B9 sorin hermon_et-al_cenacle_jerusalempdf

Digitizing the Holy 3D Documentation and analysis of the

architectural history of the “Room of the Last

Supper” – the Cenacle in Jerusalem

Sorin Hermon, Marina Faka, Giancarlo Iannone

Amit Reem, Gideon Avni, Hamudi Khalaily

Wednesday 28 May

Introduction (Workshop description) (participants introduction) Sorin Hermon Roberto Scopigno

09:30‐10:00

10:00‐11:00 Introduction to 3D Scanning (methodology and applicantions) Roberto Scopigno

11:00‐11:30 Coffee Break

11:30‐12:30 Introduction to MeshLab Matteo Dellepiane

Introduction to Photogrammetry (methodology and applicantions) Nicola Amico

12:30‐13:30

13:30‐14:30 Lunch

Setting up Next Engine and exercises with objects Paola Ronzino Nicola Amico Giancarlo Iannone

14:30‐17:00

Detailed Programe Dates: 28‐30 May 2012 Venue: The Cyprus Institute, Guy Ourisson Building, Athalassa Campus (Higher Technical Institute ‐ HTI, grounds) http://www.cyi.ac.cy/contact

Presentation outline

1. Aims of the project

2. Historical background

3. Methodological approach

4. First results

5. Evaluation of digital methodology

6. Implementation of methodology

7. Conclusions

Susan Hazan and Sorin Herman

Aims of the project 1. Linksceem – EU funded research infrastructure project aiming

at enabling the use of High Performance Computing facilities at

the Cyprus Institute at a regional scale

2. ArcLand – EU funded (Culture program) on enhancing the use

of remote sensing and documentation techniques for

Archaeology

3. 3D ICONS – making online accessible 3D data on iconic

heritage

4. Scientific collaboration between:

1. The Cyprus Institute – Science and Technology for

Archaeological Research Center

2. Israel Antiquities Authority – excavations and surveys,

preservation and conservation of heritage, dissemination

and educational programs related to archaeology

3. Aims of research

1. adoption (at a large scale) and implementation of 3D

documentation by IAA

2. optimization of workflow

3. Training IAA researchers

Wednesday 28 May

Introduction (Workshop description) (participants introduction) Sorin Hermon Roberto Scopigno

09:30‐10:00

10:00‐11:00 Introduction to 3D Scanning (methodology and applicantions) Roberto Scopigno

11:00‐11:30 Coffee Break

11:30‐12:30 Introduction to MeshLab Matteo Dellepiane

Introduction to Photogrammetry (methodology and applicantions) Nicola Amico

12:30‐13:30

13:30‐14:30 Lunch

Setting up Next Engine and exercises with objects Paola Ronzino Nicola Amico Giancarlo Iannone

14:30‐17:00

Detailed Programe Dates: 28‐30 May 2012 Venue: The Cyprus Institute, Guy Ourisson Building, Athalassa Campus (Higher Technical Institute ‐ HTI, grounds) http://www.cyi.ac.cy/contact


Second floor added (6th Century)

Destroy and re-built and destroyed (6 – 9th

Centuries)

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Digitizing the Holy – 3D Documentation and analysis

of the architectural history of the “Room of the Last


Authors Name/s per 1st Affiliation (Author)

line 1 (of Affiliation): dept. name of organization

line 2-name of organization, acronyms acceptable

line 3-City, Country

line 4-e-mail address if desired

Abstract — The Cenacle in Jerusalem is among the

most important places for Christians – apart from being the

room that hosted the famous “Last Supper” (The Easter dinner),

it symbolizes the location of many events narrated in the New

Testament, such as the meeting place of the Apostles, the

Washing of the Feet, resurrection appearances of Jesus or the

gathering of the disciples after the Ascension of Jesus. Historical

evidence of the existence of the building is documented since the

4th century, in the writings of the pilgrim Egeria. The structure

underwent several phases of construction, destroy and

restoration, shifts of religion (it started probably as a synagogue,

it became later a church, or part of a church and in the 16th

century the building became a mosque, while today it is a visiting

place open to all. Its architectural history is very complex, as the

Wikipedia states: “…The building remains a frustrating, but

intriguing, mystery…”, mainly due its long and complex

architectural history. During the month of April 2013, the

“Room” was 3D documented by means of a laser scanner, by a

team of researchers from The Cyprus Institute, in collaboration

with the Israel Antiquities Authority, as part of a pilot research

on defining optimal methodologies for documenting architectural

heritage for multiple purposes: conservation/restoration analysis,

research and accurate documentation. Due to the high religious

tourism value of the place, the scanning has to be done in a fast

way, as accurate as possible given a very limited time limit (two

hours at dawn). The aim of the 3D documentation was to record

the actual phase of the building and use the 3D data for an

accurate description of its architectonic components. The paper

presents the documentation methodology of the building

(external façade and internal space) and investigation of its

architectonic components.

Keywords— Digital Archaeology, Virtual Archaeology,, Virtual

Reconstructions, 3D modelling of cultural heritage

I. INTRODUCTION

Jerusalem is one of the most known cities in the world, with a long history of more than 4,000 years of continuous human occupation [1]. Many events narrated in the Old and New Testaments are located in the Jerusalem, and as such, it attracted thousands of scientists, pilgrims, writers and journalists who documented, described or narrated the events and places that shaped the history of the city. Many of its building have a long history, that can be traced back to earliest

Middle Bronze or Iron Ages. Others are intercalated with its religious dimension and are iconic of the monotheistic religions of today. Such a building is the “Cenacle”, a complex structure that hosts on the ground floor the presumed “King David’s tomb” and on the upper level the “Room of the last Supper” (open to visitors) and the adjacent Chapel of the Descent of the Holy Spirit (closed to the public) (Figure 1) [2].

Figure 1. Aerial view of the Cenacle complex.

The place is mentioned in the New Testament, in apocryphal texts, pilgrimage narrations other historical documents. It is also represented in one of the earliest visual representations of Jerusalem, the Madaba church mosaic [3], depicting the 6

th century AD shape of the structure (Figure 2).

Due to its symbolic importance and its sensitivity, the entire complex is under the direct custody of the State of Israel and free access is provided to the site.

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Figure 2. Madaba map fragment with the Cenacle building (Agia Zion).

The site was subject to several historical and related researches [4,5, 6], but very limited systematic archaeological excavations (except a few test pits dug at the beginning of the 20

th century) or architectonic analyses were ever performed.

The site’s history is briefly presented in the following chapter. Enough is to say now that while its origin go back to probably to the 4

th century AD, the current state of the building dates

back to roughly the Crusader period (ca. 12th

to 14th

centuries AD) and minor (and largely un-documented systematically) alterations during the Ottoman period in the 16

th century AD.

Due to its importance, the Israel Antiquities Authority, the main body in Israel responsible for the documentation, protection, conservation and preservation of Israel’s archaeology and architectural heritage, decided to investigate most suitable documentation technologies and methodologies that may provide the required data for a comprehensive architectural analysis of the building, for research, conservation and future preservation of the place. This work is part of a long-term research aimed at defining a cost-effective, efficient and comprehensive methodology for the documentation of archaeological rescue excavations, sites and monuments.

II. HISTORY OF RESEARCH

The original building was probably erected somewhere in the 2

nd century AD and its initial purpose was apparently a

synagogue, or a meeting place of the early Christians. A niche in the main room of the ground floor (hosting now a huge Crusader period cenotaph attributed to King David) may be attributed to this period, together with large ashlars (probably in secondary use, brought from elsewhere and of an earlier period) (Figure 3). At the same period the second floor was already built, the building being known two centuries later as the Church of the Apostles and another two hundred years later as Hagia Sion, a Byzantine church built by the order of Theodosius I, which included the earlier building and enlarged the entire structure.

The complex was destroyed in the 6th

century during the Persian invasion, rebuilt and destroyed again in 1009 by Hakim, the Fatimid sultan of Egypt. Upon their conquer of Jerusalem, the Crusaders found the place a heap of ruins, from which they re-built, modified and enlarged the ancient Hagia Sofia and the adjacent Church of Apostles, using both new and ancient material to decorate its interiors and exterior façades.

Figure 3. Detail of the cenotaph room.

Following the Crusaders’ expulsion, the place fell into ruin by orders of the Ayubic sultans of Damascus, only to be brought by the Franciscan order in the 14

th century, who

repaired its roof with a gothic rib vaulting. A century later, the place was transformed into a mosque (a mihrab was added in the upper floor, and the lower structure declared a Muslim pilgrimage place – the tomb of prophet Dawood). Visitors today may see the place how it looked like four hundred years ago (Figure 4).

Figure 4. Detail of the interior of the Cenacle room with the mihrab in the background.

The site was subject to archaeological investigations in 1859 by e. Pierotti [7] and in 1951 by J. Pinkerfeld [8]; B. Pixner conduced some small-scale investigations in the area in the early nineties. Most scientific discussion around the history of the place is based on philology, history of religion and history, while a systematic analysis of its standing remains is still lacking. The opportunity to 3D document the entire interior spaces of the structure (upper and lower floors) and parts of its exterior façade will hopefully add a new dimension to this dynamic research and will offer some clues to unlock its still hidden details. A (virtual) deconstruction of the architectural components of the building may reveal its history and purposes, who built it and under which circumstances.

2nd Century

C.E. Historical

Background 6th Century

C.E.

Madaba map


10th Century – Crusaders re-build the complex with available

“recycled” construction material and own adds

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I. INTRODUCTION







King David

cenotaph

14th Century – Franciscans repair the roof

and add vaulting


16th Century – A Muslim holy place

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I. INTRODUCTION







Historical

Background

Mihrab

Holy inscription

Mamluk decoration

Decorated window

Recent history – site becomes public (free entrance) for all,

under the Cabinet of the Prime Minister (Franciscans, through

the Vatican, claim the place)


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I. INTRODUCTION







Methodological Approach 1. Aims

1. 3D documentation of the lower and upper rooms

2. Material suitable for architectural / history of architecture

analysis

3. 3D models made available for Europeana

4. Training of IAA staff

5. Testing suitability of methodology for IAA needs

2. Constraints

1. Limited available time for scanning

2. Continuous flow of visitors / pilgrims / religious services

3. Poor lighting conditions


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I. INTRODUCTION







First Results

Lower room

Upper room 4

Figure 6. Ground pan of the "Upper Room" (in meters).

An important element in the analysis of the architectural history of the complex is the ability to identify, separate and analyze the relationship between various phases of the building’s construction. Figure 7 displays an example on how such information can be easily extracted from the 3D point cloud and represented in an easy and intuitive way for further investigation. Such an analysis can be easily completed with direct measurements on the 3D model itself, along any desired plane. It should be noted that such measurements are relatively complicated to perform within the Meshlab environment, which allows only measurements of straight lines between two given points. All curved planes, arcs or irregular shapes were measured with JRC Reconstructor or in AutoCAd.

Figure 7. Stone by stone drawing extracted from the 3D point cloud.

The visualization analysis can reveal emerging patterns otherwise obscured, new aspects of data or can virtually create views impossible in the real world. For example, aligning the upper and lower parts of the complex, it is possible to immediately identify the symmetric alignment between the lower hall pillars and the upper rooms columns (Figure 8).

Figure 8. Superposition of the lower hall and the upper room.

A 3D view of the complex (Figure 9) shows how the upper room columns are directly positioned above the pillars of the lower hall. The symmetry of the two rooms is apparent. It also shows how the cenotaph room niche (lower right), in front of which the cenotaph is positioned, is de-centralized from the front wall. It is also evident that the Muslims who modified the upper room into a mosque also changed the interior lightening: the mihrab is covering the central window, still visible from the exterior. This is also clear the alignment of the façade’s 3D model with the interior space (Figure 9). The façade was recorded using a simple sequence of digital images and converted into a 3D model with the 123D software.

Figure 9. 3D alignment of the façade with the interior.

The possibility to investigate the 3D model from various points, under different zooming and renderings (Figure 10), enhances our understanding on the building’s history (in the example shown, we can refer to the relationship between the cenotaph room below – bottom left corner and the Upper Room (in particular the access to the “Room of the Holy Spirit”).

Figure 10. Virtual superposition of the complex.

Stone-by-

stone CAD

drawing

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I. INTRODUCTION







First Results Alignment

upper and

lower rooms

Over

position of

external and

internal

spaces

3D

visualization

analysis

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I. INTRODUCTION







Evaluation of digital

methodology 1. Field workflow

1. Laser scanner for interior spaces – easy to use

2. Structure-from-motion exterior façade– easy to use

2. Software

1. Surphaser – data capture – easy to use

2. Menci system – easy to use, expensive software

3. 123D – 3D from images – easy to use, free, but

uncontrolled working environment

4. JRC Reconstructor – alignment, cross-sections, analysis –

expensive but extremely versatile

5. Meshlab – simplification, mesh – open source, suitable

for a few operations related to the research

6. AutoCad – measurements, plans, drawings – expensive,

not very user friendly, but efficient

7. Blender – renderings – open source, not very versatile

8. XRDOM – online publication – efficient, needs

improvements


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I. INTRODUCTION







Implementation of

methodology 1. IAA structure

1. More than 300 excavations at various scales per year

2. Thousands of complex buildings to document, restore,

conserve.

3. Ca. 500 archaeologists – hand drawings

4. Surveyors unit – Autocad - JPG

5. Publications unit - JPG

2. Needs

1. A a huge data storage system

2. Extensive training

3. Shift of work methodology and roles of departments

4. Need for an easy-to-use software adapted for the use of

archaeologists / architecture historians / conservators


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I. INTRODUCTION







Conclusions 1. Need for an easy-to-use software adapted for the use of

archaeologists / architecture historians / conservators

2. Laser scanners are still preferred over structure-from-motion

for large-scale CH assets, for any work related to scientific

analysis

3. Existing open-source software does not provide optimal

solutions for an in-depth CH analysis

4. Metadata based on CRM is extremely useful and helpful for

documenting the scientific process and make it transparent

5. XRDOM – a good start for publishing on-line 3D data.

6. Musealization – 3D visualization enhances visitors’

perception, interaction with the digital asset and facilitates

transmission of knowledge from researchers to visitors.

We still have a long way to go …

B9 sorin hermon_et-al_cenacle_jerusalempdf

Technology

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