Abstract Computer graphics, and in particular high-fidelity rendering, make it possible to recreate cultural heritage on a computer, including a precise lighting simulation. Achieving maximum accuracy is of the highest importance when investigating how a site might have appeared in the past. Failure to use such high fidelity means there is a very real danger of misrepresenting the past. Although we can accurately simulate the propagation of light in the environment, little work has been undertaken into the effect that light scattering due to participating media (such as dust in the atmosphere) has on the perception of the site. In this paper we present the high-fidelity rendering pipeline including participating media. We also investigate how the appearance of an archaeological reconstruction is affected when dust is included in the simulation. The chosen site for our study is the ancient Egyptian temple of Kalabsha.