Kelly Boll, a friend of mine and Archaeologist from Yale University who also teaches Latin, has introduced her students to this blog and the Franck Goddio Society Website about the excavations, and so I look forward to more questions coming from that quarter.
One of her questions was about how the weather impacted our excavation schedule while diving on the sunken cities in Egypt.
When People hear that we are excavating in Egypt, people often assume that it is always swelteringly hot, but for us on the Mediterranean coast you might be surprised to hear that it is often cool, and sometimes even stormy.
Our excavation seasons are usually in the spring and fall, because in the summer the water near the shore is often opaque and visibility poor, and in the winter it can be very rough on the sea, and even downright cold. But the late spring weather is usually perfect conditions for us, though at the beginning of a mission we might be still wearing a jacket in the evenings, and not too excited to strip down and climb into a damp wetsuit in the early morning. By the end of the mission it can be calm, windless, hot, and with breezes from the land bringing out all kinds of flying insects and sand to cover the ship.
This year our mission cam in the Autumn, and today the weather was quite comfortable, the water warm, and just cool enough in the evening that I put on a sweater while I sat with the Oxford divers on the bow of the ship and had animated discussion of ancient seafaring under the stars.
One of her questions was about how the weather impacted our excavation schedule while diving on the sunken cities in Egypt.
When People hear that we are excavating in Egypt, people often assume that it is always swelteringly hot, but for us on the Mediterranean coast you might be surprised to hear that it is often cool, and sometimes even stormy.
Our excavation seasons are usually in the spring and fall, because in the summer the water near the shore is often opaque and visibility poor, and in the winter it can be very rough on the sea, and even downright cold. But the late spring weather is usually perfect conditions for us, though at the beginning of a mission we might be still wearing a jacket in the evenings, and not too excited to strip down and climb into a damp wetsuit in the early morning. By the end of the mission it can be calm, windless, hot, and with breezes from the land bringing out all kinds of flying insects and sand to cover the ship.
This year our mission cam in the Autumn, and today the weather was quite comfortable, the water warm, and just cool enough in the evening that I put on a sweater while I sat with the Oxford divers on the bow of the ship and had animated discussion of ancient seafaring under the stars.
RSS Feed
