Saving Palmyra Digitally

The ancient Syrian oasis city of Palmyra has been largely destroyed by extremist violence and the intentional eradication of cultural heritage. Very little of the fantastic upstanding remains of the ancient temples and buildings are now extant. However, there is one way in which we can preserve the archaeology of Palmyra for future generations.

I'm an archaeologist trying to create a 3D reconstruction of the ruins of Palmyra using photogrammetry, a technique in which a computer program uses photos of structures/objects from different angles to create a 3D representation.

I 'm using people's unaltered digital holiday photos from Palmyra, before it's deliberate destruction by extremists. Using these I am building a 3D model of the ruins to share with the world on open access.

Whilst the response to my call for photos has been impressive, my hardware is struggling to keep up. I am starting this CrowdFund in order to raise money for a computer that will be able to deal with 100s GB of digital visual and spatial data, as well as the advanced licensing for the software needed to run the photogrammetry.

Please donate to this project - even a little will get us closer to the goal, and you will have had a part in helping preserve a bit of the world's history that has been stolen from us all.

If you have photos also, please send them to [email redacted]


You don't have to be an archaeologist to send in photos - in fact I'm relying on tourist-type photos to fill in gaps. Photos have to be digital in origin, so scans of paper pictures and slides will unfortunately not work.


Thanks for your help in virtually resurrecting Palmyra from the dust.  If the project is a success I can use this equipment for similar projects in the future.