Author Archives: Mary McKercher

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About Mary McKercher

Mary McKercher holds a BA in Ancient Near Eastern Studies (specializing in Egypt) from the University of Toronto and is also a trained archaeologist. In 1979 she joined the Brooklyn Museum’s expedition to the Precinct of the Goddess Mut at South Karnak as photographer and archaeologist, roles she continues to fill. She has contributed to the Mut Expedition’s “Dig Diary” since it began in 2005, and put together the photographs for the 8 Mut Expedition photo sets on the museum’s Flickr site. With her husband, Richard Fazzini, she has also researched and written about the West’s ongoing fascination with ancient Egypt, commonly known as Egyptomania.

Our last full week

This is the posting intended for January 28 but not sent because of the lack of internet service in Egypt at that time. Richard and I have decided to post this dig diary entry as originally written and will follow … Continue reading

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Season 25 is underway

We began what will be mainly a study season on January 11 with the traditional cutting of the camel thorn. Fortunately there isn’t much as we had arranged with the SCA and Reis Farouk to have our part of the … Continue reading

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The season’s almost over

The base of this sphinx east of the precinct entrance is made up mainly of re-used blocks dating to Dynasties 25-26. The one under the sphinx’s paws, for instance, is half of a lintel from a chapel of Montuemhat. Of … Continue reading

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A new project and a few surprises

To the ancient Egyptians, magic (heqa in ancient Egyptian) was a potent force that could be used by deities and humans to influence the mortal world. These blocks come from a small (less than 2 meters square) 26th Dynasty magical … Continue reading

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The Week of the Brick

Tracing mud brick takes skill, patience and lots of scraping and brushing. It is paying off for Ayman and his team, though. By Tuesday, they had already uncovered quite a bit of brick in the center of the square north … Continue reading

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The Start of Another Season

The Brooklyn Museum Mut Expedition’s 2010  season of fieldwork is just getting underway. Once again we will be posting a blog each Friday describing the work of the past week. We hope the blog will help viewers understand the complexities … Continue reading

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Time Flies

It’s hard to believe that the season is almost over: this was our last full week of work, and it has been hot. Still, we finally reached the level of the paving west of the Taharqa Gate. In the center … Continue reading

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Imsheer Winds

The month on the traditional Egyptian calendar known as “Imsheer” (mid-February to mid-March) began this week and so far is living up to its reputation for unpredictable weather and high winds. Monday was incredibly hot. Tuesday the site was scoured … Continue reading

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Progress on all fronts

We are so happy that William and Elsie Peck could join us again this year. After a look around the site first thing Saturday morning (their first day), they had a chance to catch up with Jay van Rensselaer, the … Continue reading

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The First Day

We flew up to Luxor from Cairo on January 13. The view out the window was absorbing: the mountains of the eastern desert always take my breath away. And the contrast between the fertile fields and the desert edge is … Continue reading

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Parting Shots

Richard and I spent most of our last days at Mut photographing pot sherds, a necessary but decidedly unphotogenic task. However, I did have time to take a few other photographs, mainly in the early morning before starting on the … Continue reading

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The Work Goes On

This week we moved a couple of teams of workmen from the Taharqa Gate (where working space is getting a little constricted) to the excavations north of Mut’s 1st Pylon. We now have teams working both on the structures built … Continue reading

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The Last Week in January

The weather continues to be uncooperative. Last week it rained. This week, we’ve had unusually cold temperatures and high winds that sweep enormous clouds of dust across the site, usually just as we are ready to take a photograph (or … Continue reading

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Our First Full Week

Excavation got underway last Saturday (our work week is Saturday-Thursday), with teams working in Temple A, at the structures north of the Mut Temple’s First Pylon, and in the Taharqa Gate. The restoration of Chapel D is also making rapid … Continue reading

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Mut 2008 — The Arrival

We flew to Luxor on New Year’s Day, and were able to start work on January 3. We haven’t done much yet but get re–acquainted with the site and meet the people we’ll be working with this year. The real … Continue reading

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