Community: bloggers@brooklynmuseum

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 pots, that I thought readers of this blog might enjoy. One of the most wonderful things about Egypt is the light: the strong golds and reds of dawn and sunset, the sharp shadows of mid-morning and afternoon, and even the blaze of the sun at noon are a photographer’s dream. Many of the photos here owe their interest to the quality of the light. Click on any images in the slideshow to view the captions or explore further at Flickr.

Slideshow created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.

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 against the pylon face and in the area bounded on the north by the remains of Temple A’s columned porch and on the west by the Mut Temple’s East Porch. (more…)

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 so it seems). All we can do is keep our heads down and go on working. It has actually been a very productive week. (more…)

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 progress. Let’s have a look at the week’s work, starting from the east in Temple A.

On the left you are looking west along the north side of Temple A’s Forecourt at the start of the season. The arrow shows the spot where we found the decorated lintel last year, leaning against the precinct’s mud brick enclosure wall. The space between the enclosure wall and the sandstone north wall of the court was completely filled with earth and, in fact, seems to have had a plastered floor that probably dates to the Roman Period. This year we want to find out what lies below this level. (more…)

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 work will start on Saturday, January 5.

The desert view on the Cairo–Luxor flight can be dramatic, particularly in the late afternoon. Depending on which side of the plane you’re on, you see either the Nile and green fields or desert stretching to the horizon. Despite the streaks from a dirty window, I thought you would enjoy the intense light and the rivers of sand. (more…)