Introduction

Introduction * 15 However, in many cases this is not the situation . Many sites that have been excavated in Israel suffer from natural erosion vandalism and deterioration due to a dearth of visitors . This is where virtual, interactive conservation can come into play as a significant conservational element in addition to physical conservation . Virtual conservation is very important because often an excavation is covered up after completion, either due to lack of funding to preserve it or because it was a salvage dig at a site slated for development, and the find was not of a type that required altering construction plans . In such cases, the path to further research is blocked and the information remains enclosed in final reports, with all their advantages and limitations . Virtual conservation can in those cases serve as a partial solution to the problem . Sanders shows how virtual reconstruction of magnificent Assyrian structures from Nineveh and Nimrud has led to deeper insights an...  אל הספר