Day 10-11: The Dig Begins!

Again, sorry for the lapse in posting. Our internet has been down. I am not entirely sure what I am allowed to post and what I am not allowed to post. Since our site is going to be published in journals and presumably in other mediums, we have a sort of gag order on what we are allowed to share. I am going to write what I am able, and I may edit based on what our directors say.

We awake at 4:30 a.m. and are on the bus by 5 a.m. The bus ride to the dig site lasts an hour and requires passage through two customs / military checks. The Jordanian military men that come onto our bus are nice and genial. Their true purpose is to make sure we are not smuggling anything out of Aqabah because Aqabah has a special tax free status in Jordan. We pass both without any problems. We get to the site and after an hour of sand dune after sand dune, we arrive at the sand dunes that we will call home for the next two weeks. We are divided up into our squares with our directors. Most squares have five students in them. Our square is moslty filled with sand, and the emptying of that sand is our primary job the first day. The sun is brutal and what begins as a cool morning quickly turns into a dry heat. Surprisingly, we don't sweat--or so we think. We learn that our skin remains dry because the desert produces such a dry heat that our sweat immediately evaporates upon production. We all decide to take a quick water break after this lesson.

We all wear hats or kaffiyehs in attempts to keep our heads cool. My kaffiyeh maintains the my head's sweat, which aids greatly in keeping my head cool. I keep it on throughout the day.

We finish at noon to avoid the worst heat as the temperature explodes into the hundred range. We get back back, eat a quick lunch, and take a nap.

Our day today is more of the same. A cool strong breeze keeps us cool, but makes our shoveling and sweeping of sand difficult. By the end of the day today, we had broken through two loci (two levels). We have built a nice baulk in our section and are ready to begin digging through harder ground. We are excited to launch into the dig tomorrow.

Over the past two days we have found an assortment of pottery--the real finds still remain below the surface. We are heading to dinner soon and are currently at a local pub watching a world cup soccer game. I still do not understand how I am so lucky to be doing what I am doing. I have had amazing people--professors, friends, and most of all my parents--to encourage me throughout me love of history. I remember going to the Chicago field museme each year and digging in the dinosaur pit--believing that I was truly helping to excavate something important. Now we are excavating something of importance--something that no one has excavated before. E. T. Lawrence (Lawrence of ARabia) did pass through our site and mention it in one of his journals. Before he fought for the British in WWI, he served the middle east as an ancient near eastern archaeologist. Thanks for reading.

Brad