Masa3-il Khier (Good Afternoon!)

Menal, me, Emilio, Matt, and Sarah at a shop in Mut

Sorry for not posting the last few days, it has been incredibly busy!! We have seminar and Arabic in full swing now, not to mention we're doing research for 2 presentations due in only a week or so. All in all, it has been crazy busy, and there's been virtually no time for fun things, except yesterday when we journeyed to the Muzawwaka tombs and got to see a preview of the excavation site we'll be digging at in February.

Our 70s van "Uncle Lamar" in the middle of the desert outside the Muzawwaka tombs.

 

The Muzawwaka tombs were incredible. Located in the middle of nowhere (to be precise), the tombs themselves aren't normally open to visitors, and while there was going to be an exception made for us, the man with the key changed his mind last minute. Out of anger and partially on accident, I snapped an illegal photo of the inside of one of the tombs from the entrance, pictured below.

Photo of the inside of the Muzawwaka tombs.

 

We also were able to see a room filled with mummies which was, in a word, CREEPY. It didn't help that in order to see them you have to stick your head ENTIRELY in the hole in the side of the hill, at which point the mummies are about 5 feet away from you. Unbelievable.

Mummies at the Muzawwaka tombs.

 After looking at the mummies, we explored a little bit, climbed up this hill to a giant rock, looked at some ancient wells (which had no end!!) and eventually hit the road to Amheida.
 

Neat rock structure above the tombs.

 The adorable baby pictured below is Muhammad, our guide Ashraf's baby, and he is adorable. He never cries and is the happiest, cutest baby I have EVER seen. What a goober!!

Happy Baby Muhammad!

Tomorrow we're visiting a local basket-weaving/rug making shop to see how they are made and shop around and whatnot (there will definitely be some purchases) and on Friday we're taking a field trip, so keep an eye out for more pictures! For now, it's off to dinner! :)

-Christina