.bk J05
.fl T719jW.j
.fd introduction to the MZ22 season and excavation plans for T720
.ei jW
.ed T719
.rd T719
.ri jW

--i  At the end of the MZ21 excavation season, we had exposed at least the first meter of the southern face of the revetment wall of the BA Temple mound.  In addition, we excavated additional monumental stonework, including a staircase of five steps, at the western end of the revetment wall.  This staircase is considerably higher than the monumental staircase at the eastern end of the revetment wall excavated as part of J2 in prior seasons.  We tentatively dated this stonework to the late Mittani period by analysis of the ceramics which were layered against the staircase and associated wall extension, as well as in shallow probes behind those features.  The revetment wall has been securely dated to the Early Dynastic period and the excavations in J1 and J3 immediately to the east of J5 show that the revetment wall was built atop structures that are dated to the Late Chalcolithic period.  The research question to be addressed this season is to verify the date of the western extension without destroying it.  If the western structures (higher than their counterparts to the east) are Early Dynastic, then they must have been built atop Late Chalcolithic structures which rose in elevation west of J1.  If the western structures are Mittani, then they could have been built atop Early Dynastic structures at the same elevation as the revetment wall.  To test the hypothesis, we intend to expose the south face of the eastern part of the revetment wall and the west face of the western wall system until we reach the escarpments of each.  The area that will be excavated is bounded by the walls to the east and north and the baulks of loci k32 and k100 to the south and west.
--i Two new loci will be designated:  k105 is to the north and west and ranges in width from one to two meters.  k106 is to the south and east and ranges in width from one to two meters.  They about each other at the buttresses, f155 and f161.  The escarpment has already been exposed in J1.  Although ideally one could follow it to the west along the revetment wall face, there are two layers of cut stone blocks which seem to abut the revetment wall, atop the escarpment's path.  As a result, we will first dig down at the western end and follow to the southeast any revetment wall and any escarpment.  If the escarpment slopes severely down it indicates that the tell was mounded in that region in Late Chalcolithic times.  A severe slope also means that the staircase was probably part of the Third Millennium temple mound and plaza.  If the escarment is relatively level and uniformly deep, it means that the staircase was built late atop Third Millennium structures, most likely in the Mittani period.

-wk We have been assigned four pickmen (Anwar, Mizar, Su'ar, and Ibrahim).  We have been assigned six shovelmen (Fahed, Muhammad, Omo, Safwan, Ahmed, and Juma).  We have been assigned three wheelbarrow men (Sipan, Akram, and Juan).  They will be distributed initally into two teams, one for each locus.

-sf  The staff assignments are:  jW #1, sE #2, and jN and eA #3's.

-sg  After organizing the teams we will spend much of the time before breakfast cleaning the entire J5 area that was excavated last season.  Then, we will remove the winter accumulation from both loci and clean the exposed surface thoroughly to determine the nature of the accumulation below.  After that we will begin excavating those accumulations in earnest.

-sy  The surveyor established and measured a number of new control points so that we could relay along the corridors of loci k104 and k105.

-su The starting numbers for season MZ22 (2009-T) for various components of the UGR are: feature 201; q-lot 285; item 33; view 145; plot 8; aggregate 8; composite 2; relay 1171; drawing 22 and 122; sketch 46; and off-grid loci 104.