The Riddle of the Crosses: The Crusaders in the Holy Sepulchre

This paper describes the rationale, the challenges and the imaging solutions employed in an attempt to uncover a centuries-old riddle. We suggest an answer to the meaning of the hundreds of crosses, inscribed on the walls and behind the altar of the Chapel of Saint Helena, within the Church of The Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Traditionally, these crosses have been ascribed to the Crusaders of the 12th and 13th centuries, but our research suggests a different chronology. A variety of photographic and photogrammetric imaging technologies have been utilised, along with traditional archaeological research, in an intensive attempt to document as much empirical data as possible during a short period when renovations to the chapel created a small window of opportunity for access. Despite considerable difficulties relating to time and location, three primary goals were set: (1) to capture a 3D representation of the curvature and depth information of the walls covering an overall high-resolution grid of all the stones behind the two central apses; (2) to make a detailed RTI representation of selected stones; and (3) to analyse the chiselling technique of the crosses and decipher the inscriptions and heraldic symbols found near the inscriptions. Three main imaging techniques were employed: 2D panoramic high-resolution Gigapan photography, 3D photogrammetry, and Reflectance Transformation Imaging. The results of the data collected are currently undergoing analysis in an attempt to establish the chronology, typology, and stratigraphy of the incisions. We hope that this will assist in confirming, correcting or rejecting the traditional explanations ascribing the graffiti crosses to the Crusader period. Analysis of the chiselled incisions on the stone reveals regular V-profile grooves. The angles are determined by using a photometric stereo ('shape from shading') image processing technique to determine the surface normal-vectors at each pixel position. Issues relating to the non-ideal 'real-world' conditions of capturing the images will be discussed, including camera movement, ambient light, and accuracy of light position coordinates from the highlights on the billiard ball.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Moshe Caine

Doron Altaratz

Lindsay MacDonald

Amit Reem

Conference

Publication date: July 2018

Publication date (Print): July 2018

Pages: 132-139

Affiliations

[0001]Hadassah Academic College

Jerusalem, Israel

[0002]University College of London

London

United Kingdom

[0003]Israel Antiquities Authority

Jerusalem, Israel

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/EVA2018.28

SO-VID: 853c41e2-c5fd-431e-b2c3-08a63d402950

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

Conference acronym: EVA

Conference number:

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 9 - 13 July 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/EVA2018.28

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

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Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Agisoft Photoscan http://www.agisoft.com/ (retrieved 26 February 2018

[2] Atangeo Balancer http://www.atangeo.com/ (retrieved 26 February 2018

[3] Herald 3D http://sketchfab.com/models/6e4e0aa3359c44fba8f55c3db0b49b17 (retrieved 26 February 2018

[4] S. GibsonJ. E. Taylor 1994 Beneath the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem: the archaeology and early history of traditional Golgotha (Vol. 1). Palestine Exploration Fund

[5] Gigapan North Apse, Gigapan North Apse http://www.gigapan.com/gigapans/202145 (retrieved 26 February 2018

[6] L. W. MacDonald 2011 Visualising an Egyptian Artefact in 3D: Comparing RTI with Laser Scanning Proc. BCS Conf. on Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA) London July

[7] T. MalzbenderD. GelbH. Wolters 2001 Polynomial texture maps, Proc. ACM Siggraph 28 519 528

[8] Meshlab http://meshlab.sourceforge.net/ (retrieved 26 February 2018

[9] K. Pavelka et al. 2013 Non-expensive 3D documentation and modelling of historical object and archaeological artefacts using close-range photogrammetry Geoinformatics FCE 10 53 66

[10] Photogrammetry, CHI Cultural Heritage Imaging http://culturalheritageimaging.org/Technologies/Photogrammetry/ (retrieved 26 February 2018

[11] Pillar 3D http://sketchfab.com/models/52e4d050ac9a4a8f9a282bc4c9f3af81 (retrieved 26 February 2018

[12] D. Pringle 2007 The Churches of the Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem III The City of Jerusalem Cambridge

[13] RTI Online http://the-new-jerusalem.com/crosses/ (retrieved 26 February 2018

[14] R. ScopignoM. CallieriP. CignoniM. CorsiniM. DellepianeF. PonchioG. Ranzuglia 2011 3D models for cultural heritage: Beyond plain visualization Computer 44 7, 48 55

[15] D. SkarlatosS. Kiparissi 2012 Comparison of laser scanning, photogrammetry and SFM-MVS pipeline applied in structures and artificial surfaces Annals of the photogrammetry, remote sensing and spatial information sciences, i-3

[16] South Apse 3D http://sketchfab.com/models/119b8f423a844a25b4e108cebe4320ac (retrieved 26 February 2018

[17] Stone 3D http://sketchfab.com/models/bd0f3b9358f64ff2b14406acbc430080 (retrieved 26 February 2018

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