The Temple of Bel in Palmyra in full 3-D

Until now, bits and pieces of the famous Temple of Bel in Palmyra have been reconstructed digitally.

A first initiative consisted of recreating two full-size replicas of the arch that at the entrance to the temple. Using the world’s biggest 3D printer, a copy-conform archway was produced and placed at Trafalgar Square in London and at Times Square in New York in April 2016 to celebrate a special world heritage week (see: In honor of Palmyra).

A second effort was made creating a 3-D image of the ceiling from the left-hand niche of the temple’s open Adyton, which found a place of honor at the National Museum of Damascus (see: 3-D imaging to the rescue of Palmyra’s Temple of Bel).

At present, the entire Temple of Bel has been digitally reconstructed by the UC San Diego Library’s Digital Media Lab. It includes more than a dozen sculptures, reliefs and frescoes no longer present in Palmyra. To this purpose, they used an amazing 3,000 digital photographs, among which some 900 pictures taken by tourists between 2006 and 2014 and made publicly available.

It’s a colossal job, the closest to reality under the present circumstances. It is impossible to ever rebuild the magnificent Temple of Bel that survived for nearly two thousand years. The 3-D reconstruction is the best our modern technology can offer.