Setting up the Excavation

The Wadi Hasa (Biblical Zered) marks the traditional boundary between Edom and Moab

Greetings from Karak,

Everyone is doing well.

We have been working hard to get our camp up and running. That has been especially challenging this season. We have had supplies stored in Amman at a warehouse, since our last season ended in 2001. We could not find some of that material we left and some of it was no longer usable. So we have had to go out replace these supplies here.

Also, if you have been following the blog then you might remember that we used our "second bag" to ship back artifacts & supplies to Jordan during our flight from the US. This plan ran into trouble when luggage for 5 from our group did not show up in Amman. The main reason for this was confusion over our plane tickets. It was not easy to get our bags checked through to Amman when we arrived at the airport on the day we departed. Also 9 of the 12 did not get the boarding pass for London-Amman portion. Then we arrived in London they informed us that our tickets were canceled. It was a long process but finally got everyone on the plane. This confusion led to bags being delayed.

I am happy to report that all the baggage arrived today in Karak. But we still have not been reunited with the boxes of artifacts we carried over. We have hit red tape from the Customs people and we had to left the boxes with them at the airport. But I think we can work through it soon.

We have been eating well, it turns out that the place we eat is a regular tourist stop for tour buses coming to see the castle. They leave Amman in the morning and come south to Karak then visit the castle eat lunch and then many drive on south to Petra. Also some tourist come north from Petra and visit then head on to Amman. Anyway it is buffet style and the food is great. I mentioned before we eat in an Ottoman period buliding that once was a hospital. Tonight we had grilled lamb and shish kebab, grilled onions and tomatos, with fries. They cooked it outside for us on the patio, where we ate overlooking the castle wall. I am amazed by this because it feels so far more like a tour group than a dig crew.

This is a major change from the past but of course no one is complaining. I suspect that those new to the dig do not realize how good they have it.

Tomorrow is a free day. We will visit the site and then other sites. We will visit the Wadi Hasa, which is called the Zered River in the bible. It has a large dam built there since 2001 so I am eager to see it. Then we travel on to a Nabatean temple at Dhat Ras and the ancient graveyard of Mahi.

I need to get some rest so that is all for now.

Remember the entire blog is posted at krp2009.blogspot.com

John Wineland
Karak, Jordan

Seeing Old Friends

Abu Muhammad, John, and Abu Khalid

Karak Castle: one of the finest examples of a Crusader castle anywhere in the world and the best preserved one in Jordan

Greetings Everyone,

It has been a busy, but good, day here. Everyone is fine but I think all of us are tired. Tomorrow we will go to the site and get all of the dig equipment into storage on the site and then begin to clean up eight years of debris from our old squares. After that it is back to camp so we can get things organized and ready for excavation.

We do have wireless in the Rest House and this old computer seems to be working fine. So that will make for much easier posting of the blog.

We are living about 100 feet from the walls of the castle (seen above). From the window of our room, tonight, we can see the lights of Jerusalem across the Dead Sea Rift valley.

We will eat lunch and dinner, each day, in a restored Ottoman building that once was used as a hospital. It is also right next to the castle. Tonight we ate dinner outside with a view of the castle wall. The only thing that separated us from the castle was the dry moat. Several arrow slits in wall were easdy to spot because they shine large lights on the walls of the castle.

We will get to enjoy this view of the castle each day, especially at lunch and dinner time.

Since I am so tired I better close. I will write more tomorrow.

John Wineland
Karak, Jordan