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