One more fieldtrip!

Yes, we're safely home now. But I still have a few more pictures/posts to share before signing off...

Wednesday, the day before our return flight, we poked around campus looking mildly helpful and did our packing. When Eva and Kambiz invited us to join them for one more excursion, we accepted. They had access to a car and general directions for finding the Hellenistic ruins of a palace about 25 km north of Amman. Olivia Jensen came along and we happily got lost several times before finally finding our way.

At the bottom of a wadi-carved valley, the grand outline of a stunning estate, Qasr Iraq al-Amir, stands amidst lush garden plots, pomegranate, fig and olive trees.

We caught the end of a guided tour with a French group and watched a short documentary explaining the structure. Eva translated for us. Once surrounded by an artificial lake, the structure had two floors above ground level. As we wandered around, amazed by the massive carved stones -- hauled up huge sandpiles that were removed after building -- I was happy NOT to see a single pottery shard.

We returned to campus in time for lunch. Whew! There we said farewell to several of the team: Anita, my digging partner flew out that night and David and Amanda Hopkins left to visit Petra.