[By George Horsfield and probably Agnes Conway]
G. H. Thirty men arrived to work – took on 25 and started to dig again and some progress was made. The pottery is more perfect, but the ordinary Graeco Roman type-lamps and various small pots, finer fragments of red pottery and 2 pieces of glass. Picked up various fragments of thin red painted pottery, a base and part of a rim – all on the surface and in different parts of the S. side of the site. Examined the graves found in Wadi Turkomaniya [sic] and made notes in last part of the morning – doubtful as to their antiquity. In afternoon spent some time on dig – it was uninteresting. The top of the Scarp has appeared on the left hand side – so that now the rock surface is appearing across the whole width of the cut. Pottery is scarce. Examined the Nabataean wall from El Habis as far as the dig, and noted it all. There is a grave yard at the El Habis end which contains graves on the surface of the same type as those in the Turkamaniya Wadi – presumably Christian – many are orientated E & W. Money is running short – more is to be obtained – the problem is how? Mahmud is doubtful about riding in, as it takes a long time and an equally long time to return. Took on a scullion (Ali) and seems to have satisfied the cook’s wants for the moment. He has quarrelled with the Circassians and removed to the kitchen to sleep. We now have 3 Arabs as servants, Deifullah the night watchman and general go-between – Huaymil, wood and water fetcher and the scullion. We seem more settled down, but I am constantly worried by idiotic domestic details which require settling, but it is often difficult to make the necessary politic decision, so that the matter is arranged and no one is disgruntled. Dr. Canaan continued his long walks, picking up place-names, and found two High Places on Al Qantara. Dr. Nielsen went to El Ma’aisera No III sanctuary and was greatly impressed. A.E.C. visited the circle on the mount with the American party, who thought the masonry either very early or Byzantine, and probably the former. After leaving Colonel Armstrong at Sextus Florentinus, she explored the N.W. wall beyond, finding Dalman’s Sanctuaries under el Hubta, which seemed to her to belong to a Hadrianic suburb. She climbed the S. peak of El Habis in the afternoon to see Dolman’s [sic] Sanctuary I, which seemed to bear no signs of cult but was inexplicable. (Certainly a quarry). Reference: Horsfield, G. [and probably Conway, A] 1929 (transcribed by A. Thornton). Petra Exploration Fund Diary. "Business Papers to be Kept", Horsfield Collection Box 8, UCL Institute of Archaeology, 31 March: 17-18. [By George Horsfield and Agnes Conway]
G. Horsfield Went to Ma’an with Arif hassar for money in company with Mahmud Charish. Brought back £200 which I obtained after waiting 3 hours. The digging went on with 25 men without interruption and supervised by Ali Burar. A.E.C. and Dr. Nielsen went to Al Najr to find Kennedy’s High Place. Approaching it from the back side they could see nothing towards the top that looked worked; but as Difollah shouted down that it was good, AEC was hauled up. The top, which is about 57 yds in length, at first seemed to her a quarry mass only – but gradually it appeared to unfold itself as an altar mass with a gap left in the back wall orientated to the W. At one end is a small niche with a horned altar; at the other a larger niche. It divides itself roughly into 3 terraces, on the middle of which are 4 blocks, beneath what might be a tier of seats on the N edge. On the lower terrace close to the E. precipice, is what might be an altar. A very little pottery of uncertain date is strewn about. Seen from the ground in the E. side is a small projecting platform, upon which there appears to be a similar altar, which must again be investigated from the top. Should it be a High Place a fine view could be had of the sacrifices from the wide open space below which leads up gradually to a tomb area. Dr. Nielsen was unable to climb to the top. A.E.C. thinks the massif may originally have been a High Place, which was afterwards quarried away to build the city, any staircase approaches being then cut off. Marks of quarry working seem to be clearly visible in the projecting portion on the S., and there are small carvings high up which might be mason’s marks. In the afternoon A.E.C. walked on the Ma’aisera ridge above the Camp, spotting from above a large built wall inside a cave or tomb, and then going to Kennedy’s fig. 149 to look up the suggestions in his Memorandum. Dr. Canaan did two big rounds finding place names and collected stories as usual from the Bedu. Reference: Horsfield, G. [and Conway, A.] 1929 (transcribed by A. Thornton). Petra Exploration Fund Diary. "Business Papers to be Kept", Horsfield Collection Box 8, UCL Institute of Archaeology, 1 April: 18-20. [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. 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. |
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