OUR HOUSE IS MUSH!
Today was the most ridiculous day in the history of archaeological field trips.
We went to a Roman fortress site, Qasr Hamed Tulib, in Dakhleh’s neighboring oasis, Kharga, as part of a weekend field trip to give site presentations. One of my friends climbed up a sand hill and stumbled across two enormous (small-child size), COMPLETELY INTACT 3rd-century amphorae and a large ceremonial bowl. We all started rummaging through the sand and found SIX in all, every single one of them completely intact. THESE ARE 1700-YEAR-OLD VESSELS!
So we took some photos and started walking away to cart them off to the antiquities office in Kharga (because Qasr Hamed Tulib isn’t even the site where we’re excavating; we were just walking by when we found this cache), and one of my friends said that she was upset that she didn’t find a vessel herself. She then walked over to a sand hill a few feet away from the first and found A BIGGER FULLY INTACT AMPHORA, just sitting on top of the mound! It wasn’t even buried!
As we walked back to the bus we found two more. NINE VESSELS IN TOTAL.
On the bus Adam said, “I wonder if there’s anything in this one” (referring to an amphora he was holding on his lap as we smuggled them past the police at a roadside checkpoint on our way to the office). Lo and behold, inside was an adorable little lizard, probably a chameleon. We now have a house pet!
And…
What does it NOT do in the desert?
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RAIN.
That’s right, it doesn’t rain.
Well today and yesterday it rained for the first time IN 100 YEARS in the Sahara!
Unfortunately, this is not good, because our house is made of MUDBRICK! Yes, our house is now a mushy mess of mud. I have to wear sneakers to go to the bathroom. We also have no water as of this morning (ironic, isn’t it?).
Wow.
All I can say is WOW.
