The Egyptian Oracle Project: Ancient Ceremony in Augmented Reality

272 Pages·2015·8.31 MB·English

by  Robyn Gillam

The Egyptian Oracle Project
9781474234153_txt_print.indd 1 20/03/2015 10:33
Bloomsbury Egyptology
Series Editor: Nicholas Reeves
Ancient Egyptian Technology and Innovation, Ian Shaw
Burial Customs in Ancient Egypt, Wolfram Grajetzki
Court Officials of the Egyptian Middle Kingdom, Wolfram Grajetzki
Hidden Hands, Stephen Quirke
The Middle Kingdom of Ancient Egypt, Wolfram Grajetzki
Performance and Drama in Ancient Egypt, Robyn Gillam
9781474234153_txt_print.indd 2 20/03/2015 10:33
The Egyptian Oracle Project
Ancient Ceremony in Augmented Reality
Edited by Robyn Gillam and Jeffrey Jacobson
Chapters contributed by
Josephine Anstey and David Pape, Ph.D.,
University of Buffalo, New York, U.S.A.
Erik Champion, Ph.D., Curtin University, Perth, Australia
Lisa Aimee Sturz, MFA, Red Herring Puppets,
Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.A.
Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner, Ph.D., University of Toronto, Canada
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
9781474234153_txt_print.indd 3 20/03/2015 10:33
Bloomsbury Academic
An imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
50 Bedford Square 1385 Broadway
London New York
WC1B 3DP NY 10018
UK USA
www.bloomsbury.com
BLOOMSBURY and the Diana logo are trademarks of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published 2015
© Robyn Gillam, Jeffrey Jacobson and Contributors, 2015
Robyn Gillam and Jeffrey Jacobson have asserted their rights under the Copyright, Designs
and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as Editors of this work.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or
any information storage or retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from
the publishers.
No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining
from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or
the authors.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN: HB: 978-1-47423-415-3
ePDF: 978-1-47424-925-6
ePub: 978-1-47424-926-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
Series: Bloomsbury Egyptology
Typeset by Fakenham Prepress Solutions, Fakenham, Norfolk NR21 8NN
9781474234153_txt_print.indd 4 20/03/2015 10:33
Contents
Illustrations vi
Acknowledgments ix
Background to the Project and this Book xiii
Introduction Robyn Gillam and Jeffrey Jacobson 1
Part 1 The Egyptian Oracle
1 Historical Foundations Robyn Gillam 17
2 Cross-Cultural Analysis Robyn Gillam 57
3 The Virtual Temple of Horus and Its Egyptian Prototypes
Robyn Gillam 79
Part 2 The Performance
4 Technical Description Jeffrey Jacobson 109
5 Mixed Reality Theater and the Egyptian Oracle Project
Josephine Anstey and David Pape 131
6 Educational Purpose and Results Jeffrey Jacobson 153
Part 3 The Technology
7 Puppetry and Virtual Theater Lisa Sturz 167
8 Introduction to Virtual Heritage Erik Champion 185
9 The Virtual Temple: Construction and Use Jeffrey Jacobson 197
Conclusion Robyn Gillam and Jeffrey Jacobson 211
Appendix A: A Funeral Procession in Modern Rural Egypt
Mary-Ann Pouls Wegner 217
Appendix B: After-Show Questionnaire 221
Bibliography 223
Index 247
9781474234153_txt_print.indd 5 20/03/2015 10:33
Illustrations
FIGURES
0.1 The priest interrogates two audience members playing the parts of
neighbors in a dispute. He will appeal to the spirit of Horus in the
sacred boat for judgment. 2
1.1 Map of Egypt. 18
1.2 Plan of the temple precinct of Amun-Re at Karnak. 21
1.3 Southern end of the processional way in front of the temple of
Luxor. 22
1.4 Temple of Amun-Re, Karnak, entrance to the hypostyle hall from
the courtyard of the Second Pylon, giving onto the riverbank
entrance of the temple in antiquity. 23
1.5 Temple of Amun-Re, Karnak, courtyard of the Tenth Pylon, facing
south. 24
1.6 Modern perspective drawing of the barque of Amun. 29
1.7 Temple of Amun-Re, Karnak. Twentieth Dynasty commemorative
of Nesamun in the courtyard of the Tenth Pylon. 36
1.8 Vignette of the Saite Oracle papyrus, Brooklyn Museum, showing
the four prophets of Amun (center) interceding with the god in his
shrine (left) for the questioner (on the right). 40
3.1 Plan of the temple precinct, Medinet Habu. 86
3.2 Temple of Medinet Habu. First courtyard, looking through the
second courtyard to the sanctuary at the back of the temple. 87
3.3 Temple of Medinet Habu. Second courtyard, showing the southern
colonnade with reliefs of the Festival of Sokar. 89
3.4 Temple of Horus at Edfu. Sanctuary of the temple, showing the
monolithic stone shrine that held the god’s image that was the
9781474234153_txt_print.indd 6 20/03/2015 10:33
Illustrations vii
subject of the daily cult. The processional barque in front of the
shrine is a modern replica. 93
3.5 Plan of the temple of Horus at Edfu. 94
3.6 Temple at Edfu. Courtyard facing façade of the main temple,
showing the screen wall separating the courtyard from the festival
hall. The Pure Walkway is located between the back and side of the
main temple and the surrounding wall. 95
3.7 Temple at Edfu. The façade of the pylon, showing emplacements for
the flagstaffs, as well as scenes of the king dispatching his enemies
before Horus. 104
4.1a The sacred barque of the god Horus. 110
4.1b The barque of Khonsu as depicted in the temple at Medinet Habu. 111
4.2 The high priest, Petiese. 112
4.3 Musicians. Relief from the tomb of Djed-nefer, 4th century bce,
Heliopolis. 113
4.4 Physical arrangement of the equipment and participants. 115
4.5 Virtual temple layout. 118
4.6 Priest puppet (in the festival hall) and live actress communicate
across the “fourth wall” of the virtual stage. 120
4.7 Layout of the mixed reality space in the sixth scene. 122
4.8 The god does not approve! 124
4.9 The spirit of Horus moves the sacred boat to choose a woman
(center) for a great honor. This is the moment when many realize
the priest is a puppet and not a program. 126
5.1 The Woyzeck side of WoyUbu, with the performers in front of large
projections. 135
5.2 “Woyzeck” observes a projection of the green-screened Ubu Roi
performers 138
5.3 The Ubu Roi side of WoyUbu, with the audience watching
performers in front of the green screen. 139
9781474234153_txt_print.indd 7 20/03/2015 10:33
viii Illustrations
7.1 “Lewis Latimer” and “Thomas Edison” and their incandescent bulb. 169
7.2 Blue-screen setup for “Uncle Argyle.” 172
7.3 Lisa Sturz (in blue) controlling the puppet “Archie,” with Wendy
Morton (left) assisting. 173
7.4 (a) “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” built by All Effects;
(b) Puppeteers (from left to right) Jim Martin, Noah MacNeal, Gord
Roberson and Rick Lyon. 178
7.5 Digital input device (DID) used to control a large dinosaur puppet
in Jurassic Park. 179
7.6 Digital input device (DID) used to control a digital puppet,
Scooby Doo. 180
9.1 The front of the virtual temple. 197
9.2 The artwork finished, textured and applied to the inner sanctuary
gate of the virtual temple. 203
TABLE
6.1 Interview responses, Museum of Science, Boston (N=4). 163
9781474234153_txt_print.indd 8 20/03/2015 10:33
Acknowledgments
Many people have contributed to this book and the project described in it.
To begin, we would like to thank Nicholas Reeves, editor of the Bloomsbury
Egyptology series, and the staff at Bloomsbury for their support of a work that
is both innovative and unusual among the books so far published in this series.
Valuable contributions from our chapter authors Erik Champion, Josephine
Anstey, David Pape and Lisa Sturz have given the book much more depth and
breadth than we could have provided on our own. Thanks to Mario Salinas
for his graphic design help with the temple maps. Thanks also to our primary
editor, Gillian Watts, who edited the entire book and wrote the index, and to our
contributing editor, Richard Graefe.
Contributions to the Egyptian Oracle Project and its foundation, the virtual
Egyptian temple, are listed below. However, we wish to especially emphasize
Friedrich Kirchner’s central contribution to the project: he wrote the code and
developed much of the animation and interaction design for the puppeteer. Our
puppeteer, Brad Shur, provided the heart and a voice for the god and his priest.
Working together, Friedrich and Brad made the ancient drama come to life.
Special thanks also go to David Hopkins, who did the 3-D artwork for both the
temple and the priest, and to Kerry Handron, who contributed her insights into
educational theater for children.
We would like to thank Robyn Gillam’s students at York University, Toronto,
who enacted oracular ceremonies in 2010 and 2014. We have also been
extremely fortunate to have the steadfast support of Christopher Innes, Canada
Research Chair in Drama and Performance at York, who made it possible to film
the student performances in blue screen and place them in the virtual temple of
Horus, providing invaluable research and development for the project. Amanda
Wagner of the Information Commons at the University of Toronto magically
repaired, merged and generally cleaned up a number of problematic digital
images.
The U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities made this project possible
with a $49,913 grant to PublicVR (HD-5120910). PublicVR, Pittsburgh, PA, was
the lead institution for the project, providing administrative support, additional
funding and significant in-kind support.
9781474234153_txt_print.indd 9 20/03/2015 10:33