UCLA cyber-architects to unveil 3-D Digital Karnak model

Real-time computer model tells history of ancient Egyptian religious site. WHAT: Modelers, archaeologists and historians will offer virtual tours of a new three-dimensional computer model of Karnak, a 4,000-year-old ancient Egyptian religious complex in Luxor, Egypt. Two years in the making, Digital Karnak allows visitors to trace the complicated evolution of the site from a two-acre temple in 1951 B.C. to a sprawling 69-acre complex in 31 B.C. with eight temples, 10 small chapels, 10 monumental gateways, 15 obelisks, 100 sphinxes and a ceremonial lake. WHO: Leading the tours of the digital recreation will be Digital Karnak's co-directors: Diane Favro Favro is a professor in the department of architecture and urban design at the UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture and director of the UCLA Experiential Technologies Center . She is a pioneer in the digital modeling of lost or altered landmarks of historical and cultural significance. Willeke Wendrich Wendrich is an associate professor of Egyptian archaeology in the UCLA Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures and director of the Egyptian Lab at the UCLA Cotsen Institute of Archaeology. She also serves as editor-in-chief of the UCLA Encyclopedia of Egyptology , a digital encyclopedia that will include Digital Karnak.