Preserving the Past with 3D Scanning

The rise of ISIS has caused considerable upheaval and human suffering in the Middle East. However, these extremists represent a threat not only in the present, but to the past as well.

Throughout their expansion, members of ISIS have systematically destroyed sites and artifacts of historical significance. They looted or destroyed countless historic churches, mosques, libraries, museums and other important sites within the territory they’ve taken.

ISIS claims that the sites they’ve targeted represent heresy that must be removed, although they’ve also been documented selling looted artifacts to fund their terrorist activities. Regardless of motivations, these actions threaten to wipe out important cultural and historical knowledge.

Fortunately, people like James Bezjian are working to make sure that doesn’t happen. Bezjian is the Director of the Innovation Lab at the Baker School of Business at The Citadel, where he’s training his students to use 3D scanning technology to record and preserve historical artifacts.

The scanners can record highly detailed records of objects which can then be examined digitally or even reproduced via 3D printing. If deployed on a larger scale, the technology could create an important failsafe against destructive groups like ISIS.

Bezjian’s program has already partnered with the University of St. Andrews, the Charleston Museum, and the Army Airborne and Special Forces Museum at Fort Bragg to scan and catalogue important artifacts in their possession. However, expanding the use of this technology to preserve threatened history still faces several challenges. The scanners themselves are quite costly, making them inaccessible for smaller institutions. And experts like Bezjian must still overcome the often bureaucratic hurdles of gaining permission to access historic sites and artifacts.

Bezjian’s inspiration to get involved in the project came from a visit to his father in Jordan. Embassy officials there had become increasingly worried about threats to items important to their history and culture.

“If you destroy our heritage, you can’t ever get that back,” Bezjian said.

Bezjian considers his Armenian heritage to be an important motivating factor in his work; he understands what it means to have one’s own culture threatened. In the early 20th century, the Ottoman Empire carried out genocide against the Armenians, destroying many important Armenian cultural sites in the process. Bezjian hopes that his work will help prevent the same kind of cultural loss.

“This is kind of a big deal for me, my way of fighting back and being a part of something bigger than myself,” Bezjian said.