The Farid Karam Antiquities Collection at USF by Institute for Digital Exploration (USF IDEx) on Sketchfab
The Farid Karam, M.D. Lebanon Antiquities Collection consists of 149 objects, including jars, goblets, bottles, oil lamps, unguentariums, and busts/figures, donated to the USF Libraries Special Collections in 1998 by Dr. Farid Karam and his wife Jehanne. Most of the items were acquired by Dr. Karam in Lebanon, originate in Roman Syria, a wealthy province on the Eastern Mediterranean, and date from the 1st through the 4th centuries AD.
In Fall 2016 Dr Davide Tanasi and his students at USF's Center for Virtualization and Applied Spatial Technologies (CVAST) 3D scanned all 149 Karam objects using CVAST's FaroArm, a coordinate measuring machine (CMM). Final processing and creation of the 3D models was completed by Dr. Tanasi at the Institute for Digital Exploration (IDEx) at the University of South Florida Department of History. The project process and history was captured in the article "Virtual Karam Collection: 3D Digital Imaging and 3D Printing for Public Outreach in Archaeology" by Tanasi, Hassam, and Kingsland.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Teardrop-shaped bottle has a ledge rim that is folded evenly inward. The cylindrical neck is constricted before widening into the piriform body. The base is slightly concave; the object is free-standing. There is no palpable pontil mark.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Teardrop-shaped bottle has tan deposits on the surface which obscure the base. The object is not free-standing. The rim is folded inward; the depth of the fold overhangs the diameter of the throat. The cylindrical neck is interrupted by a gentle indentation before expanding to the piriform body.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Rectangular bottle is topped by a round neck. The walls are notably thick; the interior cavity appears to be oval. The rim is rounded; the base is flat. The bottle sits at an angle.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
The bottle has a long neck and a conical body. The rim is in-folded unevenly and flattened. A constriction marks the transition from the neck to the conical body. The base is slightly concave. The bottle is free-standing. There is no palpable pontil mark.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Teardrop-shaped bottle has a twist in the neck that resolves itself 1.9 cm. below the rim. The rim is in-folded and flattened. The bottom is slightly concave; the vessel is not free-standing. The pontil mark is palpable.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Teardrop-shaped bottle has a flat base; the vessel is free-standing. The pontil mark is palpable. The rim is in-folded unevenly and flattened. The cylindrical neck widens to create the piriform body.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
The bottle has an egg-shaped body and a cylindrical neck. The ledge rim is in-folded and flattened so that the depth of the rim is uneven and the ledge is off-center. The bottom is flattened; the object is free-standing. There is no palpable pontil mark. The body of the bottle is not symmetrical.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Teardrop-shaped bottle is free-standing but at an angle. The base is indented. Rim is in-folded evenly and flattened at an angle. Bottle has a cylindrical neck that terminates at an indentation 6.8 cm below the rim, before flaring toward the base.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Candlestick-form vessel has a funnel mouth and a simple rim. The long cylindrical neck widens at the base into a bell shape. The base in concave. The object is free-standing. The vessel was broken and repaired at the juncture of the neck and the base.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Bottle has an in-folded and flattened rim. The bottom is slightly concave with no evidence of a pontil mark. The bottle is free-standing. Cylindrical neck descends 4 cm. before expanding into a globular body.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Bottle has a three-part shape: the cylindrical neck descends to meet a semicircle which rests in turn on a squat globular body. The rim is in-folded unevenly. The bottom is flat; the object is free-standing at a slight angle.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Unglazed bottle has a flat base that narrows before expanding into the body. At the shoulder, the bottle assumes a funnel shape and supports a neck for 4 cm. before flaring to the rim. The rim is finished with a standing collar. The bottle bears whitish residue along one side from foot to rim, indicating that the bottle lay horizontally and partly in the ground. The base is irregular; the bottle cannot stand.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Teardrop-shaped bottle has a rounded bottom with a slight indentation but no pontil mark. The vessel is free-standing. The rim flairs outward and is folded inward unevenly. The neck is constricted before widening into the elongated body.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Teardrop-shaped bottle has a flattened bottom with a slight indentation but no palpable pontil mark. The rim is in-folded unevenly and flattened. The cylindrical neck widens to form the body. The neck has been broken and repaired. The diameter of the neck does not fit the diameter of the body at the break site.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Long cylindrical bottle has a piriform body on a slightly indented base. The object is free-standing. The rim is in-folded unevenly and flattened. The bottle has a small hole within the first cm. below the rim. Two long bubbles are evident near the base in an area of exposed glass.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Teardrop-shaped bottle has a flattened bottom with a minor indentation but no palpable pontil mark. The vessel is free-standing although it lists. The neck and rim appear to be built up: evidence of repair material can be seen on the outside of the neck. The same material was used to create the rim. The long cylindrical neck dominates the profile of the vessel. The slender teardrop shape of the body begins below the midpoint of the bottle.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Small bottle has a rounded base; the bottle cannot stand. A wide neck rises above the globular body. The rim is simple and slightly wider than the neck. No pontil mark is evident but the bottom of the bottle has a crater where a piece has broken out.
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Unguentarium
Unknown
Teardrop-shaped body has a ledge rim that is folded unevenly inward. The cylindrical neck has a slight constriction before assuming the piriform body. The base is flat and the object is free-standing. The pontil mark is palpable. The body is laced with deep cracks.
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Urn
Unknown
Small urn has two handles, both of which are now detached. The free handles had been glued where they attached to the urn; the glass of the urn is quite smooth. A long bubble appears along the neck at the attachment site. The mouth flairs from the conical neck. The rim is thick and uneven in diameter and thickness. Evidence of glue on the inside of the neck. Below the hip, ribs are molded into the glass. These ribs radiate up from the point where the body meets the base. The base is concave and seems to have no decoration. Evidence of glue inside the base.
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Urn
Unknown
Small urn has two handles that rise from the shoulder and curl down to the rim. The handles are not symmetrical. Rim is simple but unusually thick. Evidence of glue at the rim and at the base. Small cracks on the veneer that covers the entire vessel. Base is concave; the object is free-standing.
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Urn
Unknown
Small urn has two handles that rise from the high shoulder and then curl down to attach again at the neck 1.4 cm below the rim. The rim is simple. The base is concave; the object is free-standing. The body of the urn is egg-shaped. Evidence of glue inside the base.
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Virtual Karam Collection: 3D Digital Imaging and 3D Printing for Public Outreach in Archaeology
David Tanasi, Stephan Hassam, and Kaitlyn Kingsland
Archaeological museums are often perceived as repositories of relics, entrusted to preserve ancient material culture in perpetuity but at the same time committed to making it accessible. The fear of deterioration often denies access or imposes limits on the interactions between visitors and artefacts. This contribution will present the results of the Virtual Karam Collection, a digitization project of archaeological heritage consisting of a collection of artifacts that has limited access and is not properly shared and communicated with the public: The Farid Karam Lebanese Antiquities Collection of the University of South Florida’s Libraries. 149 objects were 3D scanned and the digital models were shared with the public using an ad hoc web platform. It is clear that digital renderings cannot replace real objects; however, the digital surrogates and replicas make up for it by being available for experimentation and manipulation. In order to overcome the obvious limitations on tactile interaction with digital media, an alternative system was used, employing realistic 3D printed copies and having student stakeholders in the collection participate in creation of the replicas. The promising result of this project offers a new perspective on the practice of virtual mimesis of ancient artifacts as strategic educational tool both for people with visual impairments and cognitive disabilities, and for the general public which can learn more using the touch interaction.
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Aphrodite with Eros
Unknown
The item was acquired by Dr. Farid Karam in Lebanon. A woman carries a child on her left shoulder. Child's legs extend to the front with knees bent. Lumps on the child's back may be eroded wings. The child is touching the woman's face with its right hand. Woman's right arm is bent at the elbow; the wrist is at the height of and to the front of the shoulder. The right hand is broken off. The left hand hangs at her side below her hip and holds a round object. The woman's hair is gathered in a chignon at the nape of her neck and she wears a draped garment that covers her shoulders and crosses in the back. The lower part of the figure is missing.
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Lamp
Unknown
The item was acquired by Dr. Farid Karam in Lebanon. Circular molded lamp with two handles. The nozzle protrudes from the perimeter of the circle. The upper face is concave and decorated with 14 petals radiating from the well in the center. A shallow ridge is defined by two troughs around the apex of the loops. The ridge terminates on either side of the nozzle by scrolling outward. The base is flat and defined by a groove.
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Spatula Probe
Unknown
The item was acquired by Dr. Farid Karam in Lebanon. The spatula probe has a flat blade shaped like a lancet, probably due to design but possibly due to wear. The flat blade is attached to a neck with circular cross section that expands into a decorated shoulder before becoming a circular section shaft that terminates in an olivary end.
