The shrine of the biblical prophet Nahum is an outstanding monument representing the roots of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The shrine is located in a small Christian town Alqosh, about 45 kilometers from the town of Mosul in northern Iraq. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The structure dates back to the 12th century and used to serve as a synagogue for a very long time. It is generally believed that the prophet Nahum is buried here, however, many experts question this assumption. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The structure itself had been in a very bad condition for many years, both walls and vaults had partially collapsed, and a total collapse was imminent. The foundation Alliance for the Restoration of Cultural Heritage (ARCH) called for a project which was implemented by a Czech restoration company GemaArt which deals with reconstructions of historical buildings and monuments in the Czech Republic and in the whole world in cooperation with the Faculty of Civil Engineering of CTU in Prague. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
First works started in January 2018. The\u00a0basis\u00a0of this project was\u00a0the\u00a0documentation\u00a0of the original state of the shrine;\u00a0the manner of conducting the research, data evaluation and photogrammetric documentation\u00a0was\u00a0prepared\u00a0and\u00a0a\u00a03D\u00a0model of the whole shrine was created. The next step was to remove the debris and stabilize the structure, after which the second phase of documentation\u00a0took place\u00a0together with\u00a0a\u00a0virtual reconstruction of the collapsed parts. After this, the\u00a0reconstruction of the structure took place. The last stage, so far postponed\u00a0due\u00a0to the Covid-19 pandemic, is handing in of the reconstructed shrine for use and its final documentation.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thanks to a great hardware and software advancement\u00a0it is now possible to walk through the object in virtual\u00a0world in a very good quality. Experts can watch the state of the\u00a0whole reconstruction without the need of visiting the structure in Iraq. The 3D\u00a0model was created\u00a0by\u00a0prof.\u00a0Karel\u00a0Pavelka\u00a0from the\u00a0Department of\u00a0Geomatics at the\u00a0Faculty of\u00a0Civil\u00a0Engineering in Prague, as a part of the project\u00a0of\u00a0the documentation of\u00a0historic monuments\u00a0and their\u00a0visualization into the shape of\u00a0a virtual museum.\u202f\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n