Two virtual visits to ancient Egyptian sites invite us to explore the palace and the tomb of Pharaohs Amenhotep III and Ramesses II respectively.

Regarding the Palace of Amenhotep III, the visit offers access to a virtual 3D reconstruction of the building complex of Malqata, situated on the West bank of the Nile, opposite Luxor. The buildings only survive up to their lower walls, at the most, but its ground plan is well-defined and has given a large amount of wall painting fragments and high-quality portable finds. The virtual reconstruction now available is the work of Franck Monnier and Jérôme Delaunay and gives the visitor the opportunity to explore the different spaces of the palace, especially tits columned hall and the throne room. You may browse it here.

Regarding the tomb of Ramesses II, the visit concerns a virtual stroll to the actual site in the Valley of the Kings. The tomb registered as KV 7, is the largest royal tomb in the Valley of the Kings, surely fit for the king many consider Egypt’s greatest pharaoh. Looted since antiquity, the tomb is known to modern archaeologists since the 18th c. while it was first excavated by Henri Salt in 1816-7, likey following the guidelines of his Greek tomb raider employee, Giovanni D’ Athanasi. Since then, it has been mapped, excavated, conserved, and documented by various expeditions, the latest and longest of which is the mission led by Christian Leblanc (since 1993). However, the tomb’s severe damage by floods has never permitted visitors to enter it, the way it is done with the spectacularly preserved tomb of Ramesses II’s father Seti I. As a result, the monument’s 3d scanning and virtual tour, materialized by the Egyptian Mission and accessible via the Mused platform is an invaluable source of information on the most ambitious plan ever to materialize for a pharaoh in the Valley of the Kings. Find more here.