In the 2010 season of excavation we divided the interior and exterior areas of Tombs 779 and 781 into sectors, according to the following criteria (Fig. 5):
Sector A – the area outside the façade of Tomb 779, delineated by the enclosing rock walls, and including the small chamber in the north wall and the recessed area to the west
Sector B – the area outside the façade of Tomb 781, delineated by the enclosing rock walls on the southern, western and northern sides
Sector C – the area behind the façade of Tomb 781, i. e. the interior of the tomb
Sector D – the area behind the façade of Tomb 779, i. e. the interior of the tomb
Fig. 5: Plan of Tombs 779 and 781, including trench numbers (drawing: M. Dehner and L. Wadeson)
Within Sector A, five trenches were opened: Trenches 1, 7 and 10 covered the north-eastern, north-western and south-western parts of the exterior platform; Trench 8 was inside the small rock-cut chamber to the north-west of the platform; and Trench 2 lay in the recessed area to the west of the latter chamber. In Sector B, Trenches 3 and 5 were opened on the western edge of the platform. Trench 4 was opened in Sector C, comprising the grave cut inside the arcosolium in the back of the subsidiary chamber. Inside Sector D, Trench 6 corresponded to the arcosolium grave in the back wall of the chamber, Trench 9 was located across the threshold of the tomb, and Trench 11 comprised the niche cut in the south wall of the arcosolium. All trenches were completely excavated down to the surface of the rock originally worked by the Nabataeans.
