Step Pyramid at Saqqara to be laser scanned
An Egyptian-Japanese-American mission has been organized to create a virtual three-dimensional model of Egypt’s oldest pyramid.
The so-called Zoser Scanner will be carried on the backs of professional climbers as they rappel down the faces of the pyramid’s six gigantic steps. It uses infrared signals to gather coordinates and elevations of the thousands of points on the monument in order to create a virtual three-dimensional model of the Step Pyramid, which will be a valuable reference for restorers, archaeologists, and architects involved in the restoration of the pyramid and for the continual monitoring of its condition.
The survey is being conducted in collaboration with a Japanese mission headed by Kosuke Sato of Osaka University and an American mission led by Mark Lehner, director of Ancient Egypt Research Associates (AERA). This project intends on completing the archaeological documentation of the Step Pyramid in order to better understand its various stages of construction. A variety of laser scanners will be used, including the Zoser Scanner, which was custom designed to scan the pyramid by Develo Solutions of Osaka, Japan.
Sato pointed out that for more than 70 years French architect Jean-Philippe Lauer had comprehensively studied and restored the Step Pyramid complex. Although his seminal work was indisputably considered the foundational study on pyramids, his theories were based on his schematic plans and sections, which are not facsimiles of the actual state of the monument.
The laser scanning survey of the Step Pyramid will take four weeks to complete, and next year the second phase for the pyramid’s internal structure will start.
The Step Pyramid is the earliest large stone structure, an architectural achievement of the vizier Imhotep for pharaoh Djoser of the Third Dynasty (c. 2687-2668 BC).
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