A day of Drawing, Mapping, and Photographs

There was a crescent moon over Mudaybi this morning, if you look carefully in the lower right you can see Venus.

Hello,

All is well here in Jordan. Tomorrow is our last full day in Karak. We will continue our work taking photographs, drawing, and mapping the site. Then Tuesday morning we will take a few more photos and pack everything up and head to Amman. We have to report to the Department of Antiquities and store our equipment. Then Wednesday a group of us will tour Jerash, one of the best preserved Roman cities in the Middle East.

Yesterday in the blog you saw the survey vehicle with a flat tire. One of the goals of this year's survey work, led by Dr. Karen Borstad is to find Roman roads in the Karak area. Here a Roman road which she has been investigating after Dr. John Foss discovered this road earlier this season. It is near Miller site 344 but Miller makes no mention of this feature which is bordered by large cut limestone blocks and extends for several hundred meters as far as the eye could see.

Even though Dr. Mark Green and Dr. John Foss left us a couple of weeks ago, I thought I would post a picture that they took. Here is a snake that they encountered. This is to let you know that we always have to keep our eyes open for snakes and scorpions.

Our surveyor Paul Mabry was busy today mapping our excavation area.

In Area D, John Mark Wade works with Jacob Isbell to draw a one of the squares in the area, they are using a 1 x 1 meter wooden drawing guide which has strings every 10 centimeters. When you place this over the area that you need to draw you can save a great deal time because you do not have to do so much measuring.

Here you get a better view of the drawing guide as Jake carries it.

Khalid Tarawneh measures in Area D, while Hadassah Penwell draws the wall, Emily Dew provides "moral support" during the process.

A. J. Fry draws while Dr. Randy Cloud measures the balk in Area B.

Here we look over the shoulder of Dr. Gerald Keown as he draws his square.

This is an example of a completed wall drawing from Area A.

A. J. Fry works hard on his drawing in Area B.
Dr. Mike VanZant shows us his balk drawing in Area A. He had a great amount of tumble to work through near the external wall.

Our photographer Tim Snow was working hard to day taking final photos. He he is up on our photo ladder in the gate area. Jake Isabell and A. J. Fry steady the ladder while Dr. Friedbert Ninow looks on and waits his turn on the ladder.

The gate has been cleared and cleaned and is ready for final photos.


Tim gets another angle on the gate area while Jake Isabell and A. J. Fry stablized the ladder.



Here is a picture of the gate that I took from the ladder.

Through the hard work, friendships are formed. These two students had not met before their involvement with KRP, now they are good friends. This is Emily Saunders, wearing the kafeeyah, from Carson-Newman College and Melissa Spong from Johnson Bible College.


All the hard work can wear you out, here Dr. Mike VanZant rests in his square.

Time for bed, we have one more full day at the site tomorrow.

John Wineland
Karak, Jordan

Last Day Off in Karak

Sunrise at Mudaybi, Thursday morning

Hello,

Today most people rested, washed clothes and began to think about packing up for our departure from Karak Tuesday morning. Seven people traveled down to the Dead Sea this morning, to swim and to visit the Church of Lot. Several others walked to the shops of Karak to buy gifts to take home.

Tomorrow we resume our "normal" schedule that is rise at 3:45AM, breakfast at 4AM and leave for the site at 4:30AM. But our work tomorrow will be very different because we will have no local workers on the site and we will do no excavation. Instead, tomorrow we prepare the site for final photographs, and we will draw the balks. So we will be measuring and drawing and mapping with the total station. We will repeat this same activity on Monday. Then Monday evening we will pack our bags.

Tuesday morning a truck will come to haul our equipment back to Amman. Then it will be one last quick trip to the site to collect our tools and then on to Amman by noon. We will need to unload the equipment and report to the Department of Antiquities. Wednesday we will take a trip to Jerash and prepare to fly home Thursday morning.

Thursday was the final day for the local workers, here the workers gather for their final payday.

Later that day we got a call from the survey crew they had problems. They were able to limp back to a main road where Salah and I met them with the bus. The jack in the survey car did not work and the spare was also bad.

It was Salah to the rescue.

Ten of us traveled Thursday afternoon to Petra where we stayed in the Grand View Hotel. This was our view, an overlook of the mountains of Petra.

Friday morning we entered Petra about 6:15AM. This is the Obelisk Tomb on the way towards the Siq.

This is a group photo of the "Kansas City 6" from Mid-American Nazarene University in the Siq. From left to right Megan Love, Bryan Love, Jacob Isbell, Crystalyn Oswald, A. J. Fry, and Dr. Randy Cloud.

Here is Emily Dew from UNC Chapel Hill and Dr. Don Garner from Carson-Newman College.

Crystalyn Oswald took a ride on a camel in front of the Treasury.

Here the view from the steps of the Treasury looking back toward the Siq.

Here is the Siq opening in front of the Treasury with camels waiting to give a ride to the tourist.

Yesterday I showed some pictures of our climb up to the High Place. This is the Roman Soldiers Tomb which I saw while coming down from the High Place.

I stayed up above the Roman road so I could explore the Great Temple of Petra which was excavated by a team from Brown University.

Here are some of the column bases at the Great Temple.

This column was left as the excavate team found it to illustrate how earthquake activity toppled the columns of the Great Temple.

Then I decided to explore a small museum at Petra which is actually housed in a man-made cave.

Here is part of the collection displayed modestly on a wooden shelf.

I then hiked along the Roman road, this is the Triumphal Arch of Petra.

Here is another camel tied up to an information sign.

One of the interesting features of Petra is the Roman theater. Notice that the Romans cut through earlier Nabataeans tombs while carving the theater out of the sandstone bedrock.

Megan Love decided to ride a horse out of Petra to the gate.

As we departed many merchants asked us to stop and buy gifts, I like the name of this shop.

This was the sunset over the the Jordan Valley which we enjoyed after we returned to Karak Friday night.

And that's the way is it, Saturday July 18th, 2009.

John Wineland
Karak, Jordan

Another Trip to Petra

Here I am at the overlook near the High Place of Sacrifice at Petra today

Greetings,

I could not post last night because I could not get access to the internet in Petra. Thursday was our last regular day of excavation at the site. We let the workers go home about 9:30AM and we left the site about 11AM.

A group of 10 of us traveled to Petra. I went along with the six from Kansas City, Don Garner, and Emily Dew. We had a good trip and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. Tomorrow is another day off, so we have time to rest, do some work in the notebooks, and wash clothes one more time in a bucket.

I will put more pictures from Petra up tomorrow but here are a few.

Here is the group at the beginning of the climb to the High Place. Nine of us walked up to high place this morning. They say that there are over 600 steps to the top but to be honest I did not count them.

This is the place of sacrifice at Petra. It was constructed by the Nabataeans in the first century BC. It was dedicated to two gods, Dushara, the god of strength, and al-Uzza, the goddess of water and fertility. Grain, wine, and animal sacrifices took place here.

Here Dr. Michael VanZant demonstrates where the sacrifices were made (there is no evidence that the Nabataeans sacrificed humans).

Near the High Place is a scenic overlook of the entire area.

Since it is quite late here in Jordan, I will end for tonight and post more about the trip tomorrow.

John Wineland
Karak, Jordan

Another Good Day in the Field

The Sunrise over Mudaybi this morning, it has been pleasant weather, cool by local standards and some clouds today.

Greetings,

Tomorrow is our final day of excavation at the site. We have Friday and Saturday off. Then on Sunday and Monday we will return to the site without the workers. These days will be spent taking final photos, drawing, and finishing final details. Tomorrow I will be traveling to Petra with some of the team that did not get to go on the earlier trip. So I might not be able to post an entry tomorrow evening.

This morning the sunrise reflected off the clouds. This is view from the gate area, looking west over the massive lintels from the gate complex.


I hiked to the ridge north of the site this morning to collect a basalt sample from a basalt quarry area. Here you can see a large block of basalt that was quarried but never finished and removed. The site of Mudaybi is in the background.


I decided to walk along the ridge and get some pictures of Mudaybi from a different perspective. Here you can see the commanding position the site had over the surrounding area. On the horizon you can see the town of Mahay.



In this view I zoomed on in Area B, the gate area. You can see some of our crew working and the town of Mahay in the background. Note the tumble of rocks along the wall lines.


Here you can see Area A, Mike VanZant stands near his square. You can see the inner wall behind him.


Here is Area D and the northwest corner of the site. Gerald Keown is standing on the left in the white shirt.



Here is Mike VanZant's square in Area A. They are hauling rocks out of the square. You can see the exterior wall of the fortress is exposed. From top to bottom Mike VanZant, Emily Saunders, and Randy Cloud.


This is Mike VanZant later in the day excavating the foundation trench of the fortress wall. A foundation trench is the trench used to begin the construction of a wall, so the pottery found in this trench is critical because it allows us to determine when the wall was constructed.


This is an overview of Area D this morning. In the center of the photo you can see John Mark Wade discussing the progress of the work with Jerry Mattingly (squating) and Gerald Keown on the right.

Here is another angle on Gerald Keown's square in Area D. You can see a large theshold of a door on the left. From left to right, Gerald Keown and Crystalyn Oswald.

Here the crew in Area D looks over the square near the north west corner of the fortress.

In this square they are removing the debris from the floor on an Iron Age room. Bryan Love on the left and Hadassah Penwell on the right.

After the floor in cleared they decide to excavate a "doorway" near the exterior wall.

Clearing the area is hard work, some of the stones are too large to move without breaking them, here Hadassah Penwell uses a sledge hammer to break a large stone.

The crew in the square paused to pose for a photo. Bottom left to right Bryan Love and Jacob Isbell. Above left to right Khalid Tarawneh, Hadassah Penwell and John Mark Wade.



Here is an overview of the work in Area B (the gate area). They have opened a new square to explore the construction of the gate complex. Here you can see on the left, Friedbert Ninow, then Emily Dew in the red coat, and Megan Love on the right.



Later in the day the crew in this square pauses for a photo. Left to right, Don Garner, Emily Dew, and Randy Cloud.


This was the view from our room at the Karak Rest House this evening. The clouds created a beautiful scene.

It is very late once again. So I better get some sleep.

John Wineland
Karak, Jordan