Descriptive Attribute	Value(s)
Abuts	Loci 25, 29.
Stage	Stage 2
Size	interior measurement 1.26 m north south-by-2.95 m east west.
Bonds to	Loci 6, 28, 31, and 32.
Phase Description	Phase IV: Nabataean Grand Design: 1st c. BCE to CE 1st c. The full Lower Temenos is constructed, complete...
Stage Description	Main construction of the West Cryptoporticus.
Definition	Vault constructed beneath Wall Loci 28 and 6
Description	This vault is constructed into the west face of the lower four ashlar courses of the East Boundary Wall (Locus 28), between the 12th and 13th arch springers. It extends east beneath the East Boundary Wall (Locus 28) and the West Lower Temenos Retaining Wall (Locus 6) at least 2.95 m, the distance reached before further excavation became untenable. At this point, however, the ashlars of the side walls (Loci 31 and 32) appear to terminate with 90 degree corners. The hewn sandstone ashlars which make up the visible portion of the arched entrance of the vault range from 0.22-to-0.45 m in height, and were laid using mortar and snecking stones; the exact number of stones used in constructing the entrance can not be determined without further excavation beneath the abutting floor pavers of Locus 25. The entrance was partially blocked by a single course consisting of two ashlars prior to excavation—this blockage will be discussed below under Locus 16. The well-preserved interior of the vault consists of three irregularly spaced arches, each built of six arch stones of finely hewn sandstone and limestone on which characteristic Nabataean chisel marks are immediately evident. These arches are positioned in the north (Locus 31) and south (Locus 32) walls of the vault. The first arch inside the vault consists of ashlar blocks measuring 1.10 m long-by-0.20–0.30 m wide. The second arch towards the east abuts the first, and its stones range from 0.56–0.59 m in length-by-0.23–0.32 m in width. There is then an open space in which a portion of the east west slabs overlying the second and third arches are visible. To the north and south in this open space there are recessed areas that correspond to where the ends of the three arches are built; these spaces are filled in with small, unhewn, dry-laid field stones. The north recess measures 0.87 m high-by-0.62 m wide, and the south recess measures 0.72 m high-by-0.62 m wide. The third arch consists of stones measuring 0.62 m long- by-0.23–0.32 m wide. When excavation ceased, no indications of any more arches extending to the east were visible. The interruption of the arch sequence with the resulting creation of an empty space between the arches, given that its measurements are so similar to the length of the extant arch stones, is currently inexplicable. The interior walls (Loci 31 and 32) are constructed of both hewn and rough-hewn stones of various sizes. No traces of stucco were found on any of the walls suggesting that they were never faced. Moreover, the few fragments of stucco found in the fill (Locus 16) closely correspond to stucco finds from the main fill deposits of Trench 97, and probably represent pieces of column drum decoration that were washed into the vault. A few traces of a course-grained, sturdy gray mortar were found in situ on the edges of several of the arch stones on the west face of the second arch toward the east. No traces of stucco were detected on the exposed surfaces of the arch stones, suggesting that they were never faced. Currently, it is not possible to determine with certainty the nature of the “floor” within the vault. During the excavation of the fill (Locus 16), a layer of unhewn stones (Locus 30) was discovered approximately 2.00 m below the ceiling of the vault. These stones lay on a stratum of compressed fill (Locus 17), about 0.50 m above the bottom edge of the north and south walls (Loci 31 and 32), and appear to have been laid to abut these side walls. It was not possible to determine if these stones continued in a cohesive layer toward the unexcavated east. Toward the entrance of the vault at the west, this layer of stones disappears into a rising pile of rubble that served as the foundation for the constructed insertion (Locus 29) that raised the “floor” level of the vault to be the same as the floor pavers (Locus 25) of the West Cryptoporticus East. Whether this stone layer functioned as a “floor” or as a leveling course for the subsequent blocking of the vault could not be determined. At the time excavation ceased in the sondage Locus 17, no indications of any lower “floor” beneath this layer of unhewn stones had emerged. The fact that construction of this vault is bonded directly to that of Wall Loci 6 and 28 strongly suggests that it had to be constructed at the same time during the main construction period.
Combined with	Loci 6, 7, 11, 14, 18, 28, 31, and 32.
Preserved Height	1.07 m from floor (Locus 25) to top center of the vault.
Underlies	Loci 28, 6, and possibly 7.
Overlies	Loci 16, 29.
Phase	IV
Top (m)	Opening elevation: 894.713 m.
Bottom (m)	Closing elevation: 893.643 m.
Location	Set into East Boundary Wall and West Lower Temenos Retaining Wall.
Architectural or Soil Locus?	Architectural