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

Sunrise and Birthdays

Hello,

We have two more full days in the field with our local workers. Today it was cooler than normal and we actually saw some clouds out that site. Above is the sunrise this morning.



Here are the clouds approaching from the west. It is a nice change to see the clouds and have the cooler temperatures.



Last night some of our team visited the home of Khaled Tarawneh, Wilbur Reid provided me with three pictures from last nights dinner. Here from left to right is Emily Saunders, Hadassah Penwell, Miriam Perkins, Linda Perkins, Emily Dew, Melissa Spong, and Mike VanZant.


Here Jerry Mattingly and Hadassah Penwell sample from the large buffet.

This is the group in the reception room waiting for the dinner.

Here two of our workers pose for a photo while seating on one of the large lintels that once spanned the space between the pier walls of the gate.



Our work is hard on our clothes, Emily Saunders repaired her shoes with duct tape.


The pier walls of the gate are clearly defined here in the morning sun.


This is photo from inside the chamber of the Iron Gate, this view gives a sense of large size of the gate.

Here is another view of gate area. The large theshold is covered by sand bags, you can see the bench on the left side of the photo.

Here a crew is working hard on a new square in the gate area. From left to right, Emily Dew, Don Garner, and Megan Love.

Also in Area B Melissa Spong and Ted Carruth work just inside the gate.

Here several of our crew pose with Dr. Miriam Perkins, Miriam and Linda Perkins left for Amman today and they fly home tomorrow. Left to right Melissa Spong, Miriam Perkins, Hadassah Penwell, Emily Dew, and kneeling Emily Saunders.


In Area A they are working hard in a deep square. The wall on the right is the exterior wall of the fortress and the wall in the center is probably part of a casemate wall. From left to right Mike VanZant, Emily Saunders, Jerry Mattingly, and Randy Cloud.

In Area D they exposed a nice doorway in the wall with a bench adjacent to the wall. Here from left to right is Khalid Tarawneh, Byran Love, and Jacob Isbell.


In this square in Area D they are now reaching bedrock, they have exposed a large theshold of a door. The doorway is at the edge of their square so we will have to wait until the next season to find out what is in that room. From left to right, Gerald Keown, Miriam Perkins, and Crystalyn Oswald.


Here Gerald Keown is working to clear a niche just inside the doorway.


This evening at dinner we celebrated two birthdays, Jim Pace andEmily Saunders.

Here the honored guests go first through the buffet line. Left to right Jim Pace, Emily Saunders, and our chef.

The entire group sang the happy birthday song to them.

Then they opened their gifts, here Jimmy receives a box of Snickers.

Emily received a scarf.


Our chef prepared a beautiful cake for us to enjoy.

One of bus drivers Salah danced to celebrate the occasion.



Even our mascot, Kitler looked on with intense excitement (many of us think that he looks like a certain mid-20th century dicator.)


As the day ended we had a wonderful view of the Jordan river valley, in the center of the photo if you look carefully you can see the Dead Sea.

John Wineland
Karak, Jordan