.bk J05
.fl T818jW.j
.fd Daily journal for T818
.ei jW
.ed T818
.rd T818
.ri jW

-wk Fourteen of sixteen assigned workmen reported.  Anwar and Omo absent.  We worked in the afternoon with a crew of nine.

-eq We suspended the use of the shafat because it was unstable on its perch when a workman sat on it to clear stones from the input tray.  We then carried the rocky soil up to the surface using previously excavated "steps" and a ladder.

-sf Due to illness, jW worked at home some of the day preparing the UGR.

-sg In a meeting with the unit staff, gB and fAB discussed the possibility of removing the east half ,f245, of wall, a11, to see if there is a connection between the stones of the first escarpment, f265, and the "bottom step" of the f205 staircase, f266.  This step has a different orientation and composition and seems to be associated with the stones of installation, f276.  Initially, we will make a one-meter probe parallel to wall, f41, to resolve this issue, so that we can still finish today.  Similar to yesterday, we will need an eight-man afternoon crew to finish the work and clean properly.

-dy Removed the remaining soil and stones from the afternoon excavations of T817.  Removed the remaining portion of the red soil, f268 from the bottom of the north part of the east baulk of k106.  Excavated the sherd layer, f242, a part of the layered second escarpment, ^esc2.  Cleaned the natural floor, f278, atop the stones of the first escarpment, f265, then began to remove it to expose the stones and the ashy accumulation to the southwest, f282.  In the afternoon session we finished removing f278 and f242.  Then we cleaned thoroughly the numerous exposed stones of ^esc1, which stretch from the east end to almost the northern end of the unit.  In the north sector, we removed the bricks of f245, the east end of a11, in order to determine if the stone first escarpment, ^esc1, rose to the north at that point to the level of the f266 "step."  We found another large, high-founded flat stone at the same elevation to the south of f266, but not the rise in the first escarpment that we hypothesized.  If ^esc1 does rise, it must occur further to the north.  However, it is possible that the two stones of f255 are part of a stone second escarpment, installed after the first escarpment was covered in that region.