Surprise in the temple

We have continued excavating the underground rooms of the mortuary temple—there were two spaces remaining to clear. One was a small, square, featureless storeroom that contained nothing (like the rest of the temple!). The other appeared to be a corridor connecting two rooms with columns on either side. We knew only about the doorways on either side, and we had bets with the workmen about whether there would be additional rooms or whether the two doorways would just be connected by a straight corridor.

Osman Hussein excavating the underground corridor in the temple

As it turned out, none of us was right—the rooms are connected by a corridor with a “dogleg”. You can just see the corner in the photo. Not a room, not a straight corridor. And like just about everything else about this temple, we have no parallels, and no idea why it was built as it is.

We have been digging in beautiful weather. Some days have been at our limit of comfort during the day—upper 90s in the afternoons—but it has always cooled off at night, so the mornings and evenings have been refreshing. Here is a photo that captures the beauty of the setting—sunrise over the Nile.

Sunrise over the Nile. Photo Sebastian Anstis.