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| Version 2 | Version 3 |
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| If All Else Fails, 3D Models and Robots Might Rebuild Palmyra | If All Else Fails, 3D Models and Robots Might Rebuild Palmyra |
| (14 days later) | |
| Cultural organizations have been working to create precise three-dimensional digital models of the threatened heritage monuments in Palmyra, Syria, in case the originals are damaged beyond repair. | Cultural organizations have been working to create precise three-dimensional digital models of the threatened heritage monuments in Palmyra, Syria, in case the originals are damaged beyond repair. |
| Near the marble quarries of Carrara, Italy, robots, like the one in the video above, are using the models to carve a 20-foot-high scale reproduction of one of Palmyra’s most famous ancient monuments: a Roman triple arch that Islamic State militants razed last year. | |
| When finished next month, the 12-ton replica is to be temporarily installed at Trafalgar Square in London, with plans to bring it to New York later in the year. | When finished next month, the 12-ton replica is to be temporarily installed at Trafalgar Square in London, with plans to bring it to New York later in the year. |
| But the recent ouster of Islamic State militants from Palmyra has raised hopes among the organizations of pursuing an even more ambitious rebuilding agenda. | But the recent ouster of Islamic State militants from Palmyra has raised hopes among the organizations of pursuing an even more ambitious rebuilding agenda. |
| “This is the moment we have been waiting for,” said Roger L. Michel Jr., the founder and executive director of the Institute for Digital Archaeology, which works with Harvard, Oxford and the Museum of the Future in Dubai. | “This is the moment we have been waiting for,” said Roger L. Michel Jr., the founder and executive director of the Institute for Digital Archaeology, which works with Harvard, Oxford and the Museum of the Future in Dubai. |
| Mr. Michel said it was important to send a “powerful message” to those intent on destroying world heritage sites. | Mr. Michel said it was important to send a “powerful message” to those intent on destroying world heritage sites. |
| “Every time we resurrect from the rubble one of these monuments, it undercuts the message of fear and ignorance that these people are trying to spread,” he said. “If they knock it down, we will rebuild it. If they knock it down again, we will rebuild it again.” | “Every time we resurrect from the rubble one of these monuments, it undercuts the message of fear and ignorance that these people are trying to spread,” he said. “If they knock it down, we will rebuild it. If they knock it down again, we will rebuild it again.” |
| The Romans built the original arch in the second century. | |
| The reproduction was created from a 3D computer model generated from dozens of photographs of the arch taken by archaeologists, tourists and other visitors to Palmyra before the Islamic State captured the city. | The reproduction was created from a 3D computer model generated from dozens of photographs of the arch taken by archaeologists, tourists and other visitors to Palmyra before the Islamic State captured the city. |
| Alexy Karenowska, the director of technology at the Institute for Digital Archaeology, said the photographs had been put into a database, and once experts were confident that the computer model contained all the structural information necessary, a file was sent to Italy. There, robots are carving the reproduction from blocks of Egyptian marble. | Alexy Karenowska, the director of technology at the Institute for Digital Archaeology, said the photographs had been put into a database, and once experts were confident that the computer model contained all the structural information necessary, a file was sent to Italy. There, robots are carving the reproduction from blocks of Egyptian marble. |
| Dr. Karenowska acknowledges that a reproduction can only ever be “second best.” But she added, “The idea is to use this as a way of drawing attention to the fact that reconstruction is underway, and as proof of what technology can do for something that touches all of us.” | Dr. Karenowska acknowledges that a reproduction can only ever be “second best.” But she added, “The idea is to use this as a way of drawing attention to the fact that reconstruction is underway, and as proof of what technology can do for something that touches all of us.” |