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Jay VanRensselaer at the Sacred Lake
Jay has been photographing the lake for documentation purposes, and here he paused to do a self portrait so we could send you this. A really great photo.
Scott's Trench
In Scott’s extension trench we removed a mud brick wall overlaying a charred surface with bread molds visible protruding from under the wall. Now we can see the complete molds – probably with bread still in them – lying on the floor of a Second Intermediate Period bakery installation, ca. 1650 B.C. A great end to his work for the season.
Visitors from Chicago House  Touring the Site with Visitors from Chicago House
Chicago House (Epigraphic Survey of the University of Chicago) visited us today, and here we are giving them a tour of the site. To the right in the foreground is Dr. Helen Jacquet-Gordon and on the left Dr. Jean Jacquet, Egyptologists and archaeologists who have worked at North Karnak for some thirty years and are more familiar with the archaeology of this area – as well as the pottery – than anyone alive. What a treat to have them visit and give us some help with puzzling features. In the other picture you see Dr. Raymond Johnson, Director of Chicago House, with several of his staff, leaving the Ramesses III temple – whose inscriptions, by the way, were published more than fifty years ago by none other than the Epigraphic Survey of the University of Chicago.
Elaine's West Square
In Elaine’s west square another round feature, probably a bread oven, emerged today. There are whole pots surrounding the oven, and one large one visible in the wall on the right.
Refilling Scott's Trench
We began to refill the trench Scott excavated in the Second Court of the Mut Temple. We will leave the extension open until late February for more drawing and other work, but the large square has been recorded and will be filled back to the courtyard level.
Second Court of Mut Temple
On the East side of the Second Court we continue clearing by the walls to find stone fragments before building bases to hold the Sakhmet statues and protect them from further water damage. On the north side we have finished, and the statues are in place.
Violaine Working on Plans  Violaine's Trench
Violaine works assiduously to draw a plan of the brick walls in her trench. The walls are made of large and extremely finely made bricks, but their function remains elusive so far. The wall near the gate, running north to south (right to left) just emerged across the square today. Its relation to the paving stones in the center of the trench must be determined. A fascinating puzzle.
Behind the Sacred Lake -- View of Brick Wall
Behind the Sacred Lake on the west end of the ridge the brick wall shows an orientation that runs northwest to southeast. The wall then becomes near Elaine’s squares nearly west-east. This wall is near the juncture of one coming from Violaine’s gateway but it does not run truly north-south. We haven’t quite found the actual corner join, but we are clearly quite near to it. The brick really looks well preserved here.

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