Ali Abdul-Rasul, foreman of the workers excavating at Tell Deir Alla, found the first eighth-century B.C. inscribed wall fragments. In this photo, taken just after the discovery, a plastic sheet just behind Abdul-Rasul’s left shoulder covers the moist clay in which the fragments were found. Soon after this photo was taken, a Bedouin tent was raised to prevent sunlight from drying out the fragile plaster fragments lying in the clay soil.