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Exclusive Gilgamesh Prints for sale!

By On 2012-10-16 With No Comments

I just found out that a few unique screen prints of these wonderful Gilgamesh illustrations by artist Franziska Leischker are still available for purchase. The illustrations show key scenes from the Ancient Near Eastern epic of Gilgamesh and were originally created by Franziska for the Gilgamesh exhibition in the August Kestner Museum that we wrote about here and here.
The motifs are:
1) The Ziggurat of Uruk; 2) Enkidu, the savage; 3) Enkidu and Shamhat; 4) In Humbaba’s forest; 5) Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight Ishtar’s Bull; 6) Gilgamesh at Enkidu’s deathbed; 7) Siduri’s tavern at the world’s end; 8) The Babylonian Noah; 9) Gilgamesh fetching the Herb of Immortality.
For purchase and details contact Franziska Leischker directly!

Credits: All images © Franziska Leischker

New project finished: Restitution of the “White Temple” and the Anu Ziggurat in Uruk

By On 2012-03-05 With No Comments

Today we finished the work on the restitution and visualisation of the “White Temple” (Building B) and the Anu Ziggurat in Uruk, a very famous sacred complex dating to the Late Uruk Period. The project is part of the ongoing Uruk Visualisation-Project that we are working on for the German Archaeological Institute in Berlin. The results turned out very nice: We created two possibilities of reconstruction for the “White Temple”. The final images show comprehensive exterior views of the temple on top of the ziggurat, several sections through the building and some very nice interior views that tentatively reveal the lighting conditions inside the temple.

Sorry for not posting any pictures here, but that will have to wait until the publication is out. Some images will probably be on display, however, in the upcoming Uruk exhibition in the Pergamon Museum in April 2013. We will keep you updated on that.

Mari Visualisation Project: The Fortifications

By On 2011-11-08 With No Comments

Today we finished the first part of the Mari Visualisation Project: the restitution and visualisation of the fortifications. It was a great pleasure for us to work with the Mari excavation team of the Sorbonne Paris and a very fruitful cooperation.

Infographic showing two of the different building phases of the fortification wall in Mari (here phases Ville III and Ville II récent).

Reconstruction of the domestic residence in Sector N3. For the restitution of this building, the functionality of its rooms and its internal organisation were taken into account, as well as considerations on its lighting-conditions and the general requirements for the mud brick architecture.

Detail of the South Residence showing the mud plastering, wooden roof beams and doors.

Reconstruction of the domestic residence in Sector N3.
You can read more about this project on our project-site.

Tell Fecheriye Exhibition

By On 2011-10-31 With No Comments

Today we set up the exhibition “Auf archäologischer Spurensuche in Syrien – Ausgrabungen in Tell Fecheriye”. It was a lot of work, but the result turned out fine. We even had our first visitors…

The exhibition’s title display.

Work in progress..

A life-sized accessible model of an excavation trench was set up within the exhibition for visitors to explore.

We created this life-sized accessible model of an excavation trench for visitors to explore.

This little girl instantly got comfortable inside the double-jar burial.. 🙂
Read more about this project here.
(Photographs: © Sandra Grabowski & Sebastian Hageneuer)

News from Herat

By On 2011-10-23 With No Comments

I wrote about the production of three dioramas for the National Museum in Herat here. Today we received news from Herat and some pictures of the installation and grand opening of the museum. See how the local museum staff in Afghanistan is installing our dioramas! Great 🙂
I hope I can post some more pictures of the finished installation soon.

(Photographs: © Ute Franke)

Children’s illustration pt. 3

By On 2011-08-03 With No Comments

It is done! I am finished with the colouring of the children’s illustration. In the exhibition, there will be short accompanying descriptions that go with each number.

The numbers explain the different members and inventory of the excavation:
1: The director of excavation, 2: The photographer, 3: The topographer, 4: The cook, 5: The field director, 6: The local worker, 7: The gear, 8: The tools, 9: The anthropologist, 10: The field archaeologist, 11: The pottery-specialist, 12: The illustrator, 13: The philologist, 14: The IT-specialist, 15: The surveyor.

Children’s Illustration pt. 2

By On 2011-07-29 With No Comments

Today I added these cheerful excavators to my illustration. They demonstrate the different styles of wearing a kefiye (headscarf).

Once I was happy with the composition of the image, I started the ink-work and added detail to each character. The illustration looks like this now and is ready for colouring.

Children’s illustration pt. 1

By On 2011-07-25 With No Comments

At the moment, I am working on an illustration for kids. It will be part of the upcomig exhibition “Auf archäologischer Spurensuche in Syrien. Ausgrabungen in Tell Fecheriye” that we are setting up for the Department of Near Eastern Archaeology of the Freie Universität Berlin. We decided to compose the illustration in the style of “Where is Waldo”, so that the kids will be occupied for a while – and their parents free to enjoy the rest of the exhibition. 🙂
Today I finished the pencil drawing …

The composition of the image is almost finished. Datails are only indicated at this state of the work. I am not quite satisfied with the lower part of the drawing yet and will be rearranging and adding some characters.

Three Dioramas for the National Museum in Herat

By On 2011-02-07 With No Comments

I have been working on the design and production preparation of three dioramas for the National Museum in Herat, Afghanistan. Today, I went to the model maker‘s place to have a look at the finished models. They turned out great! This is the first time that some of our 3D-models got converted to real life models. 🙂

Great! I can actually touch the figures that I built in the computer only a few weeks ago. 🙂

The dioramas are constructed in a modular fashion in order for them to be easily packed and transported to Herat, where they will be reassembled by the museum staff.

View of the third diorama and construction details. Scholars study with their master in the court of a mosque in Kashgar. Size: 65 x 45 x 50 cm.

This is what the models looked like in the computer. I built them exactly to scale and gave the data to the model maker. In the Herat museum each diorama will be placed within a separate display case.
To read more about this project, visit our project-site!
(Photographs: © Sandra Grabowski)

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