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Kate assembling materials
Early in the day with the exquisite atmospheric light around her, Kate assembles her materials to begin recording in her square at the rear of the precinct. So far she has been finding a large mud brick structure that now spans two complete trenches and will extend into a third! Who’d have thought?
Maria's trench  Female figurine
Maria had excitement early in the day when a female figurine emerged in her new trench near Kate’s. It is the lower half of a lady lying on a bed (the bed has one preserved leg) with a child shown next to her, with arms and legs splayed in a rather curious manner. Elizabeth was thrilled to have this one and immediately recognized its type as having parallels from Deir el Medina or Amarna. We’ll let you know.
Fatma helping Heather  Fatman taking measurements
Today a couple of squares were ready to begin drawings of brick walls. This is necessitated by our needing to remove an upper wall of the TIP or Late Period (ca. after 1100 B.C.), built atop a regular one of New Kingdom or even earlier date. Here Fatma is helping Heather learn to do the measurements and make the wall drawing. Unfortunately winds came up just after this that made the completion of the drawing impossible, so you’ll probably see more of this tomorrow!
Group mug shot
Mugging at breakfast (and the Mudira had left the premises!) are Peter (as ever), Katie, Violaine (behind), Heather, Fatma, Adam, and Elizabeth. Must have been a great morning – especially for Adam and Elizabeth.
Fatma's square
In Fatma’s square a large ashy area has come to an end with a great pit of pottery beneath it. The walls running above and to the side of the pit were in late levels and ended well above this point. The pottery she is getting now is early in date, probably late Second Intermediate Period or early dynasty 18.
Heather's square
Heather’s square is just northwest of Fatma’s, and they are working at nearly the same level. In the foreground of Heather’s trench is the granary she found, and here is goes down several courses – the best depth preservation we have for one of these round buildings. The north-south wall you see just next to it is under a late wall that we hope to remove once drawings are done, and now a cross wall for the lower one (not on this photo) has appeared. You’ll see it tomorrow. These regular walls – a doorway too in the lower part of the photo – are similar to those Fatma had in her square directly next to this one (the middle of three).
Bull's head uncovered  Adam holding bull's head
In his “inner enclosure wall” eastern extension, Adam today found a bull’s head in bronze or copper. It is very heavy. It is a possibility that this could be a weight, such as one sees in tomb paintings of the New Kingdom where workshop materials are weighed out to the fashioners of jewelry and tools.
Elaine's square
Elaine’s square with brick running in a diagonal direction across it is a bit of a mystery. Under the brick are sandstone pieces that may or may not be intentionally supporting the wall. More brick appeared in the corner of the trench, but the pattern is still elusive.
Mahmoud Adaby carefully cleaning bricks  Uncovering the granary
Back in Katie’s square(s), today baulks have come down so that we can see the entire first granary that first appeared last season. Mahmoud Abady carefully cleans the bricks that come up beautifully clear, forming the diameter of this huge round building. It is well over 4 meters across and is now only one of several we have found. The extent of these temple granaries is becoming quite impressive. Our next hope is for Katie to help us mathematically estimate the height and volume of the granary, based on a parabolic shaped model. We’ll be in touch.

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