Wey oh wey oh wey oh wey oh.
May 16, 2007 12:34 AM   Subscribe

Fascinated by Egyptian archaeology? View and learn all about the discoveries in Giza, the Valley of the Kings (and Queens), Memphis and Saqqara and the Sphinx from the comfort of home. Depending on today's pesky sandstorms and time of day, you may even be able to see the pyramids from the comfort of your couch. Want to go inside? Yeah, me neither.
Previously.
posted by miss lynnster (11 comments total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
 
Multiple-linked words are videos in multiple parts.
posted by miss lynnster at 12:42 AM on May 16, 2007


Also: Abu Simbel, Dendera, Luxor to Aswan & the Alexandria Virtual Library (in French).
posted by miss lynnster at 12:54 AM on May 16, 2007


miss l. -- if claustro is an issue, here's the closest you'd probably want to come to being aboard a submarine.

btw, the post title made me chuckle.
posted by pax digita at 4:29 AM on May 16, 2007


That pyramid cam is cool.

Claustophobia wouldn't keep me out, the Pharaoh's curse, on the other hand....
posted by three blind mice at 5:49 AM on May 16, 2007


The announcer was perky and thin.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:14 AM on May 16, 2007


I tried to go in, I really did. But... too many sweaty tourists. Too little air.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:34 AM on May 16, 2007


My kindergarten class went on a submarine & I loved it. (They fed us ice cream.) But I'm a lot bigger now so... yeah... probably not my thing either.
posted by miss lynnster at 7:36 AM on May 16, 2007


Fascinated by Egyptian archaeology?

YES. You have successfully targeted my demographic.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 8:53 AM on May 16, 2007


Holy cow. This is one of the most amazing thing I have ever seen on the interwebs. I think I just had a nerd-gasm. (Also, because I am twelve, the Sphinx in this drawing really REALLY looks like a penis. - Ok, after watching some of the videos, I have to say that the Sphinx in general, from above, is extremely penile.)

And the Theban Mapping Project sent me right over the edge into creaming my pants. If you'll excuse me, I need clean pants.
posted by grapefruitmoon at 9:20 AM on May 16, 2007


That robot cam is a tough little customer. Thanks miss lynnster, very cool post
posted by BostonJake at 10:50 AM on May 16, 2007


(If you'll forgive my submarine derail)

If sweatiness in close quarters is an issue, a WW II era Diesel-electric boat would've creamed you. Back in the day, operating in tropical Pacific waters at the surface or submerged with the blowers off, it was a nonstop sweat party. I knew an MMM (I think he was on the Silversides) who told me he spent most of every patrol in skivvies and sandals -- he rarely had to lay topside and it was too freakin' hot back by those Diesel engines to wear anything else. Imagine a particularly stinky sauna filled with machinery, electrical and electronic gear (the orange-glowing vacuum-tube kind) and big plumbing and pumps, and you get the idea -- pierside, with the hatches open and forced air for the tourists' comfort, it's actually pretty comfy.

Boats (that aren't museums) usually smell of sweat and other body odors, occasionally sewage, ozone, oil, cooking smells, cleaning solvents, and hot metal. Modern boats are much cleaner but "boat funk" is noticeable unless you've been in it for a little while -- in which case, fresh air smells weird. Another virtual tour link, this time of a 688 (a Los Angeles -class nuke fast-attack boat); they're bigger, but the interior spaces aren't any less cramped (and nowhere near as roomy as movies like the Hunt for Red October would have you think -- imagine six people trying to work in a walk-in closet and you'll get the idea). Modern nuke boats are air-conditioned to a fault (although the engineering spaces aft can get warm from all the machinery, and the faster the boat moves, the warmer it gets -- the nuclear reactor superheats steam to drive turbines and turbogenerators).

Getting back to claustrophobia: The really weird thing, though, especially in the modern deep-diving boats, is that you can wind up going deep enough that you can see how the interior spaces have gotten slightly smaller: One A-ganger I talked to actually rigged an "Aggie depth gauge" consisting of a thread running from one side of the boat's interior to the other, and he'd get a rough idea of how deep the boat was operating by glancing at the thread to see how much it sagged as the pressure of the sea squeezed the boat's pressure hull smaller with increasing depth.

(That is all; secure from derail)
posted by pax digita at 11:00 AM on May 16, 2007


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