Betsy and Hiroko are looking at a block that came out of the wall we are dismantling. Hiroko has begun to clean the side you see here, but there is still much dirt there. The surface has been largely hacked away, most likely in order to fit them into the wall, since the hacking here does not appear to constitute a specific form of damnatio memoriae.  The remaining elements of the scene are enticing, however, and include an elaborately pleated garment and perhaps an arm of the king, both placed before what seems to be the leg (blue) of a god (Amun?) seated on a throne. But the overall scene is not clear, and even the position of the king uncertain, so research in the library will be required in order to better understand it.

 Franck wears a mask to avoid breathing the stone dust as he shapes a large sandstone block that will replace a deteriorated part of the wall. He will complete the dismantling and rebuild this wall in late March and April when he return from France. His last day with us now is February 14.

We had a visit today from Francois Larche, former Director of the Franco Egyptian Center at Karnak and a superb architect who has done remarkable excavations at Karnak over the past several years. He has been working with the front pylon regions and defining the origins of the Hatshepsut and early Thutmoside developments there. He is very interested in the material we have found and points toa number of parallels, as well as distinctions between the remains at Amun’s precinct and Mut’s.