Tell es-Sweyhat: Life in the Field

The Tell es-Sweyhat Project is usually in the field in the Spring and generally excavates from mid-April to mid-June. Study seasons occasionally take place in summers and generally last less than two weeks. In the field, the day usually begins with breakfast at 5:00 am. Work on the mound starts with roll call at 6:00 and runs until 1:00 pm, with a short break for mid-morning breakfast at 10:00. Work ends earlier on Thursdays, when the workers are paid. Lunch is served at 2:00. The project staff is then free until 4:00 or so when work in the lab generally begins. Dinner is at 7:00. Fridays are off. Some of the staff go to Aleppo while others remain in Nefileh to catch up on work.

Though Jernea holds a market each Sunday, the Project gets most of its food, drink and other supplies from Raqqa, ca. 90 kms southwest of Nifileh. The first part of the road from Raqqa to Nefileh is the Raqqa-Thawra road that parallels the east side of the Euphrates; the second part is the Tabqa-Tishreen Dam and Aleppo road. The trip from Raqqa to Nefileh takes just over an hour. We normally rent two vehicles, one (with a driver) for travel back and forth to Raqqa and one to transport excavation staff and workers to and from the mound. Ibrahim is the cook, camp manager and occasionally the driver. He has worked in the Italina Restaurant in the Pullman Hotel in Aleppo and also works for various German excavations. Ibrahim usually serves bread with jam and butter for breakfast, but sometimes surprises us with hot rice and milk or mamounia (farina). For dinner, he normally makes rice with various stews, but varies the menu with fried chicken or home-made lasagna.


Excavation on the "High Mound" Excavation in the Lower Town The Tombs Regional Surveys and Excavations Remote Sensing 2005 Season 2007 Season	Life in the Field
		Tell es-Sweyhat is located 3 kilometers northwest of the village of Nefileh in the District of Jarniyeh, Raqqa Province. The site's guard lives in Nefileh and the Project maintains two storerooms in his compound in the village on a year-round basis. When in the field, the Project rents additional accomodations from the guard's family and other families located nearby. We normally have between ten and fifteen staff members and employ 40-60 villagers, men and women, for work on the mound and to wash ceramic sherds in the village. The guard's wife bakes bread each morning and does the laundry once a week.

	The Tell es-Sweyhat Project is usually in the field in the Spring and generally excavates from mid-April to mid-June. Study seasons occasionally take place in summers and generally last less than two weeks. In the field, the day usually begins with breakfast at 5:00 am. Work on the mound starts with roll call at 6:00 and runs until 1:00 pm, with a short break for mid-morning breakfast at 10:00. Work ends earlier on Thursdays, when the workers are paid. Lunch is served at 2:00. The project staff is then free until 4:00 or so when work in the lab generally begins. Dinner is at 7:00. Fridays are off. Some of the staff go to Aleppo while others remain in Nefileh to catch up on work.

		Though Jernea holds a market each Sunday, the Project gets most of its food, drink and other supplies from Raqqa, ca. 90 kms southwest of Nifileh. The first part of the road from Raqqa to Nefileh is the Raqqa-Thawra road that parallels the east side of the Euphrates; the second part is the Tabqa-Tishreen Dam and Aleppo road. The trip from Raqqa to Nefileh takes just over an hour. We normally rent two vehicles, one (with a driver) for travel back and forth to Raqqa and one to transport excavation staff and workers to and from the mound. Ibrahim is the cook, camp manager and occasionally the driver. He has worked in the Italina Restaurant in the Pullman Hotel in Aleppo and also works for various German excavations. Ibrahim usually serves bread with jam and butter for breakfast, but sometimes surprises us with hot rice and milk or mamounia (farina). For dinner, he normally makes rice with various stews, but varies the menu with fried chicken or home-made lasagna.