Just as a reminder, this photo and the next show the area west of the main roadway just as work was starting. This photograph was taken from atop the Mut Temple’s 1st Pylon and looks northwest.

The same area looking southwest from the enclosure wall east of the Precinct entrance. In both photos you can see that we had just completed the first of several mastabas.

This photo and the one that follows were taken at the very end of the season and show the kind of progress that can be made in just a few weeks when expeditions are able to co-operate to achieve common goals. Again, you are looking north from Mut’s 1st Pylon.

The whole area is now much more organized and easy to get around than it was at the beginning of the season. Here is what was accomplished in the last week of work.

The Taharqa ram going onto its new base (left) and in its final position. Now this important sculpture has an appropriate setting and can be seen clearly by visitors.

This long mastaba runs along the south side of the main group of mastabas and has been built to hold blocks from temple walls that cannot be put back in place but demonstrate the scale of work undertaken by the ancient Egyptians with minimal technology. Temperatures at the site neared 100° F for most of the last week, making the work even more difficult. Keeping hydrated is important as Mahmoud and his team know. The final blocks were put in place after we left Luxor.

Three Sakhmet statues found between the ram-sphinxes that stand before the west wing of Mut’s 1st Pylon now rest on new bases.

Building the final mastaba, at the west end of the 1st pylon, was still underway when we left the site. When complete and dry, it will hold several fragmentary Sakhmet statues and the beautiful and well-preserved head one of the ram-sphinxes that line this wing of the pylon. It was found by SCA excavators some years ago; unfortunately the sculpture from which it came is too badly deteriorated to allow the head to be put back in its original position.

We also finished the restoration of the west wing of the gate in the Mut Temple’s 2nd Pylon. This started as a small project to put two inscribed blocks back in their original position, but the rest of the blocks of this part of the gate were in such poor condition that we ended up consolidating and restoring the whole north end of the structure.

Excavation and restoration are only part of the Expedition’s work. We are also preparing to publish the Ptolemaic religious texts on the gateway in the Mut Temple’s 1st Pylon. To do so, we need good photographs of the inscriptions and reliefs. Sometimes the Egyptian sun provides perfect lighting, as on the reliefs in the background. Other reliefs, though, need reflected light to bring them out. On one of the last days at the site, Jaap and Mary used a large mirror to try to get just the right light on the inscriptions on the north face of the pylon’s west wing.

The area just outside the site has become a dumping ground for all sorts of trash. One of our last tasks this season was to arrange to have this trash removed early one morning.

This grove of palm trees is just above the southeast corner of the sacred lake, and is where the pottery is sorted and photographed. It is the only shady area in the whole 22-acre site.

And finally, one last bird shot: a flock of stilts wheeling over Mut’s Sacred Lake. It is hard to leave a place that has such beauty.

By mid week, Ayman was turning up some of the clearest and most beautifully laid bricks we have ever encountered. Even when first uncovered, two distinct parallel walls that occupy the full width of the square are clearly visible, with two shorter stubs of brick running off the southern wall. The block of stone between the rows is a door socket, but it seems to be displaced.

Ayman’s square at the end of the work, seen from the southwest. The two shorter walls were later additions built on dirt that had accumulated against the southern wall; they were removed. In the center of the square is a shallow, irregularly shaped pit that was filled with ash and pottery, mostly Ptolemaic. Unfortunately, we found no trace of sphinx bases.

We extended Abdel Aziz’s square to the south to try to find the south face of the theoretical wall/pylon, and to the west to confirm that we do actually have the west face. The west face is real, but on the south the brick continued into the baulk, although it is broken by a later baked brick feature (a well?). The pottery associated with the well (?) is Ptolemaic.

Before we back-filled the squares, they had to be mapped, and that is what I spent much of this week doing. It is very finicky work, particularly when dealing with mud brick. Since a heat wave hit Luxor this week, it was also very hot work.

Once each square was mapped, we laid down plastic matting over the excavated surfaces then began back-filling the squares. Back-filling protects the features from erosion, and the plastic matting will let the next team to excavate here know when they have reached the limits of our work.

On Sunday the two blocks from the north face of Mut’s second pylon were put back into position, a delicate task as the blocks are different heights and neither has a flat lower surface. On the left, Jaap and the masons make sure the alignment is right as the eastern block is lowered into position. By the end of the week both blocks were in place and secure. All that remains now is to cover the new base with a coating tinted to blend in with the ancient stone.

We are building up the inner face of the enclosure wall west of the Propylon to keep brick debris from falling down onto the area below. The construction is of mud brick on top of baked brick, mimicking the ancient construction. On the left, the bricklayer studies the wall before he begins work as he will build it with the same batter as the face of the propylon. By mid-week he was almost finished (right).

To get the bricks from the spot where they were delivered to the building sites, a procession of pairs of men carry baskets containing 3 or 4 bricks. This season’s work consumed over 4,000 baked bricks, which is a lot to move!

The first of the Chapel D ceiling blocks went up on its mastaba early in the week. While not as large as the huge block moved last week (the siba can handle it), it is still a sizable piece of stone that must be handled with care.

The ceiling blocks in their new home, with Chapel D behind them. The blocks on the mastaba in front of them are also from Chapel D.

By the end of work on Thursday we were almost finished building the mastabas. The ones that will hold the Taharqa ram (center) and a group of decorated blocks just inside the precinct entrance (right) received their finishing coats today. We will spend the rest of our time here getting the various sculptures, reliefs and decorated blocks onto their new bases. Preservation is an important component of any archaeological work.

I realized when I typed the last caption that you may not know what the “Taharqa ram” is or its significance. In 1979, at the north end of the Mut Temple’s East Porch we found the head of a ram with a king below its chin (left), along with fragments of the king’s body. The ram’s body was found nearby but had deteriorated to a shapeless mass of granite. Richard dated the head stylistically to the reign of Taharqa. In 2001, at the north end of the West Porch, we found the body (but not the head) of a second ram with the names of Taharqa on its base, thus confirming the dating of the head found in 1979. These two sculptures are among the very few rams of Taharqa found in Egypt. The ram’s head was taken to Cairo for the Museum of Egyptian Civilization.

The new paving has acquired another graffito, probably by the same artist. This time he has chosen to show a queen or goddess, carved with the same skill as the first graffito.

When she takes a break from pottery, Julia photographs the birds that feed in the sacred lake. She took this superb picture of a kingfisher poised to dive on Thursday.

Jaap’s wife, Egyptologist Julia Harvey, arrived on February 15, completing this season’s small team. Julia has agreed to take on the pottery, with which she has considerable experience. She already has the first batches sorted and organized.

We finished work on the paving west of the Taharqa Gate early in the week and Mary got up on a ladder to photograph the results. As expected, some of the newly-exposed stone was badly decayed, but enough survives to show the course of the roadway.

Abdel Aziz’s square north of the Ramesses III temple is no longer boring. After about 1.2 m of clean earth, we began to encounter mud brick. By the end of the week, aside from a few shallow pits with stone, mud brick covered almost the whole square and we had found a line of baked brick along the west side. We are fairly certain that what we have now are the foundations either of the temple’s north enclosure wall or perhaps its pylon. Ramesses’ temple stood within its own mud-brick enclosure (remember, it was outside the precinct until the 4^th century BC), of which only the west and south walls survive. The eastern wall seems to have been completely eaten away by centuries of flooding.

With the Taharqa Gate finished, we opened a new square north of Abdel Aziz to continue our search for sphinx bases. Ayman has encountered the same thick layer of wind-blown earth over broken stone. By the end of the week he was about 90 cm below the modern surface. At least some of the stone in this square seems to be larger and in better condition than in Abdel Aziz’s square.

Several years ago we rebuilt the west wing of the Mut Temple’s mud brick 2^nd Pylon to a height of about 3 m to give visitors some idea of its appearance. Of the pylon’s sandstone gateway very little is left, as you can see. We have determined, however, that the two remaining inscribed blocks actually join, the lower one fitting to the left of the upper, although both are somewhat out of position now. We decided this season to put these two blocks back in place and started work on Tuesday.

Once the two blocks were removed we had to clean up the accumulated dirt, plant remains and deteriorated stone behind them (left). By the end of work Wednesday the debris had been removed, a new support for the blocks was well underway, the new construction conforming to the shape of the remaining ancient blocks. The 2 main pieces of the larger block are ready to be re-joined (right), with stainless steel rods ensuring that the join is secure.

Once the mastaba we built last week was dry, we began moving decorated blocks onto it. Some were relatively easy: large, but able to be moved by a few men using a wooden stretcher and stout straps. Hassan supervises the careful placement of such a block.

The beautifully carved block in the center of this picture was another matter entirely. Not only is it huge, but its lower surface has been both cut away and worn by time, making it difficult to balance. While it could be moved to the edge of the mastaba with a combination of siba (tripod and winch) and levers, it was too heavy for the siba to raise it to the top of the mastaba.

On Thursday morning Mahmoud Farouk, foreman of the work at Karnak (center) and an expert at moving large blocks, used a hydraulic jack, levers and baulks of wood to raise the block gradually to the level of the mastaba.

Once the block was on the mastaba, the siba came back into use to support the block so the wood could be removed and the block gradually tipped into position. This took all morning.

By noon the block was in its final position it’s shallowest end supported by a block of sandstone. Hassan, Mahmoud and the crew are justly proud of the work!

We have also built a second mastaba to hold the several inscribed and decorated ceiling blocks from Chapel D, like this one,  that cannot be put back in place as not enough is left of the chapel (visible in the background). This will not only protect them from water infiltration but will also improve the appearance of the approach to the chapel and the Taharqa Gate.

In the meantime, I have found time to start work in the Montuemhat Crypt, comparing Charles Edwin Wilbour’s corrections to Mariette’s copy of the texts  with what is still on the walls. A small mirror is essential to direct light on shadowed areas of the wall. From what I have seen so far, many of Wilbour’s corrections are accurate.

Adding graffiti to temples is an ancient tradition that seems to be continuing today. The new paving in the gateway of the Mut Temple’s 1^st pylon is only a few months old and already it has acquired its first graffito. The figure has a cobra on its forehead and what looks like a crudely carved beak (Horus?). It wears an elaborate crown with sun disk and a very fancy robe with checkered shoulder straps and diagonal lines on the sleeves. Pity the artist wasn’t more talented.

Jaap took this terrific photograph of two small lizards locked in combat.

And Julia contributed this photograph of a crow diving after a kite. Life is never dull at Mut!

According to the late French scholar, Agnes Cabrol, these 3 badly damaged sphinxes sitting east of Chapel D date stylistically to the reign of Ramesses III and probably had originally been part of a sphinx avenue leading north from that king’s temple at the southwest corner of the Isheru. We decided to test that theory this year.

On Monday we opened a square north of the Ramesses III temple, where we hope to find remains of sphinx bases. Abdel Aziz is supervising the work.

Jaap van Dijk, who arrived on Friday, discusses the new square with Farouk and Hassan. Welcome back, Jaap! As you can see, Abdel Aziz found sandstone almost immediately below the surface. The roll of white material you see on the right is the geo-textile laid down by the ARCE team to inhibit reed growth. When we have finished work here we will back-fill the excavation and put the material back in place.

To our regret, Monday’s stone proved to be nothing but a shallow layer of badly decayed broken blocks, possibly dumped here by French archaeologist Maurice Pillet, who excavated the Ramesses III temple in the 1920s. Aside from one remaining cluster of stone, the square has produced nothing but clean dirt. If we don’t find anything of interest in a day or so, we’ll close this square and open another to its north.

Ayman is almost finished excavating his area west of the Taharqa Gate. All the gaps in the mud brick are the result of pitting. He should be down to the Dynasty 25 paving of the approach to the gate by Saturday. Once he finishes here, we’ll start another square further to the west to see if we can trace the paving further.

As part of the preparations to open the site to visitors, we will be helping the ARCE team relocate several blocks of temple decoration. This week we started building a new mastaba (Arabic for “bench”) on which to store the blocks. The mastabas are of baked brick with an impermeable layer between courses to prevent water infiltration. The final step is a finishing layer of cement. The work goes quickly with many willing hands.

To build our second mastaba we had to move a large block several meters. Some stout beams, a few metal rollers and a lot of hard work and the task was accomplished.

We’re also clearing out an accumulation of broken stone just inside the precinct entrance. Since the stones are relatively small we use a sturdy cart that allows several to be moved at once. The work still requires a lot of effort, but more stones can be moved in fairly short order.

These brightly colored birds are a delight to watch as they snatch insects from the air. The underside of their wings is a coppery brown, so that when they fly you see flashes of green and copper.

Can you spot the bee-catcher? Despite its brilliant green plumage, this small bird (on the lower wire) can be very hard to make out against the foliage.

After a hard day’s work in the sun and dust, it is very restful to look out over the Nile at sunset.

In February 2012 the American Research Center in Egypt, with funding from USAID and in co-operation with the Ministry of State for Antiquities, began a project to prepare the Mut Precinct to open to visitors. They are not excavating but rather attempting to control the rampant growth of grasses and reeds at the site and making cosmetic improvements that will make the precinct more accessible to visitors. Under the direction of John Shearman, ARCE’s Associate Director in Luxor, there has been considerable progress.

As always, the view from the plane on the trip from Cairo to Luxor was spectacular. This year we flew down the west side of the Nile, over rugged and desolate mountains.

First, I’d like to introduce you to the Egyptian colleagues with whom we’ll be working this season. Our MSA inspector this year is Hassan El-Tawab. He and I took a tour of the site on Thursday. Once again, our foreman is Farouk Sharid Mohamed, a friend and colleague of more than 30 years.

Farouk’s two sons Ayman (left) and Abdel Aziz will be the Quftis working with us in 2013. They, too, have many years of experience excavating at Mut and other sites and are a delight to work with.

Expeditions at the Mut Precinct have always worked together whenever possible. When the ARCE team asked if we could excavate part of the mound of earth east of the gate in the Mut Temple’s first court (left) so that they could remove a number of large, undecorated blocks from the court, we were glad to oblige. We are hoping to find more of the paving that links the first court to the chapel on the rise of ground to the east.

One of the things we want to do this year (a small project) is clear the remaining earth in the square west of the Taharqa Gate where we uncovered paving in 2010. First, though, we need to remove the loose earth along the west baulk to prevent an unwary walker from falling.

Now to the changes the ARCE has made. To make it easier to get into the site and and into the Mut Temple they have been laying new paving along the precinct’s main axis. What remains of the ancient paving of the approach to the Mut Temple was badly deteriorated so it was carefully covered with protective material and the new paving laid on a bed of clean sand. Where the paving is in better condition, new blocks are laid around the ancient stones. The new signs for the temple are Egyptian alabaster etched with the images and temple name.

On the left is the road between the precinct entrance and the Mut Temple as it was in January 2011; on the right, the same area today. Quite a difference.

The first court (left) and second court have been leveled and laid with fine gravel so people can get to the Sakhmet statues. The new paving continues through the second court to the entrance to the rear part of the temple (foreground).

One of the project’s biggest challenges has been to control the growth of reeds around Mut’s Sacred Lake without the use of herbicides. In 2008-2009 the lake was drained so that the Johns Hopkins University expedition, directed by Dr. Betsy Bryan, could excavate along its shores. Once the lake was allowed to refill, the reeds grew back almost as thickly as ever; the photo on the left was taken in January 2011. The method ARCE has used seems to be working (right) without making the Isheru inhospitable to the many types of birds who feed there. In the background on the right is the pathway the ARCE team has built around the lake to allow visitors to enjoy its beauty.

To make it easier to get to the pathway on the east side of the Mut Temple (still under construction), the ARCE team has built shallow stairs leading south from the junction of Mut’s First Pylon (right) and Temple A (left). We appreciate the stairs, too, as we are doing some work in this area. All in all, navigating the site’s monuments is much less of a challenge than it was before.

Detail of Book of the Dead of Sobekmose, #37.1777E, transmitted light.

One method of examination we use is the use of transmitted light, which is light which passes through a transparent material from one side to the other.  Transmitted light is very useful in understanding how a sheet of papyrus is made and therefore, how it fits back together.

Use of the microscope is another instrument which makes our work easier.  Under magnification, and in combination with transmitted light, we can see clearly what we are doing and this makes our repairs and placing of loose fragments more precise.  It’s important to make as few and as small repairs as possible in order to stabilize the piece so that as much as possible of the original papyrus is visible.

Some of the clues we look for when reattaching fragments include looking at the contour of the fragment.  It’s shape is more easily visible with transmitted light, and we can see where the edges of the fragment may fit in place.  In transmitted light one can also easily see the vertical and horizontal lines of the papyrus plant’s fiber bundles (these bring water and nutrients up to the top of stalk) which create a characteristic crisscross pattern when viewing the sheet. The orientation of these lines on a fragment tell us in which orientation the fragment should be placed—horizontal or vertical, since all fibers on one side of a roll will be in the same direction.

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Most importantly with magnification and transmitted light we can use these lines to place fragments.  At every join, there is a “fingerprint” pattern of lines which tells us if the fragment fits there and if so, exactly where.  If all the fibers on that particular fragment do not line up perfectly, it does not fit.

To join fragments, or make repairs, we use a kozo-fibered Japanese paper which we tint with acrylics or watercolors to the color the papyrus so that the repairs are visible but blend in.

Toned Japanese paper mend

Wheat starch paste is used to adhere the mends to the papyrus.  The paper is cut into small rectangles with a scissors.  (Normally the Japanese paper is torn so that the strength of its fibers are utilized; here we do not want the Japanese paper fibers to pull on the papyrus fibers if we need to remove the mend.)  Wheat starch paste is used because it does not change the papyrus and is reversible over time.

Pasting up a piece of Japanese paper with wheat starch paste and a small brush.

After we place the mend on the papyrus, we place a blotter on top of it to dry it out and a small weight to keep it flat while drying.

See brass weight over white blotter.

As a comparison, these two photographs show how a fragment will fit in place, viewed in normal light.

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Sometimes we see mends to the papyrus that were made in ancient times.  We’ll talk more about those cases in the next blog.

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This post is part of a series by Conservators and Curators on papyrus and in particular theBook of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sebekmose, a 24 foot long papyrus in the Brooklyn Museum’s collection. This unique papyrus currently in 8 large sections has never been exhibited due to condition. Thanks to a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, the entire papyrus is now undergoing conservation treatment. The conservation work is expected to last until fall 2011 when all 8 sections will be exhibited together for the first time in the Mummy Chamber. As each section is conserved, it will join those already on exhibition until eventually the public will see the Book of the Dead in its entirety.

Detail from the Book of the Dead of the Goldworker Amun, Sobekmose. New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, ca. 1479-1400 B.C.E. Ink and pigment on papyrus. Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 37.1777E.

For several reasons, it is a rare opportunity for us to test Museum objects using this technique. One necessary condition is that the object must fit into a certain time range. C-14 dating requires that the material in question be at least 2,000 years old (and up to 50,000 years old) to get a result with a significant certainty. Fortunately, we believed our papyrus fit into this time range.

Additionally, with works of art on paper, we do not often have an expendable sample for this type of analysis. Unlike the Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy described in the two previous posts which require no sample and were used to investigate pigments and adhesives used on the papyrus, C-14 dating requires a sample from the object, usually about 5 mg, which is destroyed during testing. After placing as many loose fragments as best as possible (we will talk more about our repairs in a future post), we had some very small ones remaining with no ink or coloring which were unplaceable. We consulted with our curators and decided that we could use a few of these small fragments for C-14 analysis.

Fragments circled are approximately 5 mg of sample.

There are only a handful of labs in this country that do this kind of analysis. We sent our sample to the Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) laboratory in the Physics Department at the University of Arizona in Tucson for analysis. C-14 dating was developed after World War II in the 1940s and 1950s and the principal is based on the measurement of the unstable carbon isotope 14C levels in a sample as compared to modern, known standards of the stable carbon isotopes 12C and 13C, which comprise the great majority of atmospheric carbon. (Isotopes are different forms of the same element.) The 14C atoms are produced when cosmic rays bombard the Earth’s upper atmosphere and produce nuclear reactions which produce neutrons. (About 2 atoms per second per centimeter squared are produced.) These neutrons react with nitrogen atoms to form 14C atoms, an unstable form of carbon. 14C mixes up into the atmosphere and is taken in by plants during photosynthesis, and other organisms as part of the food chain.

The 14C in an organism is always being replenished from the atmosphere at a constant rate while it is alive, and the ratio between it and the stable carbon isotopes is approximately constant with time. But when a plant or organism dies, its 14C intake stops and what remains will decay at a known rate (half life of 5,730 years). Therefore by measuring the amounts of the 14C and comparing it to known 12C data, an approximate age can be determined.

Spectra of C-14 results from University of Arizona AMS laboratory.

Our results are given in the spectra above. With some interpretation this shows that the results we received from the C- 14 method of scientific analysis are indeed consistent with our current understanding of our Book of the Dead, i.e. that it was produced in the New Kingdom, Dynasty 18, c. 1420 B.C.E.

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This post is part of a series by Conservators and Curators on papyrus and in particular the Book of the Dead of the Goldworker of Amun, Sebekmose, a 24 foot long papyrus in the Brooklyn Museum’s collection. This unique papyrus currently in 8 large sections has never been exhibited due to condition. Thanks to a generous grant from the Leon Levy Foundation, the entire papyrus is now undergoing conservation treatment. The conservation work is expected to last until fall 2011 when all 8 sections will be exhibited together for the first time in the Mummy Chamber. As each section is conserved, it will join those already on exhibition until eventually the public will see the Book of the Dead in its entirety.

Because of potential unrest, no foreign missions were allowed to work in the field on Saturday, January 29, so we weren’t able to get back to the paving until Sunday. By late morning Abdel Aziz and Mamdouh had taken down the southern half of the small baulk between their 2 areas and had reached the paving across much of the area.

And here is the square at noon on Sunday. Although a few blocks are somewhat decayed, the paving is generally in pretty good condition.  We had to cut steps into the baulk between the two sections of the square to allow the workers – and Mary – to get into and out of a square that is over 2 meters deep.

To get even lighting on the paving on a windy day, at noon, when shadows are narrow, took a complicated arrangement of sheets, galabiyas and scarves. Our workmen, as always, showed great good humor and willingness to cooperate with our odd requests.

It was much easier to take this south-looking photo of the paving early on Monday morning, when the sides of the square itself provided sufficient shadow. The angle of the Dynasty 25 paving to the later Ptolemaic wall is very evident, as is a narrow drainage channel cut diagonally across the paving, a feature not found in the areas closer to the gate.

As we suspected, the displaced block projecting from the west baulk of the square and forming the bottom of the large pit is, indeed, a displaced paving stone. Its original position was probably the now-empty space under the right end of the meter stick.

In this January 27 photograph taken from the enclosure wall, the continuity between the eastern section of the boundary wall of the approach to the Taharqa Gate (left) and the part excavated this season (right) is clear. In the foreground are the remains of the late Ptolemaic/Roman Period houses.

Although our excavations this year were intentionally limited, we did find some interesting pottery and objects. Here are the shallow, black-glazed Hellenistic bowl with impressed decoration and the slightly larger stone bowl mentioned in the posting of our first week’s work. The bowl appears to be serpentine, not diorite as we had first thought.

From the unexpected pottery cache found during our 2^nd week came this rather elegant, highly burnished juglet with blue decoration; and a Ptolemaic colander (right). Like modern colanders it even had 2 horizontal handles (one shown here) by which you could hold it while shaking the water out of your lettuce.

Mary’s favorite piece of pottery is this carinated bowl, found at the bottom of the large pit in the square west of the Taharqa Gate. While its shape is simple and the pottery fairly coarse, the potter took the time to press a subtle pattern of radiating lines into the underside, making it rather special.

We only found 2 faience objects this season. The small amulet of a falcon-headed god (left) came from the southern excavation area. The musician was found in the square west of the Taharqa Gate. When complete, the harp would most likely have rested on an oversized phallus; such erotic figures, in faience or stone, were quite common in ancient Egypt.

Last year’s “mystery” object was the item on the left. We had no idea what it was, or even which way it stood. This year we were at least able to answer the second question: it is the rear end of a hollow terracotta animal (possibly a dog). We still don’t know its purpose.

Once the paving was fully exposed and photographed on January 31, we were able to spend our last few days at the site on other matters. I had a chance once again to examine the so-called “Montuemhat crypt”: a small chapel within the Mut Temple built by and dedicated to Montuemhat. Such chapels are extremely rare. Auguste Mariette, one of the founding fathers of Egyptology, published drawings of the chapel’s texts and scenes in 1875.

The copy of Mariette’s book in the Wilbour Library was annotated and corrected by Charles Edwin Wilbour when he visited the site in the late 1880s. Here is Mariette’s drawing (with Wilbour’s notations) of one of the most interesting scenes: the relief on the rear wall that may show an inventory of ritual objects and sculptures within the temple.  (In Mariette’s book the reliefs are reversed; they are shown here in their correct orientation) I am particularly interested in comparing what Mariette and Wilbour saw with what is preserved today.

Although these scenes are very poorly preserved and difficult to light, we were able to get usable photographs of them that will assist in their study.

Not a bad end for a study season.

With the work done, Mary and I headed home on February 4 by way of Doha and Paris – a somewhat roundabout but interesting itinerary. Our last Flickr posting to “Mut 2011: Sights at the Site and Beyond” includes a few photos taken on that trip.

We were able to finish the short study season as scheduled and never felt at risk while in Luxor. By February 1, though, the options for getting a flight out of Luxor were becoming rather limited as most tourists had left and few planes were flying into or out of the city. We decided to cut down our post-season “leisure time” and leave for home a few days early. Although the internet was back up by about February 2, the need to complete reports and last-minute details before our February 4 departure left us no time for dig diary postings before we left.

We thank everyone for their expressions of concern and their good wishes. This is a very difficult time for the Egyptians and for anyone who knows and loves Egypt. We can only hope for the best.

For those interested in what is happening with the monuments, Dr. Zahi Hawass, now the Minister for Antiquities, has been posting regular updates on the situation on his website, www.drhawass.com.

It’s hard to believe that our study season is almost over; our last day of digging will be Saturday, January 29 followed (we hope) by a week of mapping, photography and study. It has been a successful, if short, season. We now know that the wall along the south side of the new square is, indeed, part of the south boundary wall of the approach to the Taharqa Gate. It was built in 2 sections; the join is just to the right of the narrow baulk between the 2 parts of our excavation.  The western section (right) goes one course deeper than the eastern section in order to accommodate an unevenness in the ground on which the wall was built.

It has been an interesting week (at least to us) in what is a relatively small excavation area. On Sunday morning we came on this pale grey rectangle abutting the boundary wall in the SE corner of the area, which contained a great deal of pottery.

The rectangle proved to be a shallow enclosure bordered with compact grey clay-like earth that reminded us forcibly of the very similar feature from last season in which we found a number of oyster shells.  This year’s feature, like the one in 2010 was not only full of pottery but was built on a layer with many pieces of baked brick and sherds, including much of a large storage jar (behind the meter stick). Unlike last year, however, we found no oyster shells.

The narrower western section of the excavation wasn’t dull either. The photo on the left shows a solid grey surface with a narrow wall across it, cut at its west end by a fairly large pit. This surface was continuous across both the east and west parts of the excavation at the level of the bottom of the boundary wall. At first it seemed that the pottery-filled pit was fairly shallow. In fact, we thought we had emptied it on Tuesday, but found yet more pottery on Wednesday (right, looking north). This time we were even more certain we’d reached the bottom. Not so. More pots early on Thursday (not shown)!

It wasn’t until we hit this large sandstone block sticking out from the west baulk late on Thursday that we were sure that we had, at last, reached the bottom of a pit that ended up being 60 cm deep. If you look closely you can see a pot sitting on top of the block right at the baulk. The block of stone really piques our curiosity.

On Thursday we finally hit the 25^th Dynasty paving about 110 cm below the bottom of the boundary wall. It continues the curve toward the south that we discovered in 2010. We still don’t know the reason for the southward turn, but we now know that it is intentional rather than an illusion caused by a few oddly laid blocks. We hope to reach the paving in the rest of the area, east and west, on Saturday and to find out if the block in the west trench is actually a displaced paving slab.

I thought I’d end this week with this picture of Temple A, taken early Wednesday morning when the light was particularly clear. You are looking directly west along the temple’s main axis and can just make out the Taharqa Gate in the background.