Rule 1: 1. The vocabulary of discovery
Three verbs report a find. عَثَرَ عَلَى to stumble upon, come across is used of chance finds, often in the passive عُثِرَ عَلَى there was found. كَشَفَ عَنْ to uncover, disclose is used both of digging and of revealing information; its Form VIII اِكْتَشَفَ to discover has the verbal noun اِكْتِشَافٌ. Monuments and remains are آثَارٌ (singular أَثَرٌ trace), archaeologists are عُلَمَاءُ الْآثَارِ and an excavation team is بِعْثَةٌ أَثَرِيَّةٌ; the digging itself is حَفْرٌ or حَفْرِيَّاتٌ, at a depth عَلَى عُمْقِ so many metres. A find is dated with يَعُودُ إِلَى goes back to: يَعُودُ إِلَى الْقَرْنِ الثَّانِي قَبْلَ الْمِيلَادِ it dates from the second century BC; BC is قَبْلَ الْمِيلَادِ (abbreviated ق.م.); AD dates take الْمِيلَادِيّ or م.
عَثَرَ الْعُمَّالُ عَلَى حِجَارَةٍ مَنْقُوشَةٍ عَلَى عُمْقِ أَرْبَعَةِ أَمْتَارٍ.
ʿathara l-ʿummālu ʿalā ḥijāratin manqūshatin ʿalā ʿumqi arbaʿati amtārin
The workers came across inscribed stones at a depth of four metres.
كَشَفَتِ الْبِعْثَةُ عَنْ جِدَارِ مَعْبَدٍ لَمْ يَكُنْ مَعْرُوفًا مِنْ قَبْلُ.
kashafati l-biʿthatu ʿan jidāri maʿbadin lam yakun maʿrūfan min qablu
The expedition uncovered the wall of a temple that had not been known before.
مِنْ قَبْلُ 'before' with a fixed ḍamma on قَبْلُ when nothing follows it.
يَعُودُ هٰذَا التِّمْثَالُ إِلَى الْقَرْنِ الثَّالِثِ قَبْلَ الْمِيلَادِ.
yaʿūdu hādha t-timthālu ila l-qarni th-thālithi qabla l-mīlādi
This statue dates from the third century BC.
عُثِرَ فِي الْحُفْرَةِ عَلَى نُقُودٍ ذَهَبِيَّةٍ مِنَ الْعَصْرِ الْأُمَوِيِّ.
ʿuthira fi l-ḥufrati ʿalā nuqūdin dhahabiyyatin mina l-ʿaṣri l-umawiyyi
Gold coins from the Umayyad period were found in the pit.
Impersonal passive: the verb stays masculine singular and the thing found keeps its preposition عَلَى.
سَتَسْتَمِرُّ الْحَفْرِيَّاتُ خِلَالَ الشِّتَاءِ لِلْكَشْفِ عَنْ بَقِيَّةِ الْبِنَاءِ.
sa-tastamirru l-ḥafriyyātu khilāla sh-shitāʾi li-l-kashfi ʿan baqiyyati l-bināʾi
The excavations will continue through the winter to uncover the rest of the building.