Deir el-Ballas 2018-2019, Week Three: 12/22 – 12/28

Merry Christmas, our week was broken up by the holiday. We worked Christmas Day but took off Boxing Day to buy supplies and run errands in Luxor.

Work proceeded on the construction of a guard house to keep watch on the ‘South Palace’ area. According to the Qena Inspectorate’s wishes the house is being constructed of limestone blocks with a concrete floor and reinforced concrete roof and an iron door and barred windows for security.

We continued to clean the façade of the ‘South Palace’ along with the stair and the casemate foundations behind the façade. At the foot of the stairs, we found what may have been the emplacement for a large, stone step.

We also discovered that just since our visit to the North Palace area with Salima and Nicholas that the cemetery has moved even closer to the remaining houses by the North Palace. We were able to come to an agreement with the gravediggers to demarcate what is left of antiquities land with a wall to stop the spread of the cemetery southward and the destruction of the remains of the houses and the enclosure walls of the North Palace.