Minufiyeh - back at work after Eid

EES Minufiyeh Survey

Having spent a relaxing few days down south, we returned to Shibin el-Kom yesterday afternoon to prepare ourselves for the last two weeks of the season. Our train ride took a laborious 13 hours - but we all enjoyed the feast and felt refreshed upon our return! Today saw the start of preparations for the backfilling of the trench. As with previous seasons and other trenches, it is never a straightforward matter. Having managed to negotiate a good deal for the mashama (the cover for the trench), we also had to buy 100 empty rice sacks in order to fill with sand and place alongside standing mud-brick walls/raised areas, in order to avoid danger of them collapsing through weight from above once the sand is returned to the trench. Once the sand bags were in place, then the workers poured some sand on them, over them, and on top of some of the more fragile - if very large - bricks, again to minimise any deterioration.