28 April 1929

[by George Horsfield and possibly Agnes Conway]
​G. H.
​
In excavating shaft grave the 3rd down in front of Triple Dushara Tomb – certain pots were found when the shaft was excavated - this being full of sand and stones. The chamber is nearly full to the roof with sand – it is about 2 m. high.  In the centre 50 cents. above the floor has been found a “charred” mass of bones and on top pots – evidently a burial with offerings?  
 
The pots – some of them have been found before – but this is the first group – we have examined 47 graves up to date and 3 have given evidence of an undisturbed burial while the rest gave indication of the method employed.  
 
AEC and Dr Nielsen climbed Jebel en Mer in the morning.  The stairs are in fairly good preservation, but very small; not comparable to those up El Hubta or el Biyara, and we were both unable to see why Jebel en Mer should have been called a special holy mountain.  (It wasn’t)!  There is not even one Dushara niche on it!  Dalman’s 1st sanctuary consists merely of two water basins to catch water from the mountain, opposite a small cave with a made door.  On the way up to the terrace on which it is is the small relief of a Roman soldier.  The top of the mountain is small in area and strewn with Byzantine pottery.  One large cave with remains of a staircase going up to it, has a lot on the ground. The rest of the area, all embraced in Dalman’s sanctuary No. 2, looks merely like a water-collecting system to fill a large Byzantine ? cistern lying below it which has a low curved arch in position.  The stones are very large.  Some stones lying above the water system may have belonged to a dwelling of some sort, but I could make nothing of it.  

A cave on Jebel en Mer, photographed in 1929. Copyright UCL Institute of Archaeology.

Visited the dig in the afternoon and started exploring the ridge behind our camp for the first time. It begins with houses, probably a continuation of the Siyagh quarter, and goes on with tombs, some of which look as though they may have undisturbed burials. 
 
The interest of the find of Nabataean pottery with an undisturbed burial, fired me to write my first letter to Henry Mond.

Reference: Horsfield, G. [and possibly Conway, A.] 1929 (transcribed by A. Thornton). Petra Exploration Fund Diary. "Business Papers to be Kept", Horsfield Collection Box 8, UCL Institute of Archaeology, 28 April: 59-60. ​