We’re pleased to launch our new interactive virtual tour of Umm el-Jimal! Completed as part of our Virtual Museum and Educational Curriculum grant project from the Archaeological Institute of America, we used high-res 360° photography and some digital doodads to recreate the experience of taking a walking tour through the main Byzantine site. The tour is narrated by our project director, Dr. Bert de Vries, and is go-at-your-own-pace. Visitors can skip back and forth; link to maps, drawings, and other media; or even go step by step to match the signage being installed at the site. Here’s the link:

http://www.ummeljimal.org/en/tour.html

While the virtual tour is designed to help provide access to visitors who can’t make it to Umm el-Jimal in person, it’s also a key multimedia tool for our ongoing educational curriculum work. Ultimately, the tour represents our big-picture strategy to help ensure Umm el-Jimal’s conservation by viewing it as a living site and community, rather than an empty ruin.

Don’t worry about the tech specs—the tour will work regardless of your device and browser. (If you’re on a mobile or tablet, you can even navigate just by tilting your device.) So be sure to check it out, and special thanks to the AIA’s Site Preservation Program for its support.