Wednesday, June 13, 2007
|
|
For the last few days, Sarah has been clearing a trench along the exterior wall, on the east side of the temple. This trench was previously excavated by the team of the Brooklyn Museum, but we would like to clarify the date of the brick wall running north along the stone wall of the temple and possibly its connection to the east-west brick-wall that Adam has been clearing on the north face of the temple platform.
Using all available means of communication, including hand gestures, Violaine, is trying to explain to the gufti Abdel Aziz that before collecting the undisturbed pottery associated with this feature, we need to make sure that the “contaminated” (aka modern) fill is removed. |
|
| |
|
At the end of the day we have achieved significant results. The outline of the wall is clearly visible |
| |
|
|
The unexpected help of a fox or a dog which dug a hole in the softer dirt (brown) under the hard brick wall (grey) gives us direct access to a set of potsherds. The analysis of this pottery will help us determine at what time period the wall was built. We can also see that the bricks rest against the stone wall which indicates that the brick wall was built in conjunction or after the stone chapel.
|
 |
 |
|
 |
As the morning sun rises, so does the temperature. Adam who is working inside the temple takes advantage of the shade provided by the walls while writing his daily log in his excavation notebook. |
|
 |
|
| This season, Will has been asked to set up a pottery drawing studio at the dig house. His skills and teaching technique are remarkable as is the diligence of his students. Jon, an undergraduate in Art and Archaeology at Princeton and Jessica, majoring in Egyptology at Hopkins, are both new to the trade and yet they have already completed dozens if not hundreds of drawings. Here we see them reproduce on paper the curve of a small bowl using a profile-gage, and use a caliper to measure the thickness of the wall of the pot to ensure a faithful reproduction of its dimensions. |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
 |
Another new addition to our team is Keli, an artist by training who is studying Egyptology at the American University of Cairo. Under Will’s supervision she is developing her skills in archaeological illustration; her project on the site is to copy the inscriptions while Will is taking care of the more complex decorated blocks. |
|
Next Day
Previous Day
Return to 2007 Calendar
Archives | Additional Information | Near Eastern Studies at JHU | Return to Current Calendar
|
