My trip to Leiden
So this week I made a trip to Leiden, the Netherlands, as part of my “Queen’s Garden Relief Project“. The first day I was visiting the faculty of Archaeology and the second day, I was at the Rijksmuseum von Oudheden, where I was scanning a particular piece of the wider Banquet Scene of Ashurbanipal…
The faculty of Archaeology in Leiden
The first day, I took a trip to the faculty of Archaeology (yes, not a department or an institute, it is a faculty) in Leiden. They are residing in a (I think) only 10 year old building and occupying several floors. It is a very open building and in my opinion super student friendly. In the cafeteria part, students were playing the piano, others were studying. The walls in the building are painted with profiles from Dutch excavations and I was told, students practice their drawing skills with them.
The faculty is a bit outside of the city centre of Leiden, but it isn’t that bad actually. I walked there in 15 minutes, but if I would have taken the bike (like everyone else in the Netherlands) than it would have been only five minutes. I was super impressed by the building and the offices inside. It has a very nice atmosphere and people were super friendly.
The Rijksmuseum von Oudheden
On the second day however, I started to work at the Rijksmuseum von Oudheden (National Museum of Antiquities), where I was scanning a particular piece of a wider relief from the North Palace in Nineveh. This piece shows a pomegranate tree and it was really beautiful. The staff was super nice and showed me everything. I had a small room where I could set up my gear and so I started photographing.
As before, I took some Structure-from-Motion and RTI images. But additionally I also scanned the piece with a handheld 3D scanner. As far as I have seen the scans turned out quite well and they will soon go into my project. If all goes well, I might publish everything this year. I will however scan some additional pieces in two weeks, when I am back in London.
My trip to Leiden itself
Leiden itself is really beautiful. It is a small but very vibrant city with lots and lots of bicycles. As in Amsterdam, you really have to pay attention to them, because they will not pay attention to you. Be that as it may, I had a great trip through the city, which is very friendly and lively. Leiden has some nice pubs, bakeries, and parks. I even checked out the weekly market that offered cheese, fish, and other stuff. I was also in the exhibition of the Rijksmuseum von Oudheden to check out the section on West Asia, but this was rather small.
I have to say, that I have become a fan of the city and I will definitely return. And there are many reasons to. More or less regularly, they faculty of Archaeology organises “The Interactive Pasts Conference“, a conference on Archaeogaming and I think I heard the rumour that this year will be one too. So maybe see you there? I know some of you reading this will there be at least 😉
