).jpg by Dada.  The following photographs and images are used in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.0 Generic License and may be reused under the same provisions:  WLANL_-_andrevanb_-_kist_uit_de_27-_31e_dynastie_(4).jpg by Andrevanb; Ginger predynastic natural mummy by Seriykotik1970; mummy CT scan from SDMoM by Official U.S. Navy Imagery; Lemon grove girl by Superfem; ct scan of peruvian mummy by Official U.S. Navy Imagery.  The following photographs and images are used in accordance with theCreative Commons Attribution-Sharealike 2.5 Generic License and may be reused under the same provisions:  Douamoutef.jpg ,  Dieu-Hapi.jpg ,  Amset.jpg , and  Kebehsenouf.jpg by Charly75.  The following images are from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and are used in accordance with their usage policies (all rights reserved):  h2_dapt_4.jpg, hb_1988_437_2.jpg, and hb_09_184_220.jpg.  The image “embalming table.png” from the British Museum is copyrighted by the Trustees of the British Museum and is used in accordance with their usage policies.  The following photos, images, and video clips are using in accordance with the Fair Use provisions of copyright law and are reproduced for the sole purpose of promoting discussion and are not used in any way that would inhibit the sale or trade of the originals:  Photo “Bob Brier” courtesy of the University of Richmond, all rights reserved; Photo “Ronn Wade” courtesy of CNN/Turner Broadcasting, all rights reserved; hommedia.png courtesy of The Science Museum (UK) Science and Society Picture Library, all rights reserved; 10284168.jpg courtesy of The Science Museum (UK) Science and Society Picture Library, all rights reserved; “ x-ray of mummy brain removal” from the video “Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs”, courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved;  “ Bob with Mumab” from the video “Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs”, courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved; “ronbob.jpg”, “Mumab on his mortuary board”, “wrapping Mumab”, “Mumab wrapped” courtesy of Cartage.org; video clip “embalming a mummy” from the video “Royal Mummy”, courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved; video clip “gathering ingredients for Mumab” from the video “Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs” courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved; video clip “dehydrating the body with natron” from the video “Egypt: Secrets of the Pharaohs” courtesy of National Geographic, all rights reserved.  The following photos and images are in the public domain:  “Huy’s workshop”; MALER_~1.JPG; BD_Hunefer_cropped_1.jpg by Jon Bodsworth; Sawdust_and_Natron_salt_for_mummification_39a798e19218ea60f039.jpg; Opening_of_the_mouth_ceremony.jpg.

“Red-painted numbers and graffiti are very common around Giza,” advises Peter Der Manuelian, an Egyptologist at Harvard University and director of the Giza Archives at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. “They are often masons’ or work-gangs’ marks, denoting numbers, dates or even the names of the gangs.”

There is a lot to be excited about with the Djedi mission, but we need to keep the discoveries in context until Egyptologists have had an opportunity to analyze the findings and their implications.  But that does not mean that we can’t have some fun in the meanwhile…

Dr. Zahi Hawass has been dropping tantalizing bits of news about the mission to explore the Queen’s Chamber shafts for several years now.  When news broke that a team at Leeds University, backed by the Passion for Innovation initiative from Dassault Systèmes, had been selected to lead the mission Em Hotep took notice.  According to Hawass:

I selected the Djedi team during a competition that I coordinated to pick the best possible robot to explore the shafts in the Great Pyramid. I decided on a team sponsored by Leeds University and supported by Dassault Systèmes in France. (Source:  Zahi Hawass Website:  The Djedi Robot)

Dassault Systèmes provides financial and technical support for two other projects close to our hearts:  Project Khufu and (speaking of Peter Der Manuelian) the Giza 3D Project.  Judging from the incredibly detailed and scientifically accurate 3D animation produced by Dassault Systèmes’ for these other projects (just click on any of the videos in the Project Khufu and Giza 3D Media Clearinghouses), combined with the engineering genius of Shaun Whitehead, we knew to expect some audiovisual magic.  We were right.

Knowing how eager the public is for more info and a better understanding of the Djedi Project, Mehdi Tayoubi and the team from Dassault Systèmes spent the weekend putting together this fantastic video that shows Djedi in his “natural habitat”—exploring the Queen’s Chamber shaft.  Another advantage of 3D is that you get to see the layout of the shaft in relation to the rest of the pyramid.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Industrial 3D is more than just a visually pleasing way to supplement the “hard science”… It is hard science.  The models produced by the 3D engineers at Dassault Systèmes are accurate down to the last detail.  The same software that is used to design and make predictions about the life cycle of everything from race cars to supertankers has been lent to the field of Egyptology, allowing researchers to share information to people of all fields, languages, and levels of expertise in a visual manner.  As Mehdi Tayoubi explains:

…3D is not only a tool for engineers and we believe that the best way to experience this adventure for yourself is through 3D experiences we are able to deliver…in a virtual 3D world, to help the public -all publics- understand what the robot has seen.   (Source:  3D Perspectives:  Exclusive 3D Reconstruction of the Djedi Robot Findings in the Great Pyramid)

So while rumors of hidden treasure and 4,500 year old secret messages continue to float around the web, we encourage you to keep a level head.  Sources such as the 3D Perspectives blog, Zahi Hawass’ official website, and, of course, Em Hotep, will keep you informed of the very real and very exciting details as the Dassault Systèmes/Leeds University joint expedition continues.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2011.  All rights reserved.

I promised I would try to get another chapter of Hemienu to Houdin out before leaving for Paris and the premier of Khufu Reborn, but in these last days it just became too impractical.  Part of what makes the series so fun and informative is my fairly unrestricted access to the man himself, Jean-Pierre Houdin.  But as he and the team from Dassault Systèmes make the final arrangements at la Géode, Jean-Pierre’s time has become an increasingly rare commodity.  Besides, in a couple of days I will be able to talk with him face-to-face without feeling like I am imposing on his schedule.

So the series will conclude when I return from the conference and coverage of “Episode 2:  Khufu Reborn” will begin in earnest.  But in the meanwhile I am offering this excellent insider’s glimpse into how Dassault Systèmes became involved with Jean-Pierre and future directions we can anticipate.  My good friend and fellow Egyptology blogger (still hate that word), Marc Chartier, proprietor of the Pyramidales website, recently had the opportunity to interview Mehdi Tayoubi,  Director of Interactive Innovation at Dassault Systèmes. 

By a special arrangement with Marc I have translated the interview from its original French and am presenting it here in its entirety for my English-language readers.  The original interview, in French, is available from Pyramidales here.

"Khufu Revealed" at la Géode (Courtesy of Dassault Systèmes)

Dassault Systèmes is widely recognized as a world leader specializing in creating 3D virtual worlds serving the purposes of businesses of all sizes and in all sectors of industry, and the Passion for Innovation program, launched in 2005, has been spearheading this effort.  Conceived as a pool for spawning new ideas and applications for 3D technology, the Passion for Innovation program has been providing tools and technical support to individuals and nonprofit organizations and institutions to allow them to explore and convey their ideas.

The Passion for Innovation program currently supports projects as diverse as the accomplished sailor and navigator Michel Desjoyeaux’s challenge to design a new monohull vessel in less than six months (check out the 3D virtual tour of M. Desjoyeaux and Team Fonica’s success) to George Mougin’s vision to tap icebergs as a resource for people without access to potable water (check out the Ice Dream project here).  And, of course, the work of architect Jean-Pierre Houdin—Khufu Revealed.

The team at Passion for Innovation has demonstrated their commitment to the field of Egyptology not only with the work of Jean-Pierre, but in their involvement with Peter Der Manuelian’s Giza Archives Project and the Djedi robot project headed up by Shaun Whitehead. 

Dassault Systems has become adept at the art of combining cutting edge technology with the antiquity of Egypt.  Through the virtual world of 3D we come to a better understanding of and appreciation for the ingenuity of the pyramid builders.  The Passion for Innovation team’s expertise in this endeavor continues to grow.

To help us better understand this “passion”, this engagement with projects aimed at a better understanding of the civilization of ancient Egypt, Mehdi Tayoubi, Director of Interactive Innovation at Dassault Systems and of the Passion for Innovation program, has kindly offered to answer some questions from Pyramidales.  Again, I would like to cordially thank him for his time.

Mehdi Tayoubi (Courtesy of Dassault Systèmes)

Pyramidales:   The Khufu Revealed project, which will very soon see important and substantial developments, was quickly integrated into the Passion for Innovation program.  How did this unusual bridge between an ancient civilization and highly developed modern technology come to be?  How did you arrive at Egypt?

Mehdi Tayoubi:  In 2005 we created the Passion for Innovation program in order to make our technologies and expertise in virtual worlds and 3D simulation available for innovative projects. 

The work of Jean-Pierre Houdin was the first project that came to our attention.  Immediately after the detailed presentation of his theory to Richard Breitner and myself we realized that the Egyptians who were the subject of his work were the engineers of their time who had to accomplish the feat of building the Great Pyramid.  Using the know-how of their time, they had to organize an industrial project on the same scale as Dassault Systems’ largest clients today in sectors such as automotive, aviation, and “fast moving consumer goods” manufacturing.

Our customers use virtual environments every day to design in 3D, to work in groups in order to test their products and design the implementation processes that will bring their products to life in the real world.  The virtual world allows them to anticipate and simulate all potential conditions and how their product will perform before the actual implementation of that product in the real world.

Mehdi Tayoubi, Jean-Pierre Houdin, Richard Breitner—Glasses for the virtual to better understand the real (Courtesy of Dassault Systèmes)

Like architects such as Frank Gehry, who use our software to create buildings that break with traditional architecture and borrow from the processes and methods of the industrial world, we thought the best way to approach this challenge with Jean-Pierre was to treat the pyramid like one of our industrial sites:  we would use our tools to simulate key stages of Jean-Pierre’s theory to test its consistency and see if it was possible to reconstruct a pyramid the same way.

Virtual worlds and 3D are tools that allow us to travel into the future, since they project and simulate the real lives of the products.  But with the Khufu Revealed project we saw that they also offer, through the methods of reverse engineering, the opportunity to travel back in time and space.

What attracted us to Jean-Pierre’s work was the scientific nature of his theory:  it may have started with intuition, but it has subsequently been fueled by long and tenacious reflection on all the methods used to reconstruct the pyramid from A to Z.  Jean-Pierre’s ideas have been corroborated by evidence subsequently found in the terrain.  This resulted in a theory we had the ability to simulate and verify with means available to us.

To put it simply and bluntly: if Jean-Pierre was right and the internal ramps are still there, it is simple to demonstrate their existence with light and non-invasive methods.

Pyramidales:  The “virtual”, which is the basis of simulation techniques in 3D, is an isolated environment designed to allow you to represent “reality” as neutrally as possible, for example, our current knowledge of the techniques used to build the pyramids.  Or does this also allow you to manipulate, so to speak, these objects to further interpret and develop your knowledge of them?  In other words, are you content to represent the images visually and objectively—I almost said “passively”—or do you also simulate how these objects will behave over time?

Mehdi Tayoubi:  We provide solutions by creating 3D modeling and simulation that is as close to reality as possible.  When you design a car in the virtual world and simulate a crash test, the digital crash test must conform to reality to allow engineers to make decisions in terms of design.  These same concepts can be used, for example, by manufacturers of baby diapers to simulate the flow of fluids.    

We have likewise taken the mechanics, physics, and processes involved in Jean-Pierre’s theories and translated them into the virtual 3D world.  The visual result of the application of our industrial tools to this task helped validate his work and refine his theories.

Fine element analysis of the cracking of the King's Chamber (Courtesy of Dassault Systèmes)

A concrete example of this is the analysis of the cracks in the King’s Chamber. Many assume or claim that the Egyptians raised the first ceiling and it immediately cracked.  This hypothesis has opened the door to many conjectures (for example: the existence of another burial chamber as of yet undiscovered).

After a year spent in virtual contact the Egyptians of the Old Kingdom, we were left in wonder over how clever and organized they were, leaving nothing to chance:  the construction of a room with a flat ceiling, with sixty-ton beams that had to be transported 900 km and raised to an elevation of more than 43 meters, these are not things that can be improvised.  It was therefore impossible to believe the Egyptian builders had made an error, even in the presence of cracks in the King’s Chamber!

We therefore used simulation software and finite element analysis to recreate the cracks and simulate different hypotheses until we found the right combination of conditions that produced cracks in the virtual world identical to those in the real world.

The only solution we reached was the following:  the cracking occurred only once the room was fully completed, with all its ceilings and masonry above it in place. The Egyptians had indeed made a mistake, but an extremely minor one.  In any case, there was no reason to fear the burial chamber would collapse, and thus, no reason to build another.  The room was nearly perfect!

Working in 3D allows you to see the world differently and ask new questions.  This allows different hypotheses to emerge that we would not necessarily have thought of before.  Once these hypotheses are realized, the simulation allows you to refine your work and develop new theories before establishing the protocols for validation in the real world.  We see it every day, especially with the Giza 3D project: the 3D recreation of mastabas from the site at Giza requires our Egyptologist friends at Harvard to ask new questions.

Pyramidales:   When Passion for Innovation becomes connected with a project you become not only partners, but more or less directly involved. But your belief in the feasibility of a project or a theory, which is necessary to get the ball rolling, sometimes involves controversial ideas.  Are you required to actually take part in these debates?  In the case that interests us most here, given the recurring conflicts within the field of Egyptology, and especially involving “pyramidology”, do you stay out of the “brawl”?

Simulation of the melting of an iceberg—“Our world needs innovation to solve the major challenges it faces" (Quote: Mehdi Tayoubi, courtesy of Dassault Systèmes)

Mehdi Tayoubi:  Many of the projects we support may seem iconoclastic.  These are breakthrough projects, which require us to ask questions differently.  The break in the case of Jean-Pierre and his father was simple: “Why toil to build the whole pyramid from the outside, why not attempt it from within!”

Our world needs innovation to solve the major challenges it faces.  We are desperately short of engineers and we know that in many areas we will have to do things differently.  We must encourage interdisciplinary meetings, fighting a priori.  Virtual worlds and new tools allow these meetings, the special opportunities to collaborate and reflect, to develop new ideas without having to first create them in the real world.  But virtual worlds are not an end in themselves, they must serve the real progress of knowledge and well-being.  We hope through the projects we support to help others develop a taste and passion for innovation and to encourage more scientific vocations.

In the case of Jean-Pierre’s theory, so what if there is controversy!  What matters is the journey, not the destination.  To think differently about the problem is, no matter the outcome, to advance knowledge.  What matters is that if one were to reconstruct the same pyramid—147 meters high, with a King’s Chamber topped with a flat ceiling, using the tools of the time—we know it could be done…  All that remains is to check and see if the internal ramps are there [in the Great Pyramid] or not…

"Virtual worlds are not an end in themselves" (Quote: Mehdi Tayoubi, courtesy of Dassault Systèmes)

Egyptologists at Harvard University comprehend the spirit in which we work.  They recognized the opportunities these new methods and tools offer for the advancement of their discipline and, in virtual worlds, a way of allowing different scientific specialties and audiences (researchers, academicians, the public…) to meet in real time.  We have already equipped Harvard with a virtual reality room and Peter Der Manuelian, in front of a class equipped with 3D glasses, uses these tools to allow his students to experience new concepts as he is teaching.

 This is also what we did with public schools at la Géode, transformed by our team into a virtual reality room.  Three mornings a week students and their teachers enjoyed interactive lectures and experienced, through Kheops 3D, architecture, mechanics, history, and new technologies.  It is my hope that this interactive 3D experience, through the story of Jean-Pierre, has given them a taste of the research and its challenges.

 It is in this same spirit that we support the University of Leeds and Dr. Zahi Hawass with the Djedi mission.  The robot that will investigate the shafts leading out of the Queen’s Chamber should work perfectly:  it was designed and simulated with our tools.  Again, whether this robot finds something or not, the important thing is to lead the expedition and mark the trail for future researchers who will continue to work on the Giza Plateau.

One must leave the petty quarrels and focus on helping the engineers and researchers in their passionate quest.  On the Giza Plateau today, we support people who specialize in robotics and an architect who specializes in Egyptology.

Pyramidales:  A consultation program connected with Passion for Innovation reveals how these challenges and projects relate to current events and applications.  Even the Roman Velum project (techniques used by the Romans to protect spectators from the elements with huge curtains on their arena) can find a modern application. In this inventory, Khufu Revealed seems to be an exception.  But if there are exceptions, how does it justify the “rule” of your goals?

Mehdi Tayoubi:  A scientific approach, an expert in his field, passionate, highly motivated, and ready to roll up his sleeves with our team to advance knowledge: the examples are not simply an accumulation of these characteristics. When we meet a person who combines all these advantages, we try to go through with it, although our Passion for Innovation team is relatively small and we sometimes have to make tradeoffs.

A scientific approach (Courtesy of Dassault Systèmes)

The success of Khufu Revealed attracted a lot of attention from with Dassault Systèmes.  Many of our engineers are now knocking on our door to offer us their assistance, beyond their official duties within the company.

We are confident that these new technologies could revolutionize many areas beyond the industry. The story is one among many. ”

Pyramidales:  3D imaging is currently the top technology for simulating reality in virtual terms and language.  Do you intend to further develop and evolve these techniques?  Could we not, for example, expect to see further pairing between 3D technology and non-invasive means of archaeological surveying, such as radar and microgravimetry?  It is being used to undress departing passengers at airports.  Can we hope to someday “undress” a not-entirely-random section of the Great Pyramid?

Non-invasive techniques for observing monuments

Mehdi Tayoubi:   The technology for pairing data from the real world and our universe already exists.  The means of transferring real-world data into the virtual world are numerous (radars, ground survey points, scanners, etc..).

Regarding the “undressing” of the pyramid, we are of course always gathering new data from the site to enhance our models and refine them.  We conducted a theoretical undressing by simulating what a mission using infrared thermography should reveal if the internal ramps are there, but as any specialist in this field must do, we need to take measurements from the real world to corroborate the theoretical model.  We have many partnerships in this area and on the Giza Plateau, we should be making some new announcements very soon. 

Interactive 3D—Looking differently for a better view (Courtesy of Dassault Systèmes)

Pyramidales:  The format designed by your team of 3D professionals is now being used to present the theories developed by Jean-Pierre to the general public.  You have mastered these techniques better than anyone else and have translated, for educational purposes, a very technical body of work in a rather spectacular manner.  But do you fear this runs the risk of cloaking the true scientific scope of your work?  Is it not possible that people will mistake your scientific analyses for simple entertainment?

Mehdi Tayoubi:  I divide the 3D imagery work we have done with Jean-Pierre into two distinct worlds.  First we used simulation tools for industrial and scientific tests to validate and refine his theory.  Once this phase was completed we sought opportunities such as can be found at la Géode to share this theory with the greatest number of people we could and make 3D interactive a tool for learning, sharing and conveying emotion.

Copyright by Marc Chartier, 2011.  All rights reserved.

Methinks I will be successful…

Project Khufu Timeline

Jean-Pierre Houdin (Courtesy of National Geographic)

In its earliest years, the best theory of how the Great Pyramid was built was making its rounds within the innermost circles of Egyptology.  Only a few people were “in the know” well enough to appreciate what had been accomplished—a French Architect named Jean-Pierre Houdin had formulated a theory of how the Great Pyramid was built that took into account the tools and methods that we know the Egyptians had at the time, the challenges of the terrain, and the evidence, some of which had not yet been recognized as such.

The average person with only a casual interest in Egypt has not spent much time pondering how the Great Pyramid was built, and many unfortunately still assume that it was built by slaves (it wasn’t) working on a long ramp that went all the way to the top (it didn’t) which then somehow disappeared into the sands of the desert (it couldn’t).  We have Hollywood to thank for that.  Jean-Pierre presented the first comprehensive theory that actually did work, and with a little help from his friends, brought it to the general public in a way that not only made sense but was actually interesting.

La Géode, Paris (Photo by Suaudeau)

In March, 2007, Jean-Pierre premiered his work at La Géode in Paris, and did so in a way that transported viewers to the Giza Plateau of 4,500 years ago to see how the Great Pyramid could have been built.  Working with some of the brightest engineers and experts in industrial 3D imaging technology, courtesy of Dassault Systèmes, Jean-Pierre was able to immerse the audience into the world of the pyramid builders and show what the architecture and evidence tell us. For the first time he was able to present his theory and demonstrate its validity to people of all levels of experience and interest.

From 2007 to 2010 Jean-Pierre’s work continued to be presented three times a week at La Géode as Kheops 3D, a 3D stand-alone version of his March, 2007, presentation.  Powered by the same imaging technology Dassault Systèmes uses in everything from designing exotic race cars to aerospace and defense applications, Kheops 3D took even the most the abstract and technical aspects of Jean-Pierre’s work and literally rendered it into a purely visual experience that anyone can follow.

Bob Brier (Courtesy of National Geographic)

Meanwhile, support for Jean-Pierre continued to gain momentum within the world of Egyptologists.  Another of his earliest and most vocal supporters was the Egyptologist Dr. Bob Brier, most often associated with his work with mummies, but who has more recently been writing and lecturing about ancient Egyptian architecture.   Support is perhaps an understatement.  Dr. Brier not only made the necessary introductions between Jean-Pierre and some of the other luminaries of the Egyptological world, he co-wrote The Secret of the Great Pyramid with Jean-Pierre.

In 2008, while filming the documentary Khufu Revealed, Dr. Brier discovered a small room in an exposed niche in the north-east ridge of the Great Pyramid.  His attention was drawn to the niche in the first place because Jean-Pierre theorizes that such niches would have existed at the junction points where one stretch of the internal ramp gives way to another.  This particular niche is where Jean-Pierre calculated that a north-bound corridor would have connected to a west-bound corridor.  Dr. Brier’s observations were not entirely conclusive, but the discovery inspired Jean-Pierre and the team from Dassault Systèmes to redouble their work.  (For more details see Archaeology:  “Update—Return to the Great Pyramid” by Bob Brier)

Since then Project Khufu has been using cutting edge non-invasive methods and technology to survey, model, and analyze not just the Great Pyramid, but the entire plateau and other pyramids on the vast plain known as the Memphis Necropolis.  The results of their work, which includes a massive expansion of Jean-Pierre’s theories as well as an impressive new immersive 3D presentation, will premiere, again at La Géode, on January 27, 2011.

Dassault Systèmes and Why They Matter

At first glance it may seem that Dassault Systèmes’ involvement is primarily in creating the stunning 3D eye candy that brings Jean-Pierre’s ideas to life.  And at second glance a more astute observer might realize that Dassault Systèmes’s 3D rendering technology and engineering expertise provide a level of exactitude that goes well beyond the DIY modeling of most theories of the Great Pyramid.  But their importance to Jean-Pierre’s work goes even deeper than this.

Dassault Systèmes does not just provide 3D modeling of facilities and equipment, from the bird’s eye view of a manufacturing plant down to the smallest bolt in the most delicate machine in the site, they also perform virtual stress testing to predict what might happen elsewhere in the facility if that little bolt fails.  They can tell you the life expectancy of the machines and the products they will make.  They can tell you where the worker will have to stand to remain safe and avoid Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.  In other words, they don’t just make pretty models, they know everything you can possibly know about the end result.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There are plenty of firms that could have done attractive 3D imaging of Jean-Pierre’s ideas, but the significance of this marriage between the architect and the engineers is their ability to generate theories and then actually test them under laboratory conditions.  So the structures above the King’s Chamber in Khufu’s Pyramid are called the stress-relieving compartments.  Did they actually relieve stress?  Is there evidence?  Can you prove it?  What Dassault Systèmes brings to the table is the tools and the expertise to be able to say “Yes, yes, and yes…  Now let’s show you.”

Khufu Reborn

Khufu Reborn is the official launching of the next phase of Project Khufu, which will go beyond the Great Pyramid.  It is not just an update of Jean-Pierre’s theories, it is the next step in the evolution of a new way of looking at the architecture of ancient Egypt.  The project began not with Jean-Pierre, but with his father, Henri Houdin, also an architect, who asked himself, “If I were given the task of building the Great Pyramid, how would I do it?”  Henri ignored the theories that had gone before, which suffered from a tendency to gloss over details they could not explain.  How would an actual builder build this?

Mehdi Tayoubi (Courtesy of Gedeon/Dassault Systèmes)

This legacy has passed from father to son, and from architect to engineer.  With the involvement of Mehdi Tayoubi and Richard Breitner from Dassault Systèmes, the question continues to be how did the builders actually build this?  Jean-Pierre Houdin says he has figured it out, and the evidence certainly seems to back him up.  The team from Dassault Systèmes has put much effort into determining whether or not his theories could work and whether his interpretation of the evidence fits into the physical and technological world of Hemienu, Khufu’s Overseer of Royal Projects. 

Richard Breitner (Courtesy of Gedeon/Dassault Systèmes)

Khufu Reborn should provide more answers.  I will be there to cover the event, and will have plenty of opportunity to speak with Jean-Pierre about his work—past, present, and future.  I will also try to get some time with Mehdi Tayoubi.  If you have been following the Egyptological headlines you will know that Dassault Systèmes has also recently partnered with Peter Der Manuelian and the Giza Archives Project to form Giza 3D, and will also be contributing to the project based at Leeds University to explore the shafts in the Great Pyramid, the much-touted robot crawlers project!  Maybe I can learn more about this trend and the future of Dassault Systèmes’s involvement in Egyptology.

One thing we do know…  It all began with a French architect saying Aha!

Note:  I will try to get one more chapter of Hemienu to Houdin posted before leaving for Paris, but I can’t make any promises!  But I can promise I will finish the series, even if some of the concepts will be outdated.  I feel it is important to have the full evolution of Jean-Pierre’s work accessible for future analysis.

Copyright by Keith Payne, 2011.  All rights reserved.

Photo “Cite_des_sciences_de_la_Villette_-_Panorama3” by Suaudeau is in the public domain.  Still images “Mehdi Tayoubi” and “Richard Breitner” are taken from the video “Kheops Revele”, copyright by Gedeon/Dassault Systemes, used with permission, all rights reserved.  Still photos “Bob Brier and Khufu”, “Jean-Pierre at work”, and the video clip “Analyzing the beams above the King’s Chamber” are taken from the National Geographic video “Unlocking the Great Pyramid,” copyright by National Geographic (orig. air: 11/16/2008), all rights reserved.  This video clip and the related still images are used in accordance with the fair use provisions of the Copyright Act.

But seriously, do drop in on Tim’s Ten Events Concerning Egyptology..  Most of the news is good, and the source is impeccable!

By the way, I don’t mention often enough the outstanding websites out there that keep us informed without having to subscribe to trade journals with triple digit annual rates.  Here are a few:

• Required reading for all Egyptophiles from the professional to the mildly curious would be Andie Byrnes’ Egyptology News.  Comprehensive and copiously updated, if it is at all relevant to Egyptology Andie will have it covered. 
• Kate Phizackerley’s News from the Valley of the Kings is the total source for Thebes and thereabout.  Kate’s analysis is no-nonsense and she is not afraid to take on the Powers That Be when a story does not hold up.
• I can’t say enough positive things about Vincent Brown’s Talking Pyramids, who’s critical eye and journalistic ethic let me know how high the bar is set when I first started Em Hotep.
• Su Bayfield’s Egyptian Monuments is one of the online sources I check for nearly every article I write.  It is a very well organized encyclopedia of Egyptology with photography that belongs in an art gallery.

Of course, all of the sites I link in the bars to the far right have been vetted and approved by the vast Em Hotep editorial staff, but these four plus Tim’s Egyptians are the places I go to pretty much on a daily basis and I highly recommend that you bookmark them.