Constructing the Sacred: Visibility and Ritual Landscape at the Egyptian Necropolis of Saqqara

Author Acknowledgements

Like most digital projects, this publication was truly a collaboration. I have attributed credit to those who contributed to the 3D model itself in another section of this work (3D Model Documentation and Data Credits). Here I would like to offer special thanks to a number of people who provided assistance and support in other aspects of the project: 

SUP editor Friederike Sundaram and digital production associate Jasmine Mulliken, both of whom showed unflagging support for this project despite the many challenges and headaches for publishing 3D content and made this ‘born-digital’ work possible. Angela Erisman for her meticulous editing. 

The three peer reviewers who reviewed the initial proposal in 2016 and the two (again) in 2018. I greatly appreciated their informed and thoughtful comments and suggestions, especially at the beginning phases of putting together the publication draft. I also welcomed their encouragement and enthusiasm for the project, which gave me the courage to keep moving forward. 

Aaron Cole and Dr. Barry Nickel at UCSC who told me “sure, we can do that” when I described my vision for the interactive 3D model and then made it happen. I cannot stress enough how amazing it was to work with such talented technologists.  

Erik Loyer and the larger team at Scalar, who worked quickly and efficiently to integrate the 3D components of the project into the Scalar platform so I could take advantage of all the incredible affordances of Scalar for this publication. A grant from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission and the Mellon Foundation (2018) funded this aspect of the work.   

The National Endowment of Humanities, whose Digital Publication Grant (2018–2019) allowed me the necessary time off from my usual teaching and service duties at UCSC to complete this publication. 

To Dr. Elizabeth Waraksa, who (out of kindness and friendship) rapidly read and edited initial chapters with her wonderful critical eye before their submission for peer review, and UCSC graduate student Crystal Smith, who assisted with the initial formatting of the section notes and bibliography when I was on a very tight deadline.

Special thanks to the 3(D) Musketeers: Dr. Lisa Snyder, Dr. Willeke Wendrich, and Dr. Diane Favro, as well as Dr. Angel Nieves. The unfailing can-do attitude of my colleagues and friends towards 3D scholarship, as well as their consistent positivity at all times, is truly a remarkable thing. I feel privileged to have worked with them in the past and hope to continue doing so. 

Finally, my husband Greg O’Malley, who doesn’t care if this project is any good because he loves me anyway.