Abu Salabikh 1978

From the diary of Dr Ellen McAdam

7/11/78 Tuesday

Wesmy has grown accustomed to me and I to him. I have also become acclimatised to the site conditions here (though I still find it very difficult to spot mud brick). I have expanded into another square and am working in 6G35 and 6G45. I have walls, mostly in the baulks, a bitumen-lined drain and a possible bin.

Colin came down on Thursday night with food and drink. One member of the dig successfully blew coins off the table and then fell flat on his face while attempting to walk across the floor on beer cans. Alun discussed Colin Renfrew.

On Friday we went to Warka, which is even vaster than Nippur and set in the midst of yet greater desolation. It was strange to see a place of which one has read so much. The perimeter wall was six miles round at the beginning of the Early Dynastic: its inhabitants must have thought it could never pass away. The thought will comfort me next time I see London.

14/11/78 Tuesday

Back at Abu Salabikh after a hectic couple of days. The Marshes were very interesting. I saw houses with triangular ventilation holes high up on the walls, and ordinary square holes low down on the opposing wall, ensuring a through draught. There were high roofs on the main rooms on courtyards: I saw several with flights of steps to the roof. Courtyards also had buildings with rounded roofs, presumably for animals or storage, and most courtyards included a mudhif. There was much more use of reeds generally than further north.