Last Day in the Field: More Photos Drawing and Mapping

Another sunrise at Mudaybi

Greetings,

Today we had our last day in the field. Tomorrow a small crew will go to the site for some more pictures and to load our equipment on the truck. Then we will return to Karak to load our luggage and head to Amman.

We arrived at our usual time this morning and the first order of business was "cleaning the squares." We start the cleaning process the day before we take pictures. But just before photos we sweep any dirt blown in overnight and also sweep the dirt in the square to remove footprints. This morning we had a large crew sweeping in the gate area. Many times the early morning is the best for photographs because there is softer lighting and less harsh shadows.

Then it is time for our photographer Tim Snow to climb the ladder to get a better overview of the work.

Here is Tim with his "ladder crew" A.J. Fry and Jake Isbell. A.J. and Jake move the ladder and make sure it is safe for Tim to climb.

Once the gate area is cleaned we can get good photos to document our work and to help us illustrate what we have found. Here is a photo of the gate area this morning from ground level.


Here is a close up of the bench in the Iron Age gate. We know that it is possible that these walls, benches and other features may never be in this good of condition again. So we work hard to document them well with photos, measurements, and drawings.

After all this work of cleaning and brushing it seems a shame to back fill our work. But we do it to protect the features at the site. Especially the delicate areas like the theshold and benches in the gate. Here Jake Isabell carries two burlap sacks with soil to backfill the gate.

After we carried the sand bags to the gate area we cut them so the soil is released to protect the gate.

Here you see more of the back fill operation in the gate. Left to right A.J. Fry, Jerry Mattingly, Ted Carruth, and Melissia Spong.

Here Melissa Spong and Ted Carruth are cutting sand bags over the theshold of the gate.

Later in the day Tim Snow is called to do final photos in a single square, at times like this the shade cloth (or Joshua cloth) is essential to remove harsh lighting in the square. Like so many things during the excavation, it requires a team effort. This shading operation took four people to set up. This is so we get the best photographs possible.

Once the shade is set and the meter sticks are aligned then Tim can get a good shot of the square.

Today we also continued the drawing process, we draw every wall and balk. We also draw final top plans. Khalid Tarawneh measures in Area D, while Hadassah Penwell draws the wall.

Gerald Keown completed his drawing in Area D.

Here Paul Mabry our survey is still hard at work checking and double checking his reference points. He also has been mapping the area around the site as well the wall lines and gate area.

Here is Paul with his "mobile office" aka his utility vest.

Another major activity of the day is make an inventory of our tools. The tools were sorted and broken material was repaired or discard. Here is a stack of repaired and counted guffas.

Here is a basket full old tennis balls we use them to cover our rebar stakes so they are more visible and to make them less dangerous.

Here are crates of dustpans, small picks, ropes for the shifts, and rebar.


Here are hoes, sledge hammers and a a stack of buckets.

Here is our tool box with a yellow pad with an inventory of all epuipment.

Here is the inventory list made in the field this morning.

One of the final activities is to dismantle the outhouse (we call it the Harold). Here Wilbur Reid and Ralph Carnathan begin removing staples that hold up the burlap walls.



Then we can begin to dismantle the seat and frame.

We back fill the area and take out the frame for shipping to the warehouse in Amman.

We also had time to today to walk around the site and ponder the answers that we have found, and the new questions raised from our work this summer. This is one of the squares in Area D which has been prepared for final photos.

Here Jerry Mattingly and John Mark Wade look over a staircase near the exterior wall of the fortress near the north west corner of the site.

Here is one of the best preserved walls inside in the fortress, it is part of the inner structure which Nelson Glueck called an "acropolis" when he visited the site in 1933.

Emily Saunders looks over a tumbled archway of this inner structure of the site.

Fredrick Ninow is an avid photographer and he used today as an opportunity to take many photos.

Mike VanZant stood on the north tower of the gate to get an "Iron Age" view of the valley below the site called the Fajj.

As the end of the season approaches everyone has mixed feelings. We know that there is much more work to do but we also realize that it is now time to go home. It is hard work and we need a rest. Here Emily Dew takes a break in her square from this summer.

This is our last evening in the Karak Rest House, tomorrow night we will be in Amman. I will try to post from there tomorrow. Wednesday we will make a trip to see Jerash.

John Wineland
Karak, Jordan

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