Introduction

Despite the dynamic and complex nature inherent in the field of historical study, traditional teaching practices tend to systematically reduce historical topics into binary, rigid narratives, often neglecting essential elements like cultural heritage for a more rich and profound understanding.

This project stems from the idea that no event, nation or culture exists in isolation, inspiring a prototype for a digital tool that encourages a more meaningful way of studying history through the lens of culture. With the use of both artistic and historiographic sources, narrative storytelling and the interaction with 3D assets, it aims to reconstruct traditional historical narratives by emphasizing not on the unique features of ancient regions cultures and customs, but how their interactions were central both for shaping their identity, and for fostering the international exchange of ideas.

Case study: Greece and Persia

The first chapter of this project serves as an introduction to cultural influences between the West and the East in the antiquity, focusing on the exchanges between the empires of Greece and Persia, a topic where most Western scholars focus on the conflicts on the northwestern border of the Achaemenid empire, often with a biased narration that promotes Greece as the cradle of Western civilization.

A pathway of contact: the Royal Road

While the famous Silk Road operated from the 2nd century BCE, early trade networks between the East and the West had existed for many centuries, fostering the transmission of ideas, goods and technologies; the Persian Royal Road, in particular, was one of the most impressive routes, spanning from the empire's capital Susa to Sardes in the coast of Lydia.

The pathway has been reconstructed through archaeological findings and textual resources, especially Historiae by Herodotus, the first known extant historical narrative explaining the long history of relations between Greeks and nearby cultures. As Herodotus notes, "there is nothing mortal which accomplishes a journey with more speed than these messengers, so skillfully has this been invented by the Persians... neither snow nor rain nor heat nor darkness of night prevents them from accomplishing the task proposed to them with the very utmost speed"(Historiae, 8.98).

But the question remains...

Are written accounts enough?

While it is critical resource on affairs between Greeks and Persians, Herodotus's Historiae, along with other written accounts on the matter are not - and could never be- fully impartial, given their fragmentary nature, limited reliability, and ongoing political contexts.

On the other hand, no primary textual sources are left from the Persian empire, which does not allow for the cross-examination of even resources and in even terms. Although discouraging, this can create new grounds for creating a balanced narrative, with the combination of critical examinations of extant writings and the prioritisation of cultural evidence.

Beyond the conflict

Historical accounts of the Greco-Persian Wars -along with Greek material culture favored by the West- tend to highlight the cultural differences of these empires, but today scholars can argue that these affairs actually enhanced the cultural exchange between Greece and Persia. Besides the already ongoing imports of material culture through trading and diplomatic relations, Greece´s victory brought on the distribution of impressive collections of material spoils from the Persian empire. This exposure would go on to shape the Hellenistic world and influence later Western civilization.

A closer look through material art

If we examine cultural heritage, we discover witnesses of cultural influence between seemingly divided regions.The exhibited example is inspired by rhyta artefacts, which were roughly conical liquid containers typically formed in the shape of an animal's head, produced over large areas of ancient Eurasia.

The gallery includes two objects dated to a similar date of production, with the particularially reconstructed 3D prototype of a silver Achaemenid rhyton (left), and a painted Greek model made of clay; Greece was more frugal in the embellishment of everyday objects, but silver and golden elements were more widely used in later times, especially during the Hellenistic period.


Project workflow

Tools and methods for constructing the current and future versions of the H • ISTOS project.

3D Modelling

3D design of cultural artefacts using reference pictures; texturing, sculpting, reconstruction of the model; scene creation using Blender

Storytelling

Design of a narrative that promotes engaging and effective learning using the website interface and -foreseeably- an interactive experience based on the 3D prototype

Project proposal

Further development includes the design of an interactive application with the 3D assets of each chapter, based on user curiosity and engagement, to inspect how cultural exchanges reflect on extant and reconstructed artefacts.

Following the proposed further development, the final outcome of the project would be a digital platform that hosts chapters with studies of cultural exchanges amongst ancient regions paired with a relevant interactive experience using 3D assets.

The website interface would serve as a repository of different historical and cultural sources for a crossdisciplinary study of each chapter by means of storytelling techniques to inspire curiosity. With the use of Linked Open Data, the content will be enriched with information such as the relationships between cultures, historical context, geographic data and more, while also enabling better interconnectedness with other sources which can enhance the learning process. The accompanying digital application would allow for a more meaningful exploration of the chapters' topics, based on the interaction with cultural objects, narrative methods, and/or care and empathy, depending on the nature of the topic.