THE OSIRISNET PROJECT
  
 
All people who are interested in the Ancient Egypt know the volumes Bertha PORTER and Rosalind MOSS dedicated to the tombs (usually called "Porter & Moss"). Alas, these volumes are not illustrated. And they cannot be updated as quickly as one would like with new discoveries.
The objective of OsirisNet is to try to fill these gaps, and to offer a compilation, the largest possible, of tombs and mastabas, illustrated and with accompanying notes for the general public but also for professionals and students.
Easily accessible by the web, this documentation is provided free, available to all. 		 
 


his message is from the owner of this site, Thierry Benderitter. I (Jon Hirst) only translated it and occasionally produce original pages which Thierry then tanslates.

ith more than 5 million visitors, coming from all over the world by 15/04/2007, it is now well-known for its seriousness, as much by amateurs as by many professionals and students.

he idea started from a report :
the magnificent tombs left to us in ancient Egypt remain too poorly known by the general public, who are more and more passionate of this civilisation. This is all the more paradoxical as they represent one of the essential heritages which make it all the more possible to penetrate in the universe of the ancient Egyptians, not only their beliefs but also their everyday life.
Numerous people will never get to Egypt.
Those who have been there, even several times, have only been able to make too brief visits of a restricted number of tombs, number which will decrease further in the future. Already several of the monuments presented on this site are closed completely.

hy are the Egyptian tombs so badly known?
First of all only a small number among them are open to visits. These monuments are often fragile and would not survive very long.
In those which are open, the Service of the Antiques of Egypt decided to forbid all photography.
When photography was permitted, the conditions of lighting almost always posed problems in the absence of a cumbersome specialised equipment and authorisations.
The institutes or (public) foundations hardly encourage distribution in this domain: numerous tombs are not published, or only with a few meagre pictures in black and white. Yet these institutions have in their stores numerous photographs, in excellent condition, which they obtained. But nearly all lie dormant, inaccessible, in drawers and are finally lost to everyone.

et's add that full size reconstructions (Lascaux style) are still in the project stage. In any case, they could relate only a single monument, and could be only a fraction of the larger tombs.

sirisNet tries to also act as a link between the work of Egyptologists and an increasingly vast and demanding public, who wish to exceed the simple surface vision of the monuments for a more thorough approach, but at the same time aesthetic and explanatory.
A global and complete approach, based on modern media, is the method which OsirisNet tries to develop. The tomb must not only be able to be seen, to be visited, but also to be understood.
A multi-centred approach is therefore necessary, associating detailed descriptions, the largest possible iconography and 3D visits whenever possible, in the whole in respect to current scientific data.

sirisNet thus hopes to create the best alternative to a physical visit and to also contribute in this manner, and at its level, to the protection of the tombs and mastabas of Egypt.


Thanks
would like to thank very briefly the people who help me to translate the pages of the site:

• [Added by me (JJH)] : Thierry BENDERITTER, without whom this site could not exist. It is Thierry who maintains the site in total, not just the French pages. He is the author of most texts (including the news pages) and is the providor of a great many photos. He is responsible for all communications regarding this site.

• Jon HIRST, who not only translates but is also responsible for the pages in English. He is also the author many texts, drawings and plans and he is the creator of all of the 3D virtual reality tours. Without him, OsirisNet would not be what it is.

everal Egyptologists wanted to really show their empathy with and support for this work. Some provided the texts and photographs. I here wish to express my respect and gratitude.

special thank you to Michel Treillet for his bibliographical help. If an article exists somewhere, he is going to find it.
 wish to also thank Prof. Michel Guay of the University of Quebec in Montreal who encouraged me to create this site, and William Hoffmann who made me make my first - and painful - steps in html.

Sources
no indication is provided concerning the origin of the photographs, it is that they come either of my personal collection (9 journeys to Egypt) or that of Jon Hirst.

ther photographs are provided by friendly Egyptophiles, whom I thank very heartily here.
The main contributors are:
Raymond Betz
Christian Mariais
Alain Guilleux and his site "une promenade en Égypte" (in French only)
Serge Blanc
Marjolaine Moreau
Jon Bodsworth and his site "The Egypt archive"
Paul Biesta
Raymond Monfort and his site Men Maat Rê, Sethy I (in English)
Cau Brualla
Michel Treillet
Hans Groesz
Les and Shirley Brown
Tish Chapman
Brigitte Goede

other people occasionally provide slides, to those we here express our gratitude.

Everyone who has kindly helped us, either with a text or photographs is cited on the appropriate page.

ou can enrol to the mailing list if you want to be advised of the publication of new tombs or monuments or of the current events in the world of Egyptology, one of the other great specialities of the site.


Osirisnet is a totally non-profit site.
The site is copyrighted. Nevertheless, we are always happy
to help people, especially students, wanting some documents
for a non commercial use.