Valentin (“Val”) Parks was born in New York City in January 1951. He received his B.S. of Mechanical Engineering from Florida Institute of Technology in 1973. He spent most of his career working in the Semiconductor Industry as a Senior Member of Technical Staff. Parks has worked many places over the years including Cape Town, South Africa and Dresden, Germany where he lived for ~10 years. It was while living in Dresden that he developed a keen interest in ancient history. Parks has traveled to Egypt with Dr. Bob Brier twice and one other trip. He has been inside 7 pyramids and enjoys studying of all things Egypt, including hieroglyphics. Parks retired in 2016 and lives in upstate New York with his wife, his yellow lab, and his many Egyptian treasures.
Albany Institute of History and Art (125 Washington Ave, Albany, NY 12210)
Replicating Dows Dunham's Pyramid Building Diorama - Lecture by Valentin Parks
Join us for a special lecture by Valentin Parks presented in conjunction with the exhibition From the Hudson to the Nile: Dows Dunham and the Archaeology of Egypt and Sudan, on view November 8, 2025–May 3, 2026.
For a series on construction through the ages in 1950, the Boston Museum of Science asked Dows Dunham to create a diorama of the building of the pyramid of Menkaure at Giza. The Boston model was determined to be too fragile for the exhibition From the Hudson to the Nile: Dows Dunham and the Archaeology of Egypt and Sudan, but fortunately Valentin Parks, a local semi-conductor engineer and modeler, undertook the challenge of re-creating it. Employing 3-D printing and years-long painstaking work, he was able to create a perfect replica of Dunham’s original.
In his lecture, Mr. Parks will discuss how the he created the pyramid model and 3D print the numerous figures engaged in the various aspects of building the pyramid. He will have examples of the figures he made and there will be a “Figure giveaway” of some of the extra pieces.
This lecture is generously supported by Andrea Lazarski.
