Swimming in Lake Assad

We took a detour on the way back to eat lunch at a large fort on the edge of Lake Assad. Appearing out of nowhere, the lake was formed when the Tabqa dam was built on the Euphrates. We toured around the fort and then ate lunch and went for a swim. 

This way to the fort.

Overlooking the lake.

I love hand painted signs. 

That was my last day in Syria. I'm now back in Los Angeles, and since classes start today this blog will have to return to its regularly scheduled programming. Thus ends the summer of more frequent blogging.

Road trip back to Mozan

A couple more photos...

Some random parting shots from Rasafa. It was my last full day in Syria, so I was a little photo happy. 

Bedouin tents and the ruins in the distance.

Climbing up the city walls. 

Rasafa (Day 2)

I thought we had seen everything there was to see after the first day, but we resumed touring around first thing in the morning. It turns out we had yet to see the most amazing part of the site. What is truly remarkable about this city is that there was not ready access to water, and yet there was still a functioning city that could support thousands. It turns out that a system of water collection was in place to siphon water from a nearby wadi when it rained, and to store for the rest of the time. To ensure that there was enough water in the middle of the desert, they needed to store incredible amounts of water. So they built enormous underground cisterns to do just that. And amazingly, we got to climb down into one.

 Climbing down stairs to the secret tunnel leading to the cistern.

This is just half of the largest of three cisterns, all of which 

would have been filled with water. The light is peeking through

 in the only section that is presently above ground.

I'm not much for group shots, but this seemed like an appropriate time.

Sleeping on the roof

One of the things I was most eager to do during my time in Syria was sleep on the roof. Because of the intense heat retained in buildings, even after dark, many people sleep outside on either a sleeping platform or the roofs of their houses. When it was 90 degrees in my room at night, I understood why. So I was thrilled to be offered a cot on the roof at Rasafa. Then I was reminded that we were in a desert, and that it gets incredibly cold at night, and was handed a large blanket. It does in fact get very cold. But it was still beautiful, and completely worth it to fall asleep with a sky full of shooting stars in the desert.

The cots in the foreground, with the crew's tents and 

ruins of Rasafa in the background. 

The view from the roof. The sheep are huddling 

in each others' shadows to keep cool.

The cots at dawn. 

Huddling together for warmth and watching the sun rise. 

This picture was taken to prove that it does in fact get cold in Syria. 

Rasafa

Rasafa is a large (and dead) city situated in the desert south of Tell Mozan. There are remains of Byzantine churches constructed from large gypsum blocks, and the city was an early Christian pilgrimage 

site dedicated to St. Sergius. We were very generously welcomed by the excavators there, who gave us a lengthy tour and a place to stay. I was overwhelmed by the size of the site, and the amount of buildings still standing. It was stunningly beautiful. 

A panoramic view from the outer wall.

One of the remaining Basilicas.

It was late in the day. I couldn't resist.

Another view of the main Basilica.
It is far larger than this picture conveys.

The head of the site discusses things with the head of our site.

I thought the fallen columns looked almost deliberately placed. 

Roadtrip to Rasafa

For my last couple days in Syria, we took a trip to Rasafa, a Byzantine site about an 8 hour drive from Tell Mozan. We piled into vans and hit the road for the long ride. 

Singing songs to pass the time. 

Matteo does not really play guitar, but sure does look the part. 

Rest stop.

This is actually the same rest stop my bus stopped at on my first day in Syria. 

This might not look like much, but that river is the Euphrates. 

I thought it was exciting.  

Tell Tour (Part 3)

The next stop on our tour was Tell Brak, an enormous tell that dwarfs all the others in the area. By this time in the day it was extremely hot, but we trudged to the top anyway. These pictures do not really do justice to the enormity of this site. 

Examining sherds at the top of the tell.

The view from the top. There is so much earth in this mound that 

archaeologists working here are forced to excavate in the 

valleys and eroded areas of the tell, as you can see in the lower right.

Once we made it to the top, 

it seemed necessary to run to the bottom. 

Tell Tour (Part 2)

The next stop was Tell Beydar, which features a palace that has been largely restored and explanatory panels throughout the site. This is unusual for Syrian sites, and the appropriateness of the restoration is hotly debated among archaeologists and conservators.   

The restored palace walls. 

Taking photos from the top of the walls. 

Mud brick glamour shot.

  

The dig house at Tell Beydar. 

This is classic Northern Syrian mud brick architecture. 

A courtyard in the dig house. 

Tell Tour (Part 1)

For one of our days off, we went on a tour of Tells in the area. First stop, Tell Chagar Bazar.

Someone finally showed me how to tie a keffiyeh. 

I'm smiling very big in this picture.