10 April 1929

[By George Horsfield]
G. H.
​
Went to El Barid in 1 ½ hours and explored the site and surroundings. The site has Hadrianic monuments and innumerable cisterns and contrivances for catching and holding water. To the west is a stair in a nick in the rock which is almost blocked at the top; beyond it descends into the Wadi which falls to the West.  Higher up east is another which falls S.W., so this is the head of the Water shed. To the East outside are many Bedouin graves outlined with stones and 2 built ones – one of which was roughly roofed in – with a small low door to W.  This area has apparently been built on – all the rocks surrounding contain cisterns – some of large size. There are extensive quarries and the stone seems of good quality and similar to that used in the 2nd century Petra buildings. To the North is a wider wadi which has the remains of walls extending the whole width one behind the other – on North side is a building and another in the NW Angle: the second court or serai is approached from the E. side and a wall cuts off a passage about 5 m. wide towards the cliff.  Probably a caravanserai for camels and pack mules for bringing stones to Petra.

A quarry in El Barid (Little Petra), photographed in the mid 1930s. Copyright UCL Institute of Archaeology

At 11.15 Drifullah brought news of an accident to one of the workmen who had his leg broken at the thigh by a fall of earth.  He sat under the working face at the breakfast interval, and a short time before the whistle blew a heavy fall buried him and another man - who escaped injury.  Dr Canaan returned; found the man in the police tent at Cooks Camp and set the leg. On my instruction he offered to send the man to Amman to Hospital; it was repeated several times, but he preferred to stay in the village.  It is a simple fracture of the thigh.  Dr Canaan improvised a stretcher – and the man was carried to his house.  The digging continued, the pottery same as before with one inscribed jar handle. The lower depth is being attacked – so the depth is now six metres.

Reference: Horsfield, G. 1929 (transcribed by A. Thornton). Petra Exploration Fund Diary. "Business Papers to be Kept", Horsfield Collection Box 8, UCL Institute of Archaeology, 10 April: 30-31. ​