October 2011
6 posts
The last few days!
Thursday 13th to Saturday 15th October 2011
So, we moved into the very last few days - and Thursday 13th saw another early start as Jo headed up to Alexandria to give a talk at the Library! The talk described the work of this EES mission across the province since the start of 2005, focussing mainly on the investigations that have taken place during 2009-2011, both the ground survey as well as the...
Finishing things up!
Sunday 9th and Wednesday 12th October 2011
Sunday saw the last real day of work up at Quesna! There were many small tasks to be completed and, importantly, the re-organisation of the storeroom before closing the site on Wednesday! Our conservator, Yasser, and one of the team from Berlin, finished work on one of the ceramic coffins, while some of the small finds were drawn by our illustrator who...
Pens down!
Saturday 9th October 2011
Exam day! Today was the final exam for the end of the fieldschool! We met with the students in the Faculty of Archaeology at the University of Minufiyeh for the last time this season, and handed out the exam papers! This is a 2 hour exam with questions covering the whole of the fieldschool!
The exam went well with everyone passing and then everyone came back to...
A change of scene!
Wednesday 5th October 2011
Today we headed towards the site of Sersenna! The site contains material of Ptolemaic and Roman date and gave the students a chance to look at another site in the province that was excavated by an SCA mission. With the trenches left open it was possible for the students to look at the stratigraphy in light of their tuition over the past weeks and to get a better...
Working in the storerooms!
Tuesday 4th October 2011
The processing of the finds from the 2011 and earlier seasons has been ongoing since Saturday morning when we headed back up to Quesna. Today the post-excavation analysis of the skeletons excavated from T9 began, with Larry and Sarah confined to the bones ‘lab’ to focus on this material. One of the individuals examined today was the very tall individual found...
Back at the site!
Saturday 1st October 2011
The mornings and evenings are certainly starting to cool down as we head into autumn! We returned to the site this morning following a short break towards the end of last week. The students, as usual, joined us in the afternoon at the university, but the morning was spent in the excavation of one of three burials currently open in Trench 9, that had been drawn, measured,...
September 2011
11 posts
A full day!
Monday 26th September 2011
Another busy day! Today we had a new team member with us for the day - from Germany - who was of great help with the preparation and consolidation of a number of burials in the trench! The students, as yesterday, spent the period before second breakfast in the trench and then moved into the workrooms to receive more instruction - more practical today - in conservation...
All change for the students!
Sunday 25th September 2011
This morning saw a big change - the students switched their activities to focus on the analysis and drawing of ceramic finds and also on conservation. They did, however, work in T9 until second breakfast at 10am and made considerable progress there before heading into the work rooms after breakfast!
Five of the students worked with Mr Yasser on conservation - already...
Excavation and off to the university!
Saturday 24th September 2011
Today, as with last Saturday, was quite a long day - but successful! This morning was spent up at the site where most of the activity - and manpower focussed on T9! T11 continued to go down and now the extended section of the trench is at approximately the same depth as the original western part. Plant remains below the surface may suggest that we will soon be...
Excavations in the Ptolemaic cemetery continue!
Wednesday 21st September and Thursday 22nd September 2011
Work continued at a good pace in T9, the trench investigating the northern extent of the main part of the Ptolemaic (and possibly Early Roman) cemetery. More information will become available after Friday when Ashraf el-Senussi joins us from the Fayum to investigate the ceramics that have been collected from the surface layers and from...
Steaming ahead!
Tuesday 20th September 2011
Time is really flying! All continues to go very well with the fieldschool with the students really focussing on the excavation of skeletal remains again this week in T9. It has been helpful for them - and for us - to work in all areas: from trowelling back, to clearing larger amount of sand, and sieving their own sand to, in order to check for small bones and any...
In the classroom and back in the field!
Saturday 17th September 2011
Saturday afternoons are now our chance to work in the classroom together with the students on the fieldschool! On Thursday afternoon the students finished up at 1pm to enable everyone to visit their families on Friday and then re-assemble in the local university at Shibin el-Kom on Saturday afternoon for lectures from the fieldschool teachers!
So, on Saturday...
The pace quickens!
Wednesday 14th September 2011
Today was one of our busiest days! We started at 7.30 as usual and since yesterday have been joined by our 10th student - one of the students from the local university. Everyone is thoroughly immersed in the work and seems to be enjoying the work and learning a lot day by day. Most of the teaching will take placed in the field, however, we will have sessions every...
The start of the fieldschool
Sunday 11th September 2011 This morning saw the start of the first fieldschool at Quesna! The team from Shibin arrived on site just after 7am to meet the workers - many of whom we have worked with now since 2007! One worker who had been away for a couple of years has returned following his national service - we were very pleased to have him back on board! The fieldschool students arrived by 8am...
Up at Quesna!
Saturday 10th September 2011
Today we returned to Quesna to prepare for the fieldschool which will start tomorrow! Three of the field school students already came by today to say hello and we will start at 7.30am tomorrow morning!
Today was a good chance to walk over the site and select the locations for the trenches for this year. The results of Kris’s GPR survey are just through and...
Khatatbah - brief update!
From Saturday 3rd September 2011
We returned to Khatatbah on Saturday 3rd - the follow-up to our 2009 season! Khatatbah lies on the western edge of the Delta and is west of the Rosetta branch of the Nile as well as two relatively recent canals. The week saw much walking as we tried to cover as much ground as possible in order to assess the spread of artefactual remains on both the higher ground...
Re-assembled and ready to go!
Friday 2nd September 2011
Today everyone headed towards Cairo and then up to Shibin using various modes of transport - private cars, taxis and trains included! The team is now ready to go for the prehistoric survey at Khatatbah tomorrow morning! We have colleagues from New Zealand with us and also a colleague from London who will be the lithics specialists guiding the fieldwork.
We hope to...
August 2011
20 posts
Nearly Eid Mubarak!
Monday 29th August 2011
While it is the Bank Holiday weekend in England, Egypt is readying itself for Eid - tomorrow! There is now a holiday break for a few days to celebrate the end of the month of Ramadan - Eid el-Fitr. So there is no work now until Saturday, so that everyone can celebrate the holiday. The team will meet in Cairo on Friday and head up to Shibin, where we will ready ourselves...
Up at Quesna - but in the shade!
Thursday 25th August 2011
The weather is still warm - although we are getting rather used to it and with today’s agenda being based in the storeroom at Quesna, it didn’t affect us too badly! Ironically, the only trouble was caused by the good cross-winds in the storeroom which sent the recording forms flying, but we quickly found makeshift paper weights to restore order! The feast...
Sobek el-Dahak
Wednesday 24th August 2011
We returned today for a brief visit to the town of Sobek el-Dahak, having visited to conduct drill cores during the spring season. Unfortunately today, there were no suitable fields or areas in which we could look for archaeological material, however, we will have the opportunity to return when the sweet corn crop is harvested in the next two weeks - as with...
Closer to 'home'
Tuesday 23rd August 2011
Today’s site visit was rather closer to Quesna! The area that we went to is al-Rimaly, which is next to Tell Mustai. At certain periods in antiquity, Quesna fell within the territory of Mustai, at other times within the Athribite or Busirite nomes. Al-Rimaly is close to the mound upon which we find the tomb of the Sheikha Umm Harb, the place that we drilled during...
Back on the road!
Monday 22nd August 2011
Today marked the return to the ground survey and the first of three ‘site’ visits this week. We began with the site furthest away from our base, as we headed to Kom Usim in Ashmun. The journey is quite long and slow as we wind through a number of villages along our way, with stretches of dual carriageway every so often! Upon our arrival we almost immediately...
A day under cover!
Sunday 21st August 2011
With the temperature still warm, we took advantage of a day in the storeroom at Quesna. There was much work to be done arranging material for photography, analysis and drawing, which will all be done during the course of the fieldschool when specialists will be coming and going! We also started work on the reconstruction of part of the rim of one of the ceramic coffins...
Full steam ahead!
Saturday 20th July 2011
Feeling at least a little refreshed after our day off, we headed back up to Quesna at around 6am today. The weather has changed dramatically - it has been very humid since yesterday evening - and despite the clouds lulling us into a false sense of security it turned out to be steaming hot!! It was without doubt the hottest day of the season so far!! As Ashraf left...
A busy 'day off'
Friday 19th August 2011
Another day off - although it was so busy, it felt like a work day! Several loads of washing were ‘processed’ quickly, thanks to the good winds in Shibin, and we had our regular Friday visit to the Suq with a visit to the chicken lady and then on for fruit and vegetables! Due to the air starting to disappear from our rear tyre at a rather quicker than normal...
Life on the edge!
Thursday 18th August 2011
A little more mist this morning, and a lot more heat! If we thought that yesterday was hot, we were mistaken! A real scorcher today, with plenty of SF50 sun cream and hats applied, we spent the whole day in the field continuing with the geophysical survey. Today we focussed on further work along the northern edge of the gezira, Kris having already surveyed the area...
Another scorcher!
Wednesday 17th August 2011
When we drove from Shibin to Quesna this morning the foggy patches on the way told us that we would be in for a very very warm day! The temperatures in Cairo were 35 today, but it felt hotter up at the site where the only shade is the temporary ‘shamseer’ (sun shade) that we put up every morning! Work progressed well in all directions today. In the...
Things are heating up!
Tuesday 16th August 2011
Today we continued with the survey along the northern edge of the gezira. For as long as the battery lasted on the equipment, we continued with the geophysical survey and made great progress. The weather has really changed and become very hot, which makes it hard going for Kris - but he is truly indefatiguable - despite the sometimes uneven terrain on the gezira! The...
A great day's work!
Monday 15th August 2011
A lot was achieved today - and thankfully, although the weather was not quite as cool as on Saturday - there was sufficient respite from the sun to keep us moving. We decided to start at 5.30am to take advantage of as much cool weather as possible. The workers continued to clean in the area of the Falcon Necropolis - and by 10.30, their finishing time this morning, they...
Back to the site and on with the survey!
Sunday 14th August 2011
Due to a late finish on Saturday night, we caught the 10am train out of Cairo and headed back towards Quesna. We stopped at Benha station - which is the first stop on all of the fast trains up to Alexandria. Unfortunately there seem to be less trains running to Quesna than before - but it was quite simple to find a minibus outside Benha station and for a good price, the...
The return of our workers and an old team member!
Saturday 13th August 2011
Today was a big day - we arrived at the site of Quesna just after 6am to have as many working hours as possible in the ‘relative’ cool. In fact we have been very lucky, because the weather has changed a little and it is actually quite cloudy with a good breeze going. We welcomed back 12 of our workers today, led by Ramsi, our local ‘foreman’ and...
The first day off!
Friday 12th August 2011
Although we have only just started, it was time today for our first day off of the season. It was a busy day, however, with the regular Friday visit to the local souq in order to stock up on vegetables and chickens for the coming week - especially since our team will nearly double by Tuesday!! This afternoon we also paid a visit to an old friend in a nearby village,...
Back to Quesna
Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th April 2011
Our first two days back up at the site were spent meeting our colleagues again and the famous opening of the storeroom where we keep our equipment and where we have our on-site conservation ‘lab’, where pottery analysis takes place and where there is generally much coming and going throughout the season. The first real job of the season is...
Minufiyeh - here we come!
Tuesday 9th August 2011
This morning my Egyptian colleagues appeared together with the trusty Mitsubishi, which we loaded up and once I had got behind the wheel, we headed north to Tanta. Tanta is in Gharbiyeh province, the province north of Minufiyeh, however, it is a major city in the Delta and the location for the main inspectorate office for Minufiyeh. Tanta is our first real stop each...
Tahrir, Total Stations and Too much food!
Monday 8th August 2011
Another busy day, the last in Cairo before heading up to Minufiyeh to meet colleagues and get settled in! I was well fortified for the day thanks to the other guest at the Lotus who was eating a cheesy, egg, tomato and onion dish called Shakshuka – and insisted that I share it with him. This I thankfully did and it kept me running well into the afternoon. Equipment was...
Papers and passports
Sunday 7th August 2011
I headed off to the government building, the ‘Mugamma’ in Tahrir Square and waited for the doors to open at 9am. It usually opens at 8am or 8.30 – but we are in Ramadan, so I joined the queues of people, who thankfully weren’t all heading for the visa section with me! The first ordeal is getting the photocopy of the passport and visa page – which takes nearly as much time...
Back to Business
Saturday 6th August 2011
So this was the big off – leaving home at 4am and arriving unusually early in Cairo at 2pm! I was met by Ahmed the driver from the Lotus with their new air-conditioned car, which was very welcome, given the difference in temperature from Berlin! It was wonderful to see my old friends in the Lotus, although sad to see that there only appeared to be me and one other guest...
April 2011
5 posts
5th to 7th April 2011
One of the last tea breaks of the season - visiting a friend in Khatabah!
The season drew to a close on 7 April and, as always, the last few days of work were hectic, and included report writing, and packing up things in the flat in Shibin and returning everything to the storage facility. On 5 April, we spent the day with Ashraf Senussi, looking at the ceramics from this season and then...
Monday 4th April 2011
The Kom Usim team just before we headed back to Shibin!
Our last day at Kom Usim! We headed off as normal, but we weren’t quite prepared for the chaos that yesterday’s thunderstorm - and clearly subsequent rain in the night - had caused. Many of the roads were near water-logged and we had to go very slowly through the huge mix of mud and water as there is not really any good...
Sunday 3rd April 2011
We got off to a good start this morning, although traffic was much worse than yesterday as everyone returns to work on Sunday having taken Saturday off. Still, we made it to Kom Usim by 9.15am and by 9.30 the drill core team were re-assembled, the kit was put together and we were descending rapidly once more! Unexpectedly we reached nearly 8m below the surface today and the core is still going! ...
Saturday 2nd April 2011
We returned to work this morning after two very interesting and well spent days at the SCA/EES Delta Survey Workshop at the British Council in Cairo (see http://deltasurvey.tumblr.com). I travelled back up from Cairo on the 6am train - and was welcomed at Quesna by my colleagues and our policeman. We then had some tea before our inspector came to meet us at 7.30am and then headed out to Kom Usim....
Wednesday 30th March 2011
This morning we set off, taking a different route to Kom Usim - on what turned out to be a very long and very bumpy road! We arrived by 9am to be greeted by the residents of Kom Usim and our inspector and I set off to confirm the burrima (drill core) locations for today, Saturday and Sunday. Thankfully the landowner we asked about today’s burrima was happy to oblige on a small plot of...
March 2011
8 posts
Tuesday 29th March 2011
View towards one of the remaining raised areas at Kom Usim taken from the track which runs nearly right around the kom
So, today we moved on to a site in Ashmun province, Kom Usim. It is one of the furthest sites from our base at Shibin el Kom, at it was a good two hours from the time that we left the appartment, until we reached the site. This did include a brief stop for tea and breakfast once...
Monday 28th March 2011
Another warm day! We started off at 7am accompanied for the start of our journey by the local police and then we went to the village of Sobek el Dahak - which we had also visited on Monday, having first been there for a very brief visit way back in 2005 during the first year of the survey project. We took a different route this morning, via the city of Benha as the roads are somewhat better. We...
Saturday 26th March 2011
View of Umm Harb from the total station
The weather was so much better today - a sunny morning already by the time we got in the car just before 7am! We collected our policeman, as usual, on the bridge in Shibin and headed to Quesna to meet our inspector, via the usual stop at the fruit stall for supplies of bananas. We went, for the last time until the summer, to the area of el-Rimaly, Tell...
Friday 25th March 2011
Colleagues up at Quesna earlier this week
Friday was much as usual here in Shibin! The chance to sleep a little longer was well received, but then to the usual Friday chores of clothes washing, weekly accounts and catching up on various aspects of work! We had home fried tamia (falafel) for breakfast and then not longer after, it was time to go for our lunch appointment in the nearby village...
Back into the routine!
Thursday 24th March
Today we headed back to the same area and after re-checking our main total station points from the previous day, we started a drill core (the Arabic for which is ‘burrima’). We descended to just over 4m in the time that we had, and were able to identify archaeological material down to the bottom of the core, and two major changes in the sediment coming up in the...
Monday 21st March 2011
Today we headed up to the Delta in our trusty 4x4. The traffic was appalling, and our timing not helped by the fact that we started up the wrong way on the infamous ‘da-iry’ - the ring road! But we got on the Cairo-Alexandria agricultural road eventually and then to Tanta before the office closed. We met with the head of the inspectorate for Minufiyeh, our inspector and old colleagues....
Sunday 20th March 2011
First full day in Cairo. Saw old friends at the Lotus Hotel and then headed off to Zamalek to the SCA. Everything completed with our papers. Went to the EES office at the British Council where I met with Faten Saleh and collected our equipment so that we are ready to go! I visited friends down at Giza and then have spent the evening with colleagues and preparing and organising everything ready...
Saturday 19th March 2011
Arrived in Cairo this evening and staying in Downtown. Will head to the SCA for paperwork tomorrow and then I will go to collect equipment from the EES at the British Council. We head up to Minufiyeh on Monday morning and will take it from there! It is an interesting time to be back.