Tag Archives: digdiary2008

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 End of the Season

Thursday, February 28 was our last day of work. It has been a very satisfactory season. We accomplished most of what we set out to do, and more besides. Finding the footing of the Mut Temple’s 1st Pylon was particularly … Continue reading

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Wrapping up

The final week on site was spent finishing up various small projects, catching up on treatment notes, and packing up the tools and supplies for next year. It was also satisfying to watch the progress on the west wall of … Continue reading

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Adjusting to life in the field…

After my second week on site I feel a bit less dazed and confused by the layout, the routine, and the scope and direction of the project, and more able to focus on the conservation issues at hand. A good … Continue reading

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Our Last Full Week

You are looking northwest at the Taharqa Gate late Thursday morning. We are now down to the paving in the whole gateway, except for a small area in the center of the west side. As is true throughout the site, … Continue reading

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Arriving on site

My first day on site was Saturday, February 9th and I’m amazed at how quickly the week flew by. One of the things I did right away was walk around the entire precinct with Mary, who explained the layout and … 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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Opening the Gate

Clearing the Taharqa Gate is one of the season’s main goals, a goal we achieved, at least in part, this week: the north wing of the gate is visible from top to bottom, along with some of the ancient paving. … 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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Internet Down in Egypt – Dig Diary Delayed

We just received a call from Richard Fazzini and Mary McKercher.  The internet is down in Egypt and many other countries, so the Dig Diary posting for this week will be going up a bit later than usual after service … Continue reading

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Fair Weather and Foul

One of the week’s big events was the weather. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were cloudy and cold (mid-50s F, which is cold for Luxor) with an occasional scatter of raindrops. Overnight on Monday, however, it rained more heavily, always a … 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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The Work Begins

We started work at the site on January 5, but the celebration of Coptic Christmas (January 7) and Islamic New Year (January 10) has meant that our first week was only 4 days instead of the usual 6. We haven’t … 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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The Mut Expedition 2008 – we’re off!

The Brooklyn team leaves at the end of the month for another 2½-month season of work at the temple precinct of the goddess Mut in south Karnak. We’re all looking forward to the work, to seeing old friends that we … Continue reading

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