I have no idea where I'm going to get those from 8am on the West Bank but I'll try!
We didn't find anywhere open so continued on our journey. The sights on the way were unforgettable. Someone selling bags of colored candy floss, tuk tuks everywhere, the dreadful speed umps, lunatics three or four to a motorbike. You name it, I saw it"
It is so quiet! All I can hear is the cook preparing lunch in the kitchen and the distant sound of the horn being sounded on a sugar cane train. There are quite a few flies buzzing around, so I'm keeping well covered! I can hear a car coming and as I poke my head around the door I can see the Director arriving.
We ended up going through all things I had brought for her. When she saw the long hasp padlocks she gasped with delight! Apparently the Inspectors had insisted they get new locks for the tombs we saw last year Bliss. She thought I had read her mind - at least my failure with the culinary items was overlooked when she saw the padlocks!
We chatter for quite a while and I learnt a great deal, not just about the site. There are only three other people with her at the moment and one was over the river at El Kab. When they arrived back at the end of their digging session I was taken to view the artefacts that had been found the previous year. All of the really important things had been put into secure storage elsewhere, but I was fortunate to see rooms I had not been in before.
One large room was full of trays on table arranged around the perimeter of the room. On each tray were fragments of broken pottery. The task in hand was to put the pots back together. I know two jigsaw enthusiasts who would love to do that!
After that she showed me some plain jewellery. The were tiny beads, some of which were still on their original strings. They were amazing, a treat to look forward to Ladies when I get home.
She then took me to a storage room that was floor to ceiling cardboard boxes. They ALLcontained bone fragments, both human and animal. There was also a skeleton on the floor, it was in an open box and wrapped in linen. She pulled the cloth gently away from the upper body and it was quite amazing to see it up close. The preservation was unexpected because it had not been mummified, as I know it. No bandages, just the bare skeleton. There was still flesh on the bones, the ear and eye were very obvious. The poor man had suffered from very bad teeth as she pointed ou the abcesses to me. The jaw was missing, it was elsewhere but she told be you could still see the stubble on his chin!
After this we had a very nice lunch, made even better by the great company and conversation. I shocked them with my insect problems. Yes, they've struck already. I got bitten on my wrist in the car back from Abydos. I thought I was safe and rolled up the sleeves of my shirt. A few minutes later one got me. I started my treatment straight away when I got back to the hotel. BUT it is only the one for now, thank goodness.
After lunch we left the dig house on foot and walked across to the new burial site. It took about fifteen minutes and was exactly in the same place as last year. They had been walking over the spot for years, just as we did last year. As you can imagine, I took plenty of photos, so they will take some going through when I get home!
We returned to the dig house, chatting about all and sundry on the way. I had told my driver to come back at 2.30 but we didn't leave for the walk until 2.45, so he had a long wait. We eventually left at 3.45 and arrived back at the hotel exactly two hours later. Again, we saw some strange things on the return journey. Three camels in the back a truck was the funniest!
He was a great driver and did everything right, not like the one last year. I was so pleased with him that I gave him a very good tip and he was delighted, so happy people all around!
When I got back I freshened up and phoned Jane, someone I have met before on a previous visit. It is her 60th birthday next month so I took her a gift of Marmite!
I came back to the hotel and wrote this then it's off to bed for me. Ready for hopefully another wonderful day tomorrow.
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