Even in its present state, the scale of some of the architecture at the Mut Temple is still impressive.  Here we see a patch of massive paving stones in Sarah’s area.  For reference, note that the red and white sticks are 1 meter (about 3 feet) long.

Amidst much rejoicing, Violaine returned for another season at the Mut Temple today.  Wasting no time before getting back to work, she and Adam are intently engaged in a discussion of previously excavated mudbricks.

Looking somewhat incredulously at the camera, one of our guftis, or skilled excavators, works on uncovering some mudbrick architecture along the northern wall of the temple’s columned porch.

In the area Adam is working in we’ve found a small portion of a curved mudbrick wall.  This wall may be part of an early version of the Mut Temple and was preserved during a later restoration when these large blocks were added above it.

With a flurry of attentive hands and a skilled eye, Lotfi, our conservator, leads his team in loading a decorated block on a trolley.  The block will then be brought around the back of the temple to the southeast corner and unloaded onto a mastaba, or bench, in the new open-air museum.

Carefully following each line and noting the colors used by the ancient craftsmen, Will, our dig artist, is tracing the scene of Mut and blue Amun on the block that was found last week.

The artifacts are registered in one of the ubiquitous notebooks with pertinent information such as find spot, size, and description included.

Of course, before registering an object it helps if you know what it is.  Maybe Jessica has an idea.