17th
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 results will mainly be processed once Kris returns to the UK, however, the images will be sent back to us at Quesna so that we are able to review the subsurface structures and decide where to place additional test trenches during the excavation in September and October. It seems that there is definitely material beneath the surface, but we will have to try and be patient and wait to see the full results!! It is very exciting.
The topographic survey also continued and we are now virtually at the point where the survey from 2006 and the 2011 survey will join up. We were hoping to look at the downloaded data on the computer tonight - however, a slightly technical hitch emerged when we realised that because all of the computers present at the flat are so shiny and new … they no longer have the correct 9 pin serial port to accept the cable!! Work in progress!
This morning, we were joined by Ashraf el-Senussi from the Fayum, who has come for the first of two visits during this summer season. Ashraf has come for a brief stay with us in order to draw the ceramic coffins that have been excavated from 2007 onwards and which have mainly been reconstructed. Ashraf got straight to work as we had already cleared a space for him in the work room and will create the finished drawings from a combination of his drawings up at Quesna and the addition of some detail through photographs taken whilst drawing the coffins. He started today with two vessel-type ceramic coffins which date to the Ptolemaic period.
Back at the flat we had some more washing antics - this time as another load of clothes were hung out (we certainly get through a lot during this hot weather!!), one of the team’s shirts plunged down to the next floor and landed on a window sill of an unoccupied flat … luckily, the boys made a successful rescue attempt involving two broomsticks and a white scarf!
Setting up the geophysical survey grid, with the equipment in the foreground
