.bk A09
.fl J707jlw.j
.fd daily journal
.ei jlw
.ed J707
.rd J706
.ri gb

k 9
M2 the discovery of a wall and good sherd floor in the northern part of k 9 is very interesting because it differs from everything else we saw in this general area.  It marks the link between A7/A2 and A11 as organized settlements.  To the south there is the large "empty quarter" of A9.  This seems to support the perception I developed in MZ10 that there was a horse-shoe build-up around the exposed portion of AK, and that this corresponds to a raised or terraced portion of AK, where presumably the residential quarters of the king were located.  The "empty quarter" of A9 would be, as hypothesized in 1997, the courtyard which developed into a bowl, where dumping and occasional burying took place.
sg the interpretation of spatial arrangement suggested under M2 indicates that we may be at the edge of the upper sectors of the "palace."  We will leave the No portion of k 9 in place, at least for a while, in order to obtain a view of a somewhat contiguous exposure of the kate settlement area from A7 and A2 to A11 over A9.  Excavation in the southern part of k 9 may be sufficient to lead us to the AK walls in the Northern portion of sector F, if these walls served as a girdle for the build-up of the later settlement around the courtyard/bowl of A9.

.rd J707
.ri jlw

-wk 6 large picks and 33 in support.  Khalid Ali Shellal returned to work.

k 3
dy continued to excavate a one-meter wide strip of f 98 burned/ashy accumulation along the west edge of the locus.  Finished that portion, but the east portion, which will remain in section for a while, remains unexcavated.

k 9
dy continued to define brickwork in the No end of the locus.  Looks like a threshold for a doorway (f 143), a sherd layer (f 139) and a wall (f 138).  As it is at about the same elevation as houses already excavated in A7, A2 and A11, gb has proposed that all these are linked in a single settlement around the courtyard, which at the time of the houses was long abandoned.  

f 98 
dy lots of pottery and bone found in both k3 and k4 portions.  One seal impression found in k 4 and 2 in k 3.  One other clay sealing in k 3 seemed baked, perhaps evidence of a destructive fire.  There were so many sherds and bones in the area within one meter of the north end of k 3 that we assumed it was a dump and assigned f 142 to it.  Features 98 and 142 seemed to slope down toward the north in k 3 and to the south near the doorway, a 18, between sectors D and F.  The boundary between f 98 and the accumulation below (f 99) was quite lumpy and uneven.

f 142
df ly
ds large quantity of bones and sherds in the far NW corner of k 3.  Actually contained within f 98, but it was so rich we assigned a separate feature.  Could possibly also have been handled with separate q-lots within f 98.

f 141
df ac
ds reddish accumulation below f 116, which is just to the north of the west doorway (a 17) between sectors B and F.

f 143
df dw
ds stone threshold for doorway in the NE corner of the locus.  Associated socket, i 46, in situ to the right, looking north.  There is a faint suggestion of a path, leading to the south, perhaps outlined with stones on the west.

f 140
df ly
ds group of sherds of large pots near doorway a 18.

f 139
df ly
ds layer of stones and sherds in central north sector of locus.  May be associated with nearby wall (f 138) and doorway threshold (f143).

k 4
dy excavated f 98, an ashy layer of soil, throughout the western two-thirds of the locus.  Eastern part being preserved in section for reference.