Okay, this is my last blog entry. Day 34 has been pretty slow. All I've done today is wash my clothes from yesterday, pack my suitcases, and play chess.
Day 35 will be spent in the air and at the airport in New York, so no blogging on the last day (no internet access there unless I pay $$ . . . I'm too cheap!).
So, I said that I would post my best/worst moments; what I will miss the most/least; things that there are too much of/too little of here in Israel or Neve Shalom or tel Gezer. So here goes . . .
Too much of . . .
flies
heat
sweat
hummus
rice
pickles
olives
pita bread
scorpions
centipedes
Too little of . . .
meat in food (except chicken)
dairy with meat (non-existent)
Dr. Pepper (non-existent)
ice (non-existent)
air conditioning
privacy
clean bathroom
rain (non-existent until Oct.-Mar.)
people wearing deodorant
What I'll miss the most . . .
ice cream (way better, something about USA pasteurizing 3x and Europe/Middle East only 2x . . . I don't know)
excitement of seeing biblical cities for the first time
excitement of uncovering a new item or a wall in our square
some of my new friends
fruit break
the call to fruit break
store day
cake at dinner (sort of)
What I'll miss the least . . .
wheelbarrow runs
walking up tel Gezer
4:00 am
some of my new friends (just kidding . . . mostly)
pottery washing
the rush of being on tour
other tour groups
doing my laundry in the shower
having to find my electrical adapter before I plug anything in
lectures
being told I'm doing my archaeology techniques wrong
thin bed mattress that wants to slide off the bed every night
thin cushions on every seat at Neve Shalom
smelly bus
ride on smelly bus
long winded under-grad who has apparently already lived the life of 5 adults in his brief life time
Worst moments . . .
spraining ankle!
too long of a plane ride (not really in Israel, but it's part of the trip)
fruit break over
long walk
bus driver not driving to the tel to pick us up and making us walk to him (after a really long hot hard day's work)
same bus driver did not stop at store for Store Day!!!!!!!!!!!!! :(
Best moments . . .
discovering Knock-Out ice cream bars
discovering a plethora of loom weights
discovering whole storage jar
worship at Arabic believer's church
end of season talent show . . . way funny!
fruit break!
Heading home to my family
Thanks for all of you who have been reading and responding to my blogs! It's been an a lot of fun blogging. I look forward to seeing all of you soon and sharing with you my stories and pictures. Thanks, Tara, for setting up a time at the BBQ restaurant for us all to get together and share my stories and videos and photos! Please be praying for a safe flight home!
For the last time in the Holy Land . . . Shalom!
Trey
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Day 31-33
Well it's just about over! Here is what we have done the last 3 days . . .
Monday . . . last day of digging! We finished up the work in our squares and got them ready to shut down for the season. Any exposed pottery had to be quickly excavated. Anything left exposed will disappear before next dig season. Treasure hunters and looters come and take anything they think they can sell. I uncovered an entire storage vessel with less than an hour to go. We had to quickly expose it, excavate it and pull it out of the ground. It was pretty cool looking. It was shattered into very large pieces, but still quite cool looking. It had mudbrick and a large rock on top of it from when the walls fell during the destruction 2700 years ago. The square next to us uncovered a VERY cool, bulbous looking storage vessel. It was filled with dirt and thus the shape was preserved in situ (in place). It, too, was broken, but since it was full of dirt, it looked way cooler than mine! They found a lot more stuff in the last 2 days. I am confident that whoever digs our square next year will find some pretty neat stuff. So, we finished digging and leveled out our squares and got ready for our last day Tuesday.
Tuesday . . . This was basically clean and sweep day. We brushed and swept our floors of our squares, making sure to remove loose dirt and rocks, and brush away ANY and ALL footprints. We also had to brush our balks (sweep any loose dirt off and trim any roots growing in the walls). We polished any large rocks or mudbrick surfaces (use a brush to sweep ANY dirt off and make sure they will POP on the aerial photos). I polished our stone pillar in our square. We had to sweep back 1 meter on all sides of our square. And then the ENTIRE dig site had to be brushed to remove any footprints. Of course, we removed the shade cloths and equipment first. After all equipment was brought back down the hill, we emptied the storage container (one of those storage containers you see on trains) and inventoried all equipment and then repacked it. We took down the base camp shade cloth and stored it with all the other equipment. That concluded our work at the dig site!
Wednesday . . . only about 8 of the smallest/shortest people were taken back to the site for photos. A dirigible balloon that is equipped with a camera and controlled by a remote control on the ground was rented and used to take aerial photos of the entire dig site. The people that went were used to scale the photos. The rest of us slept in until 6:30 am and then did some work around the dig house, tearing down equipment and doing the last of the pottery washing. I played lots and lots of chess. I lost once more today, but I'm 30-5 (or something like that).
Wednesday night we had a going away party. The Neve Shalom folks put on a big feast for us with lots of . . . PIZZA! They have some very unique ideas about what topping combos go together . . . my personal favorite . . . green olive with red bell pepper and corn (sounds weird, but pretty good!). Then we had a talent show put on by the staff and volunteers. I won't try and recount what occurred b/c it won't be funny to you . . . but I assure you . . . it was funny! It was a good way to wrap everything up.
Tomorrow (Thursday) . . . we will sleep in until 7:00 am and then just hang out all day. Our flight leaves Tel Aviv around 12:30 am, so we won't leave Neve Shalom until 6:00 or 7:00 pm. I may try and blog one last time tomorrow. I will get back home around 6:23 pm on Friday after a connecting flight on Continental Airlines out of New York's JFK. (Thanks, Dave for picking me up!)
I failed to mention something from Sunday that was probably one of the best experiences of my trip . . . we had met an Arabic shop keeper on Saturday (our last shopping stop for the day) and discovered that he is a believer and attends an Arabic, evangelical, believer's church. We asked if we could attend Sunday's service. So, Sunday, we headed back to Jerusalem for one final day of (on our own) site seeing and shopping, and about 10 of us went to the church service at 10:00 am. The church was located in a small little building down a back alley. The service was held in an upper room (no, I'm not kidding). They had a section for people who needed translating (headsets were made available), and a little old Arabic lady sat in front of us and translated into a cheap Radio Shack microphone! It was great! The service was amazing . . . I felt like I was living Acts 2 . . . when the Holy Spirit descended on the believers in the upper room! The disciples were able to speak in the languages of other nations and the sound of many languages praising God and proclaiming the Gospel filled the air! That's what it sounded like when he asked everyone to pray in little groups . . . I heard Arabic, Hebrew, English, Korean, German . . . it was amazing. Most people couldn't understand anybody other than their own language, but all were united in and by the spirit of Christ . . . the great reconciler . . . the great unifier . . . as Paul said, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but you (we) are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3.28). I cannot describe to you the feeling, the experience of praising God with brothers and sisters from a different country, a different race, a different culture, a different language, a different denomination . . . yet ONE IN CHRIST! It was the most intense worship experience that I have had for a long time. This is what had been missing in my trip. This is what I was longing for. In God's providence we ran into this Arabic shop keeper and were able to experience the blessing of worshiping in a very unique way in this land of Israel, the home of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ!
It has been a long, long trip. It has been far more arduous than I had planned! But, I have learned much, including the immortal lesson learned by our very own Kansas native Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz . . . "there's no place like home!" I can't wait to be home!
Tomorrow, I will post some of my best, worst moments . . . some lists of too much of/not enough of . . . what I will miss the most/won't miss at all . . . what I'm looking forward to when I get home!
So stay tuned for tomorrow's final broadcast from the Holy Land!
It's 10:05 pm and time for bed!
Shalom!
Trey
Monday . . . last day of digging! We finished up the work in our squares and got them ready to shut down for the season. Any exposed pottery had to be quickly excavated. Anything left exposed will disappear before next dig season. Treasure hunters and looters come and take anything they think they can sell. I uncovered an entire storage vessel with less than an hour to go. We had to quickly expose it, excavate it and pull it out of the ground. It was pretty cool looking. It was shattered into very large pieces, but still quite cool looking. It had mudbrick and a large rock on top of it from when the walls fell during the destruction 2700 years ago. The square next to us uncovered a VERY cool, bulbous looking storage vessel. It was filled with dirt and thus the shape was preserved in situ (in place). It, too, was broken, but since it was full of dirt, it looked way cooler than mine! They found a lot more stuff in the last 2 days. I am confident that whoever digs our square next year will find some pretty neat stuff. So, we finished digging and leveled out our squares and got ready for our last day Tuesday.
Tuesday . . . This was basically clean and sweep day. We brushed and swept our floors of our squares, making sure to remove loose dirt and rocks, and brush away ANY and ALL footprints. We also had to brush our balks (sweep any loose dirt off and trim any roots growing in the walls). We polished any large rocks or mudbrick surfaces (use a brush to sweep ANY dirt off and make sure they will POP on the aerial photos). I polished our stone pillar in our square. We had to sweep back 1 meter on all sides of our square. And then the ENTIRE dig site had to be brushed to remove any footprints. Of course, we removed the shade cloths and equipment first. After all equipment was brought back down the hill, we emptied the storage container (one of those storage containers you see on trains) and inventoried all equipment and then repacked it. We took down the base camp shade cloth and stored it with all the other equipment. That concluded our work at the dig site!
Wednesday . . . only about 8 of the smallest/shortest people were taken back to the site for photos. A dirigible balloon that is equipped with a camera and controlled by a remote control on the ground was rented and used to take aerial photos of the entire dig site. The people that went were used to scale the photos. The rest of us slept in until 6:30 am and then did some work around the dig house, tearing down equipment and doing the last of the pottery washing. I played lots and lots of chess. I lost once more today, but I'm 30-5 (or something like that).
Wednesday night we had a going away party. The Neve Shalom folks put on a big feast for us with lots of . . . PIZZA! They have some very unique ideas about what topping combos go together . . . my personal favorite . . . green olive with red bell pepper and corn (sounds weird, but pretty good!). Then we had a talent show put on by the staff and volunteers. I won't try and recount what occurred b/c it won't be funny to you . . . but I assure you . . . it was funny! It was a good way to wrap everything up.
Tomorrow (Thursday) . . . we will sleep in until 7:00 am and then just hang out all day. Our flight leaves Tel Aviv around 12:30 am, so we won't leave Neve Shalom until 6:00 or 7:00 pm. I may try and blog one last time tomorrow. I will get back home around 6:23 pm on Friday after a connecting flight on Continental Airlines out of New York's JFK. (Thanks, Dave for picking me up!)
I failed to mention something from Sunday that was probably one of the best experiences of my trip . . . we had met an Arabic shop keeper on Saturday (our last shopping stop for the day) and discovered that he is a believer and attends an Arabic, evangelical, believer's church. We asked if we could attend Sunday's service. So, Sunday, we headed back to Jerusalem for one final day of (on our own) site seeing and shopping, and about 10 of us went to the church service at 10:00 am. The church was located in a small little building down a back alley. The service was held in an upper room (no, I'm not kidding). They had a section for people who needed translating (headsets were made available), and a little old Arabic lady sat in front of us and translated into a cheap Radio Shack microphone! It was great! The service was amazing . . . I felt like I was living Acts 2 . . . when the Holy Spirit descended on the believers in the upper room! The disciples were able to speak in the languages of other nations and the sound of many languages praising God and proclaiming the Gospel filled the air! That's what it sounded like when he asked everyone to pray in little groups . . . I heard Arabic, Hebrew, English, Korean, German . . . it was amazing. Most people couldn't understand anybody other than their own language, but all were united in and by the spirit of Christ . . . the great reconciler . . . the great unifier . . . as Paul said, "there is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, but you (we) are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3.28). I cannot describe to you the feeling, the experience of praising God with brothers and sisters from a different country, a different race, a different culture, a different language, a different denomination . . . yet ONE IN CHRIST! It was the most intense worship experience that I have had for a long time. This is what had been missing in my trip. This is what I was longing for. In God's providence we ran into this Arabic shop keeper and were able to experience the blessing of worshiping in a very unique way in this land of Israel, the home of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ!
It has been a long, long trip. It has been far more arduous than I had planned! But, I have learned much, including the immortal lesson learned by our very own Kansas native Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz . . . "there's no place like home!" I can't wait to be home!
Tomorrow, I will post some of my best, worst moments . . . some lists of too much of/not enough of . . . what I will miss the most/won't miss at all . . . what I'm looking forward to when I get home!
So stay tuned for tomorrow's final broadcast from the Holy Land!
It's 10:05 pm and time for bed!
Shalom!
Trey
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Day 27-30
Okay, here's the latest . . .
I stayed back from the tel on Thursday and Friday, nursing that busted up ankle. I still got up (relatively) early (just not at 4:00 am) and did some work around the dig house. I washed pottery for several hours (boy that was fun) and bagged and tagged MCs (material culture items) for an hour or so each day. I took the opportunity to go to the swimming pool and Neve Shalom and relax and do a little amateur water therapy on the ankle for about 30 minutes each day. I haven't been swimming the entire time I've been here. Seems like there's been very little "down" time, always working at the dig site, or pottery washing, or lecture, or meals, or blogging, or doing laundry in the shower, or cleaning up, or working on my archaeology course (power point, curriculum, etc), or trying to learn something from the staff. Each day I have been getting about 30 minutes of "free time" in the afternoon and about 30 minutes to one hour after dinner, depending on how long I feel like staying up. I've tried to go to bed around 9:00 - 9:30 so I can get a decent amount of sleep.
So, no swimming thus far until Thursday/Friday . . . and boy was it nice! They have a very nice swimming pool with about 1/2 of it covered with these canopies, so it's nice and shaded and cool. No one was there the first day, so I had it all to my self! Which is really nice b/c the tan line on my arms and neck is much more defined these days and I might have scared small children and animals! Friday was the preparation for Sabbath, so more families were out and enjoying the day together, but it wasn't too bad.
That brings up another random thought that I haven't mentioned, yet . . . When we have traveled on the weekends to the Negev and to the Galilee area we stayed at hotels. We arrived at the hotels on the Sabbath and something that I learned 12 years ago from my Hebrew professor, Dr. Harry Hunt, was confirmed . . . the elevators automatically stop on every floor on the Sabbath so that you do not have to violate the Sabbath laws on working by pushing the buttons! I have always repeated his story in my classes, but wasn't exactly sure about it. Now I know!
I am counting down the days til I leave! Tomorrow is probably the last official "dig" day. Tuesday will be clean up and get ready for final aerial photos on Wednesday. That means lots of sweeping dirt off of dirt. Straightening the balk lines. Removing grass and weeds from the areas in our fields that have not been dug this year. This means running into lots of scorpions. My square has been fortunate that we have only had two the entire time. Most squares have about 10-15 each day! I hate scorpions.
Wednesday will be photo day. They will only take some people up to the site to give size contrast to the site. Really tall and really short people won't go . . . I'm one of those . . . I do believe.
Wednesday night is a talent show of some kind. Some of the guys are putting together a video where they interview Macallister . . . the guy who dug here back in the early 1900's who did a poor job of excavating and recording stuff. It's his junk that we spent 2-3 weeks digging through in order to get to the real stuff! Also, I think some guys are going to do impersonations of the dig leaders. It should entertaining.
Well, guess I'd better go. Time for bed!
Shalom!
Trey
I stayed back from the tel on Thursday and Friday, nursing that busted up ankle. I still got up (relatively) early (just not at 4:00 am) and did some work around the dig house. I washed pottery for several hours (boy that was fun) and bagged and tagged MCs (material culture items) for an hour or so each day. I took the opportunity to go to the swimming pool and Neve Shalom and relax and do a little amateur water therapy on the ankle for about 30 minutes each day. I haven't been swimming the entire time I've been here. Seems like there's been very little "down" time, always working at the dig site, or pottery washing, or lecture, or meals, or blogging, or doing laundry in the shower, or cleaning up, or working on my archaeology course (power point, curriculum, etc), or trying to learn something from the staff. Each day I have been getting about 30 minutes of "free time" in the afternoon and about 30 minutes to one hour after dinner, depending on how long I feel like staying up. I've tried to go to bed around 9:00 - 9:30 so I can get a decent amount of sleep.
So, no swimming thus far until Thursday/Friday . . . and boy was it nice! They have a very nice swimming pool with about 1/2 of it covered with these canopies, so it's nice and shaded and cool. No one was there the first day, so I had it all to my self! Which is really nice b/c the tan line on my arms and neck is much more defined these days and I might have scared small children and animals! Friday was the preparation for Sabbath, so more families were out and enjoying the day together, but it wasn't too bad.
That brings up another random thought that I haven't mentioned, yet . . . When we have traveled on the weekends to the Negev and to the Galilee area we stayed at hotels. We arrived at the hotels on the Sabbath and something that I learned 12 years ago from my Hebrew professor, Dr. Harry Hunt, was confirmed . . . the elevators automatically stop on every floor on the Sabbath so that you do not have to violate the Sabbath laws on working by pushing the buttons! I have always repeated his story in my classes, but wasn't exactly sure about it. Now I know!
I am counting down the days til I leave! Tomorrow is probably the last official "dig" day. Tuesday will be clean up and get ready for final aerial photos on Wednesday. That means lots of sweeping dirt off of dirt. Straightening the balk lines. Removing grass and weeds from the areas in our fields that have not been dug this year. This means running into lots of scorpions. My square has been fortunate that we have only had two the entire time. Most squares have about 10-15 each day! I hate scorpions.
Wednesday will be photo day. They will only take some people up to the site to give size contrast to the site. Really tall and really short people won't go . . . I'm one of those . . . I do believe.
Wednesday night is a talent show of some kind. Some of the guys are putting together a video where they interview Macallister . . . the guy who dug here back in the early 1900's who did a poor job of excavating and recording stuff. It's his junk that we spent 2-3 weeks digging through in order to get to the real stuff! Also, I think some guys are going to do impersonations of the dig leaders. It should entertaining.
Well, guess I'd better go. Time for bed!
Shalom!
Trey
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Day 24-26
Okay, its been 3 days since my last blog. Monday and Tuesday absolutely wiped me out. I went to bed each night right after dinner at about 7:00 pm. For some reason those two days were more exhausting that usual. So here's the high-lights . . .
Monday, found about 15 more loom weights in my square! One was a monster compared to the others. Most are about the size of a baseball. This one was the size of a grapefruit. We also found one about the size of a ping pong ball. It's loom weight-palooza!
Tuesday . . . we found one more. Today . . . none.
We are processing layer by layer through our destruction debris. Our field archaeologists believe that we have been processing the material from a roof top that fell down when the walls collapsed. We should be finding MC (material culture) from the second floor tomorrow. We have two stone pillars in our square that we have been slowly excavating. They are about 18" square and we have exposed about 4'. They are probably 6-8' high.
Another interesting note about the archaeology process . . . When we excavate we only take about 10 centimeters down at a time across the surface of the entire square (5 m x 5 m). However, since we are on a slope, we have to create a flat/level surface as we go. Not sure if that makes since. Any way, we stop when we notice change in soil color or texture or density. These changes are noted and then elevations are often taken and pottery baskets (buckets) might be changed so that pottery coming out of the new area will be in different baskets (since they are in a different matrix). Differences in soil color, texture, density, etc. can be caused by several factors . . . rubble (like what we were digging through the first 10 days in parts of our square), destruction (charred mudbrick, mudbrick that has disintegrated, etc.), a pit that has been dug years (or centuries) later that the original home and it has intruded upon the space of the home and then filled with junk (rocks, pottery scraps, animal remains, etc. This puts later material on the same level as earlier material, and thus has to be discerned and noted. Otherwise it looks like a person living at the time of the Iron Age (13th-6th century BC) had pottery and items that belongs in the future (for example Persian era 538 BC-332 BC or Greek era 332-143 BC).
Also, frequently we have to sweep our dirt. I kid you not. We have to sweep our dirt and remove loose dirt. Do you know how hard it is to sweep dirt off of dirt? It's pretty funny. Also, I never knew dirt could have so many different colors. We have had blacks, grays, yellows, oranges, tans, etc. One guy from another square told me they had green. They have something called the Munsel Charts (sp?) which is basically a book with color charts. Looks like it was put together at the paint department at Sherwin Williams (superior products at amazing prices; there's a distributor near you! http://www.sherwin-williams.com/ (how's that for a shameless plug for you Jeff!)
I've been skipping 2nd breakfast since Day 11. It just isn't worth the hassle of walking back down and then up the hill, plus . . . it's too weird to be eating sandwiches for breakfast. It has provided me, however, with about 30 minutes to myself up on the hill. The scenery is amazing . . . looking down the hillside to the beautiful groves of olive trees and other orchards . . . the kibbutz lined with amazing beaugonvillas in a rainbow of colors, the sun peaking through the early morning clouds, the breeze gently blowing across the hillside . . . it's quite relaxing. I fell asleep again this morning during this breakfast break!
Which brings me to today's fun event . . . it was bound to happen . . . I was just surprised that it didn't happen earlier. I rolled my ankle. It happened just before fruit break (11:00 am) so I got to work most of the day (only missed the last hour). I had just taken a wheelbarrow run and was stepping down into my square on the sandbags that we use as steps . . . I'm not sure what happened . . . missed the edge of the sandbag? . . . the sandbag gave way? . . . not sure, but the end result is that I went down hard. I've severely sprained the ligaments in both ankles years ago in highschool and college (running, basketball, volleyball, walleyball . . . look it up) so my ankles have a propensity to roll easily. They say these hurt worse than breaks. Not sure if that's true or not. I only had to have my ankles put in cast twice. I'm pretty sure I won't require that for this one.
Talk about a dilemma . . . up on a hillside about a 1/4 of a mile up a pretty good steep pathway and having a sprained ankle. Some of my colleagues who were looking after my best interests had some good ideas . . . put me in a wheelbarrow and push me down the pathway (thanks!) . . . put me in a wheelbarrow and push me to the dump and then dump me over so that I'll slide all the way down the hill in soft (yet rocky) dirt (thanks!). I ended up hobbling over to the upper parking lot and having a car come pick me up about 30 minutes later.
I have had it elevated for most of the afternoon and watched movies on my laptop (Transformers . . . thanks Stockwell for leaving it in my car back in April when we BBQ-ed all night; and Young Guns . . . an '80s classic . . . Charlie Sheen, Emelio Estevez, Keifer Sutherland).
So, we'll see about tomorrow. My square supervisor is encouraging me not to come tomorrow. I sure want to come . . . hate to miss anything, you know. At the same time, I wouldn't mind sleeping a bit late and I sure won't miss hiking up the hill with my assigned 60 lbs. of gear on my back. On the other hand, that means someone else has to do my job. On the other hand, I don't want to be in the way and more of a liability than an asset . . . hmmmmm?
I know right now my mom is typing out an email to me giving me her opinion! Thanks, mom!
We've only got 3 dig days left (tomorrow, Friday, and Monday). It's make or break time for us if we're going to find some interesting things.
Well, I'd better close things down. I know I haven't posted pics from this last weekend. If I don't go to the tel tomorrow, I'll get that done.
I surely miss all you guys back home. I miss all you guys in our Bible study groups (thanks for taking care of Steph these last few weeks . . . getting the dryer fixed, mowing the yard, etc.), I miss you guys at school . . . ready to see y'all pretty soon, and of course, I miss my family . . . Steph and Madisynn . . . only 9 more days! (Of course y'all will be out of town at Kids Camp when I get back), but I'll be ready to see y'all when y'all get in!)
That reminds me . . . anybody from HNW available to pick me up at the airport Friday, July 25th? :)
Shalom!
Trey
Monday, found about 15 more loom weights in my square! One was a monster compared to the others. Most are about the size of a baseball. This one was the size of a grapefruit. We also found one about the size of a ping pong ball. It's loom weight-palooza!
Tuesday . . . we found one more. Today . . . none.
We are processing layer by layer through our destruction debris. Our field archaeologists believe that we have been processing the material from a roof top that fell down when the walls collapsed. We should be finding MC (material culture) from the second floor tomorrow. We have two stone pillars in our square that we have been slowly excavating. They are about 18" square and we have exposed about 4'. They are probably 6-8' high.
Another interesting note about the archaeology process . . . When we excavate we only take about 10 centimeters down at a time across the surface of the entire square (5 m x 5 m). However, since we are on a slope, we have to create a flat/level surface as we go. Not sure if that makes since. Any way, we stop when we notice change in soil color or texture or density. These changes are noted and then elevations are often taken and pottery baskets (buckets) might be changed so that pottery coming out of the new area will be in different baskets (since they are in a different matrix). Differences in soil color, texture, density, etc. can be caused by several factors . . . rubble (like what we were digging through the first 10 days in parts of our square), destruction (charred mudbrick, mudbrick that has disintegrated, etc.), a pit that has been dug years (or centuries) later that the original home and it has intruded upon the space of the home and then filled with junk (rocks, pottery scraps, animal remains, etc. This puts later material on the same level as earlier material, and thus has to be discerned and noted. Otherwise it looks like a person living at the time of the Iron Age (13th-6th century BC) had pottery and items that belongs in the future (for example Persian era 538 BC-332 BC or Greek era 332-143 BC).
Also, frequently we have to sweep our dirt. I kid you not. We have to sweep our dirt and remove loose dirt. Do you know how hard it is to sweep dirt off of dirt? It's pretty funny. Also, I never knew dirt could have so many different colors. We have had blacks, grays, yellows, oranges, tans, etc. One guy from another square told me they had green. They have something called the Munsel Charts (sp?) which is basically a book with color charts. Looks like it was put together at the paint department at Sherwin Williams (superior products at amazing prices; there's a distributor near you! http://www.sherwin-williams.com/ (how's that for a shameless plug for you Jeff!)
I've been skipping 2nd breakfast since Day 11. It just isn't worth the hassle of walking back down and then up the hill, plus . . . it's too weird to be eating sandwiches for breakfast. It has provided me, however, with about 30 minutes to myself up on the hill. The scenery is amazing . . . looking down the hillside to the beautiful groves of olive trees and other orchards . . . the kibbutz lined with amazing beaugonvillas in a rainbow of colors, the sun peaking through the early morning clouds, the breeze gently blowing across the hillside . . . it's quite relaxing. I fell asleep again this morning during this breakfast break!
Which brings me to today's fun event . . . it was bound to happen . . . I was just surprised that it didn't happen earlier. I rolled my ankle. It happened just before fruit break (11:00 am) so I got to work most of the day (only missed the last hour). I had just taken a wheelbarrow run and was stepping down into my square on the sandbags that we use as steps . . . I'm not sure what happened . . . missed the edge of the sandbag? . . . the sandbag gave way? . . . not sure, but the end result is that I went down hard. I've severely sprained the ligaments in both ankles years ago in highschool and college (running, basketball, volleyball, walleyball . . . look it up) so my ankles have a propensity to roll easily. They say these hurt worse than breaks. Not sure if that's true or not. I only had to have my ankles put in cast twice. I'm pretty sure I won't require that for this one.
Talk about a dilemma . . . up on a hillside about a 1/4 of a mile up a pretty good steep pathway and having a sprained ankle. Some of my colleagues who were looking after my best interests had some good ideas . . . put me in a wheelbarrow and push me down the pathway (thanks!) . . . put me in a wheelbarrow and push me to the dump and then dump me over so that I'll slide all the way down the hill in soft (yet rocky) dirt (thanks!). I ended up hobbling over to the upper parking lot and having a car come pick me up about 30 minutes later.
I have had it elevated for most of the afternoon and watched movies on my laptop (Transformers . . . thanks Stockwell for leaving it in my car back in April when we BBQ-ed all night; and Young Guns . . . an '80s classic . . . Charlie Sheen, Emelio Estevez, Keifer Sutherland).
So, we'll see about tomorrow. My square supervisor is encouraging me not to come tomorrow. I sure want to come . . . hate to miss anything, you know. At the same time, I wouldn't mind sleeping a bit late and I sure won't miss hiking up the hill with my assigned 60 lbs. of gear on my back. On the other hand, that means someone else has to do my job. On the other hand, I don't want to be in the way and more of a liability than an asset . . . hmmmmm?
I know right now my mom is typing out an email to me giving me her opinion! Thanks, mom!
We've only got 3 dig days left (tomorrow, Friday, and Monday). It's make or break time for us if we're going to find some interesting things.
Well, I'd better close things down. I know I haven't posted pics from this last weekend. If I don't go to the tel tomorrow, I'll get that done.
I surely miss all you guys back home. I miss all you guys in our Bible study groups (thanks for taking care of Steph these last few weeks . . . getting the dryer fixed, mowing the yard, etc.), I miss you guys at school . . . ready to see y'all pretty soon, and of course, I miss my family . . . Steph and Madisynn . . . only 9 more days! (Of course y'all will be out of town at Kids Camp when I get back), but I'll be ready to see y'all when y'all get in!)
That reminds me . . . anybody from HNW available to pick me up at the airport Friday, July 25th? :)
Shalom!
Trey
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Day 21-23
Another great (and too short) weekend has passed! We went to Jerusalem both yesterday and today (Saturday and Sunday). But, before I blog about the weekend, let's talk about Friday.
Friday completed our 3rd week of digging. It has been tough all week. The temperature has been rising all week . . . seems like our wheelbarrow runs have been getting longer (actually they are, as we dump debris and dirt over the hillside, we are slowly changing the topography of tel gezer; we have extended the original dump path by 15-20 feet!). Nothing sounds better than when our beloved Gary (director of Field A) bellows in his melodic voice, "Secoooondddddd Brrrreeaakkkkfaaaaast!" or, "Fruuuuuiiiiiittttt Breeeaaakkkkkk!" or, "Thiiiiirrrtyyyyyy Minnnuuuuutessssss!" All of which indicate that either a much needed and celebrated break has arrived or the end of our toil for the day.
Gary is a pretty interesting guy. I do not know him very well since he is directer of Field A and I work in Field B, but I have visited with him a few times. He is a professor at Golden Gate Seminary (but doesn't not look the part). He gave a lecture last week on the Iron Age and it was amazing. He has a great, energetic teaching personality.
My director is Elliot. He is an Israeli citizen and an expert in the field of archaeology. It has been interesting to learn from him and listen to his explanations. He has a big whiskbroom of a mustache that obscures most of his lower face. He has this funny expression that we have begun impersonating and randomly saying. If someone gets in his way when he is trying to take elevations (someone is standing between him and the laser that reads the stadia/meter stick) he will say (in a heavy Jewish accent), "Is your father a glassier?" Phonetically it sounds like this, "Is your faaatheeerrrr a glaaaasieerrrr?" It is very funny in person, but not so funny on a blog. Nonetheless, it is kind of a slogan that gets passed around all day long. Someone will randomly say it about every 10 minutes and then 4 or 5 people feel compelled to repeat it immediately, it's just a spontaneous.
Our square uncovered another 4 loom weights on Friday, all in pristine condition. That brings our total to 8 or 10. Since we have found so many we apparently have the fruit of the loom! (I am hysterically funny!) We have removed the mudbrick wall that had collapsed as a result of being torched by the Assyrians and now we are ready to see what's underneath! Tomorrow should be pretty exciting. There just has to be material culture items within our square! We'll see!
Another comment about food over here. I haven't talked much about the kosher laws, but it is very much prevalent. One kosher law is that dairy and meat cannot be eaten at the same time. Let me repeat that . . . DAIRY AND MEAT CANNOT BE EATEN AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!. This goes back to God's command to Moses regarding not cooking the meat of a goat in its mother's milk. Here is an except from a website on the issue for those who are interested . . .
Well, it's about time to get ready for bed. It's 9:37 pm and 4:00 am comes pretty quickly. I haven't downloaded my pics from this weekend, so I'll save my comments about the tours until tomorrow when I get them downloaded.
Shalom!
Trey
Friday completed our 3rd week of digging. It has been tough all week. The temperature has been rising all week . . . seems like our wheelbarrow runs have been getting longer (actually they are, as we dump debris and dirt over the hillside, we are slowly changing the topography of tel gezer; we have extended the original dump path by 15-20 feet!). Nothing sounds better than when our beloved Gary (director of Field A) bellows in his melodic voice, "Secoooondddddd Brrrreeaakkkkfaaaaast!" or, "Fruuuuuiiiiiittttt Breeeaaakkkkkk!" or, "Thiiiiirrrtyyyyyy Minnnuuuuutessssss!" All of which indicate that either a much needed and celebrated break has arrived or the end of our toil for the day.
Gary is a pretty interesting guy. I do not know him very well since he is directer of Field A and I work in Field B, but I have visited with him a few times. He is a professor at Golden Gate Seminary (but doesn't not look the part). He gave a lecture last week on the Iron Age and it was amazing. He has a great, energetic teaching personality.
My director is Elliot. He is an Israeli citizen and an expert in the field of archaeology. It has been interesting to learn from him and listen to his explanations. He has a big whiskbroom of a mustache that obscures most of his lower face. He has this funny expression that we have begun impersonating and randomly saying. If someone gets in his way when he is trying to take elevations (someone is standing between him and the laser that reads the stadia/meter stick) he will say (in a heavy Jewish accent), "Is your father a glassier?" Phonetically it sounds like this, "Is your faaatheeerrrr a glaaaasieerrrr?" It is very funny in person, but not so funny on a blog. Nonetheless, it is kind of a slogan that gets passed around all day long. Someone will randomly say it about every 10 minutes and then 4 or 5 people feel compelled to repeat it immediately, it's just a spontaneous.
Our square uncovered another 4 loom weights on Friday, all in pristine condition. That brings our total to 8 or 10. Since we have found so many we apparently have the fruit of the loom! (I am hysterically funny!) We have removed the mudbrick wall that had collapsed as a result of being torched by the Assyrians and now we are ready to see what's underneath! Tomorrow should be pretty exciting. There just has to be material culture items within our square! We'll see!
Another comment about food over here. I haven't talked much about the kosher laws, but it is very much prevalent. One kosher law is that dairy and meat cannot be eaten at the same time. Let me repeat that . . . DAIRY AND MEAT CANNOT BE EATEN AT THE SAME TIME!!!!!. This goes back to God's command to Moses regarding not cooking the meat of a goat in its mother's milk. Here is an except from a website on the issue for those who are interested . . .
http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/kashrut.html#Separation
On three separate occasions, the Torah tells us not to "boil a kid in its mother's milk." (Ex. 23:19; Ex. 34:26; Deut. 14:21). The Oral Torah explains that this passage prohibits eating meat and dairy together. The rabbis extended this prohibition to include not eating milk and poultry together. It is, however, permissible to eat fish and dairy together, and it is quite common. It is also permissible to eat dairy and eggs together. According to some views, it is not permissible to eat meat and fish together, but I am not certain of the reason for that restriction.
This separation includes not only the foods themselves, but the utensils, pots and pans with which they are cooked, the plates and flatware from which they are eaten, the dishwashers or dishpans in which they are cleaned, and the towels on which they are dried. A kosher household will have at least two sets of pots, pans and dishes: one for meat and one for dairy. See Utensils below for more details.
One must wait a significant amount of time between eating meat and dairy. Opinions differ, and vary from three to six hours. This is because fatty residues and meat particles tend to cling to the mouth. From dairy to meat, however, one need only rinse one's mouth and eat a neutral solid like bread, unless the dairy product in question is also of a type that tends to stick in the mouth.
Think about this for a second . . . fajitas (beef or chicken with grated cheese and sour cream!), pizza (pepperoni and cheese; Canadian bacon and cheese; Supreme!), sandwich (turkey and swiss, ham and provolone, smoked chicken and gouda, etc.), bacon and eggs!; beef fajita nachos!; spaghetti and meatballs with Parmesan cheese! . . . are you kidding me! It's a culinary/dining nightmare! We went to the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem today and ate lunch in their cafeteria. Actually, they have two kitchens/cafeterias: one dairy, one meat. We had to decide which line we wanted to go in. And, no, before you even ask, you cannot go through one line and then go get in the other and get food from both. You can't bring food from one area into the other. I went through the meat line and then after our tour I went and got chocolate ice cream from the dairy line!Well, it's about time to get ready for bed. It's 9:37 pm and 4:00 am comes pretty quickly. I haven't downloaded my pics from this weekend, so I'll save my comments about the tours until tomorrow when I get them downloaded.
Shalom!
Trey
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Day 19-20
Hey there. Skipped blogging yesterday. Decided I'd better get it together and blog tonight. Another hard week on the dig site. It has been pretty hot. If it weren't for the shade clothes, it would be unbearable.
Found several loom weights in our square this week, two today. Loom weights were used by women to hang their loom ropes straight (almost like a plumb bob for you carpenters). They would have several weights maybe 8-10 hanging on a loom. It's about the size of a baseball or softball and made of either clay/pottery or stone. We have found the clay ones. We have finally excavated past all the "fill" or "debris" and have gotten down to the Assyrian destruction layer. We will break through it tomorrow. Our square is part of a domestic area with destruction debris on top. "What is destruction debris?" Thanks for asking! When mud-brick is heated to high temperatures it turns very hard like glazed pottery. There are signs of a mud brick wall that has fallen over. We also find charred mud bricks that have burned and basically turned into ash. There is burned pottery shards, burned shells, etc. So, whatever is under this layer has not been seen for about 2700 years. If you can imagine our country being invaded and your house being set on fire as the invaders advanced. Some of your stuff would burn, but as your house collapsed (remember the house is not made of wood and sheetrock, but mudbrick and/or stone) everything in your house is simply buried beneath the rubble. Your make up and jewelry . . . your plates and silverware . . . your books . . . your food . . . your games . . . your jigsaw puzzle that you were working on when the invaders attacked . . . maybe even your pet cat or dog . . . hopefully you get your family out safely! Well, that's basically what we have . . . the possibility of finding any . . . all household items that a Israelite would normally use . . . maybe even the Israelite himself (but probably not, he probably escaped, but you never know).
I may have already blogged on this, I don't remember. If I have, then you're getting a repeat . . . but this is very awe-full experience . . . Not awful, awe-full . . . it fills me with a sense of awe and reference for where I dig . . . where I walk . . . and for what I uncover. I would hope that whoever goes through your/my house after it has been destroyed by some tragedy (invaders, natural disaster) would do so with respect for those you had lived there and not treat it as an opportunity to simply loot someone's home! Hopefully what we do will add to the rich, and sometimes incomplete, knowledge and understanding of the inhabitants of this land.
Okay, some side notes . . . last night was amazing. It was rumored early during the day, that dinner might have a special treat. Rumors were running thick throughout the day. Yesterday was store day, so I made sure to pick out some large 1.5 liter bottles of Coke (no Dr P) in anticipation of the fabled fodder! I carefully put the large coke container in the small freezer area in our micro-fridge as soon as we got back to Neve Shalom, hoping that by the time dinner rolled around 4 1/2 hours later, the coke would be the sublime consistency of a coke slushy! I made sure not to eat too much lunch and I watched the clock like a schoolboy on the last day of school! Lunch . . . free time . . . pottery washing . . . lecture . . . dinner! The time had finally come. There was a palpable excitement running through the group as we hurriedly herded ourselves from the lecture hall to the dining room. Grown adults were giddy with excitement! I quickly ran back to my room, opened the fridge/freezer and retrieved my frigid, carbonated nectar . . . perfect . . . icy, slushy, but not frozen. I quickly ran back to the dining room and joined the rest of anxious group. We arrived in the dining hall . . . necks strained to see around those in line hoping to get a glimpse of that which would put all of us in a culinary-induced coma of pleasure and delight . . . but . . . the buffet line was set with all the usual fare of Israeli salads (cucumbers and tomatoes, olives, etc.), but there was a disappointing void in the space where the main dish should be. It was almost like getting kicked in the stomach and getting the wind knocked out of you. The possibility of disappointment was beginning to creep in. Had this been a cruel joke, perpetrated by staff members? Had we been misinformed by malevolent malcontents, duped by destructive derelicts? But . . . then . . . the kitchen doors opened . . . here came the servers . . . with circular trays of golden-brown, cheesy, spheres of pure delight . . . American . . . PIZZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, food I can get behind!!!!! It wasn't fancy. It wasn't particularly good by American standards. Yet, it was amazing. With every bite I was elevated to an ever-ascending plane of culinary ecstasy! I took a bite and let the cheese pull from my lips, bridging the chasm between my mouth and the freshly munched plateau of pizza. It was glorious! I chugged a macho portion of my caffeinated, carbonated elixir and let it burn all the way down! I continued my feasting until I could feast no more! I was in heaven. I was energized to finish my tour of duty as a tel Gezer slave, I mean volunteer!
Okay, maybe I went overboard here, but I actually exaggerated very little here . . . maybe a bit verbose . . . loquacious (wordy for those of you who need help here), but not an exaggeration!
Now, that was a culinary high . . . now for the low! I came in from work today and immediately showered as I always do. Everyone else heads for the dining hall. I shower. My roommates returned as I was about to head out and told me that they had served . . . are you ready for this . . . tongue! Who's tongue? What tongue? Were they kidding? I, of course, did not believe them. This obviously was a cruel joke. And it was . . . but not one perpetrated by my fellow slaves/volunteers, but a joke perpetrated by the chef of Neve Shalom . . . sure enough . . . there was tongue! I'm not sure if this was done to let us know who was really in charge of the kitchen, him, not us spoiled Americans, or if this was simply the meal scheduled for today. (Apparently the chef had to be talked into making pizzas for us. It's not sophisticated enough for him, too simple, too American?) Anyway, I skipped lunch. I opted for Peanut M&M's and some pretzel-like chips that I had bought from the store.
Well, that's about enough for tonight. I hope you were on the edge of your seat as I told my tale!
Shalom!
Trey
Found several loom weights in our square this week, two today. Loom weights were used by women to hang their loom ropes straight (almost like a plumb bob for you carpenters). They would have several weights maybe 8-10 hanging on a loom. It's about the size of a baseball or softball and made of either clay/pottery or stone. We have found the clay ones. We have finally excavated past all the "fill" or "debris" and have gotten down to the Assyrian destruction layer. We will break through it tomorrow. Our square is part of a domestic area with destruction debris on top. "What is destruction debris?" Thanks for asking! When mud-brick is heated to high temperatures it turns very hard like glazed pottery. There are signs of a mud brick wall that has fallen over. We also find charred mud bricks that have burned and basically turned into ash. There is burned pottery shards, burned shells, etc. So, whatever is under this layer has not been seen for about 2700 years. If you can imagine our country being invaded and your house being set on fire as the invaders advanced. Some of your stuff would burn, but as your house collapsed (remember the house is not made of wood and sheetrock, but mudbrick and/or stone) everything in your house is simply buried beneath the rubble. Your make up and jewelry . . . your plates and silverware . . . your books . . . your food . . . your games . . . your jigsaw puzzle that you were working on when the invaders attacked . . . maybe even your pet cat or dog . . . hopefully you get your family out safely! Well, that's basically what we have . . . the possibility of finding any . . . all household items that a Israelite would normally use . . . maybe even the Israelite himself (but probably not, he probably escaped, but you never know).
I may have already blogged on this, I don't remember. If I have, then you're getting a repeat . . . but this is very awe-full experience . . . Not awful, awe-full . . . it fills me with a sense of awe and reference for where I dig . . . where I walk . . . and for what I uncover. I would hope that whoever goes through your/my house after it has been destroyed by some tragedy (invaders, natural disaster) would do so with respect for those you had lived there and not treat it as an opportunity to simply loot someone's home! Hopefully what we do will add to the rich, and sometimes incomplete, knowledge and understanding of the inhabitants of this land.
Okay, some side notes . . . last night was amazing. It was rumored early during the day, that dinner might have a special treat. Rumors were running thick throughout the day. Yesterday was store day, so I made sure to pick out some large 1.5 liter bottles of Coke (no Dr P) in anticipation of the fabled fodder! I carefully put the large coke container in the small freezer area in our micro-fridge as soon as we got back to Neve Shalom, hoping that by the time dinner rolled around 4 1/2 hours later, the coke would be the sublime consistency of a coke slushy! I made sure not to eat too much lunch and I watched the clock like a schoolboy on the last day of school! Lunch . . . free time . . . pottery washing . . . lecture . . . dinner! The time had finally come. There was a palpable excitement running through the group as we hurriedly herded ourselves from the lecture hall to the dining room. Grown adults were giddy with excitement! I quickly ran back to my room, opened the fridge/freezer and retrieved my frigid, carbonated nectar . . . perfect . . . icy, slushy, but not frozen. I quickly ran back to the dining room and joined the rest of anxious group. We arrived in the dining hall . . . necks strained to see around those in line hoping to get a glimpse of that which would put all of us in a culinary-induced coma of pleasure and delight . . . but . . . the buffet line was set with all the usual fare of Israeli salads (cucumbers and tomatoes, olives, etc.), but there was a disappointing void in the space where the main dish should be. It was almost like getting kicked in the stomach and getting the wind knocked out of you. The possibility of disappointment was beginning to creep in. Had this been a cruel joke, perpetrated by staff members? Had we been misinformed by malevolent malcontents, duped by destructive derelicts? But . . . then . . . the kitchen doors opened . . . here came the servers . . . with circular trays of golden-brown, cheesy, spheres of pure delight . . . American . . . PIZZA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, food I can get behind!!!!! It wasn't fancy. It wasn't particularly good by American standards. Yet, it was amazing. With every bite I was elevated to an ever-ascending plane of culinary ecstasy! I took a bite and let the cheese pull from my lips, bridging the chasm between my mouth and the freshly munched plateau of pizza. It was glorious! I chugged a macho portion of my caffeinated, carbonated elixir and let it burn all the way down! I continued my feasting until I could feast no more! I was in heaven. I was energized to finish my tour of duty as a tel Gezer slave, I mean volunteer!
Okay, maybe I went overboard here, but I actually exaggerated very little here . . . maybe a bit verbose . . . loquacious (wordy for those of you who need help here), but not an exaggeration!
Now, that was a culinary high . . . now for the low! I came in from work today and immediately showered as I always do. Everyone else heads for the dining hall. I shower. My roommates returned as I was about to head out and told me that they had served . . . are you ready for this . . . tongue! Who's tongue? What tongue? Were they kidding? I, of course, did not believe them. This obviously was a cruel joke. And it was . . . but not one perpetrated by my fellow slaves/volunteers, but a joke perpetrated by the chef of Neve Shalom . . . sure enough . . . there was tongue! I'm not sure if this was done to let us know who was really in charge of the kitchen, him, not us spoiled Americans, or if this was simply the meal scheduled for today. (Apparently the chef had to be talked into making pizzas for us. It's not sophisticated enough for him, too simple, too American?) Anyway, I skipped lunch. I opted for Peanut M&M's and some pretzel-like chips that I had bought from the store.
Well, that's about enough for tonight. I hope you were on the edge of your seat as I told my tale!
Shalom!
Trey
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Pics
I have added some pics from this weekend. I have taken a total of about 1600 photos so far. About 600 this last weekend. It is very difficult to decide which pics to post. I'll show you most of them when I return. I have included a map that I threw together with our tours and what cities we stopped at. If you click on the photos or map they will be enlarged and you'll get a clearer picture.
Shalom!
Trey
Shalom!
Trey
Day 17-18 (Half way!)
Back to the grind of working the tel! 4:00 am came awfully quickly! I haven't given much info about our dig lately. We are making some great progress. The guys in charge seem to be pleased across the board. We did discover a dog burial in our square on Thursday. Two more were discovered in an adjacent square last week as well. Big deal, you may be thinking. However, 13 dog burials were found last dig season just one square over. This is a big deal, b/c this has only been found in one other place, down in Ashkelon (I think). It was not very common in the ancient world to have burials for dogs.
I named ours "Frodo" (Lord of the Rings character). We finally extricated him yesterday (Monday). Unfortunately, NO SKULL/HEAD! Poor Frodo!
We had a massive group project today. We took down a 15 meter balk that separated 6 squares. Each balk is 5 meters long by 1 meter wide and about 5 foot tall. Additionally, some interior balks were removed. This was a major undertaking which involved every person from each field. I sucked in more dirt working on the line than I did all last week! We had several venomous centipedes come out. Fortunately, no vipers/snakes. Last year multiple vipers came out when the balks came down. As I was working the balk, I found a good sized portion of a pinch lamp (I'll try and upload a pic of one), a pounding stone, and the remains of a very large pottery vessel (was it intact before I started working?). Unfortunately, bringing down a balk means working without regard to what's in the balk. If you break something, it is unfortunate, but expected.
Our wheelbarrow run had really been getting bad last week. The dirt is breaking down into a fine powdery substance that you sort of sink into when you walk on. Pushing a heavy wheelbarrow loaded with about 80 lbs. of material across it was very difficult. My square had taken to referring to the path as the "via de la rosa" (the way of suffering, you know the path that Jesus took to Golgotha). Now, however, it has been fixed up with wood planks stripped from a table. We ride the planks across most of the hill/run! Much better!
I have stopped going to 2nd breakfast and instead just stayed at the top of the tel. Walking back up the tel after eating was not fun. It has been very relaxing to sit up on the hill in silence and rest for about 30 minutes!
Really missing the family right now. I have been using Skype to talk to and see Steph and Madisynn. It really has been a blessing. I miss them very much.
Today marks the half way point for my trip. I now have 17 days left! I'm ready for home!
Shalom!
Trey
I named ours "Frodo" (Lord of the Rings character). We finally extricated him yesterday (Monday). Unfortunately, NO SKULL/HEAD! Poor Frodo!
We had a massive group project today. We took down a 15 meter balk that separated 6 squares. Each balk is 5 meters long by 1 meter wide and about 5 foot tall. Additionally, some interior balks were removed. This was a major undertaking which involved every person from each field. I sucked in more dirt working on the line than I did all last week! We had several venomous centipedes come out. Fortunately, no vipers/snakes. Last year multiple vipers came out when the balks came down. As I was working the balk, I found a good sized portion of a pinch lamp (I'll try and upload a pic of one), a pounding stone, and the remains of a very large pottery vessel (was it intact before I started working?). Unfortunately, bringing down a balk means working without regard to what's in the balk. If you break something, it is unfortunate, but expected.
Our wheelbarrow run had really been getting bad last week. The dirt is breaking down into a fine powdery substance that you sort of sink into when you walk on. Pushing a heavy wheelbarrow loaded with about 80 lbs. of material across it was very difficult. My square had taken to referring to the path as the "via de la rosa" (the way of suffering, you know the path that Jesus took to Golgotha). Now, however, it has been fixed up with wood planks stripped from a table. We ride the planks across most of the hill/run! Much better!
I have stopped going to 2nd breakfast and instead just stayed at the top of the tel. Walking back up the tel after eating was not fun. It has been very relaxing to sit up on the hill in silence and rest for about 30 minutes!
Really missing the family right now. I have been using Skype to talk to and see Steph and Madisynn. It really has been a blessing. I miss them very much.
Today marks the half way point for my trip. I now have 17 days left! I'm ready for home!
Shalom!
Trey
Day 14-16 Sunday
Sunday, we headed out
to Capernaum. We were supposed to go to a German Church, but it was closed (?). Out next stop was the site of ancient Capernaum. The Catholic church owns this part of the site b/c this is the (supposed) location of Peter's house. We had to wear 
long pants for this location. A beautiful synagogue has been excavated. It was originally dated to 1st century (and thus Jesus' synagogue; remember, Capernaum was the headquarters of Jesus' ministry in Galilee). However, the dating for this structure has been reassigned to the 2nd-3rd century AD. They have uncovered another structure underneath and it is dated to 1st century."Peter's House" has a special structure constructed over it and Catholics can pre-arrange to have mass in that building. It has a glass floor so that you can see directly into the remains of Peter's House.
From here we headed around the Sea of Galilee and then West back across the Jordan River to a place called Beth Sean (a new place for me). It is one of the Greek cities of the Decapolis ("ten cities"). You may remember one of the Decapolis cities from the New Testament, Gedara, the place where Jesus cast the demons out of a man into pigs (and thus a Greek city, not a Jewish city). This is an amazing city with a huge amphitheater, public buildings, mosaics, etc. Very cool. It is also the place where the head of Saul was placed after his death. The Philistines defeated him at the battle at Mt. Gilboa and had taken his head and placed it on the walls of their city at Beth Sean. I did not realize that the Philistines had control so far in-land and North. It was new for me!
After our one hour tour, we discovered that our bus had broken down (starter). We spent the next 3 hours there waiting for a new bus from Nazareth.
Our plans changed a bit, but we did get to do something completely unexpected and amazing . . . we went into Palestinian territory, into Jericho! Apparently, nobody takes tour groups there any more (too dangerous?). Our supervisors back at Neve Shalom couldn't believe it. Many of them haven't even been there! Our tour guide is a 72 year old former professor of Dr. Ortiz. He's the same guy who did our tour last weekend. He really knows his stuff and he can/did out run and out walk all of us. We crossed the Israeli check point first. Our driver made the soldiers mad, so they pulled us over for a special check. We had to pull out our passports and he gave our bus driver a good scolding. Then we passed through Israeli controlled territory that is kind of like no-man's land, and then through a Palestinian check point into Palestinian territory. The Palestinian soldiers were very enthusiastic and friendly.
I was a bit disappointed in what is currently visible at tel Jericho. Archaeologists often back fill their discoveries if conservation/preservation cannot or will not be carried out (otherwise it will begin to deteriorate quickly). So, there wasn't much to see. Nonetheless, it was cool to go there. At the bottom of the hill is a restaurant called "Temptation Restaurant" in honor of Jesus' temptations in the adjoining Judean Wilderness. I bought some gifts for family members. (Sorry, mom, it's a surprise!)
We got home back to Neve Shalom in time for dinner and get ready for bed! A great trip. A lifetime experience!
Shalom.
Trey
Day 14-16 Saturday (continued)
This is the continuation of my Northern tour, Day 2 (Saturday). I did not finish my blog b/c it was time for bed the other night. Yesterday, I just didn't feel like blogging. Long day, hard day of work after being gone for 3 days.
I believe I left off talking about tel Dan. At tel Dan we walked through a beautiful jungle-like oasis with water from snow-melt from Mt. Hermon that forms into beautiful rushing rivers/creeks. The path cut through the trees and the river crossings are so amazing. You didn't feel like you were in Israel, or at least, not what you would expect in Israel. It was actually very relaxing walking through the park, through (under) the forest and listening to the water (sometimes rushing by, sometimes quietly babbling by).
We went next to Caesarea Philippi and Hermon Springs Nature Reserve. Here the natural springs from Mt. Hermon come right out of the ground. The water is so clean, clear and perfect, you wouldn't believe it. We refilled our water bottles directly from the place where it was flowing out of the rocks. I drank straight from the spring. It was so cold and amazing. You have to realize that is was amazingly hot in order to appreciate how refreshing the the water was for us. (While I'm on the subject of water . . . I am drinking about 4 liters of water before noon each day. I am drinking more water than I ever have before, so you don't have to worry about dehydration!)
Caesarea Philippi is the place that (more than likely) Jesus took his disciples and he asked them, "who do men say that I am?" and then, "who do YOU say that I am?" Peter then makes that amazing confession of faith, "You are the Christos, the son of the living God." You remember Jesus' response? "You (Peter/or Peter on behalf of the Apostles) are petros (little rock) and/but upon THIS petras (large, immovable rock) I will build my church." (Emphasis mine.) He also said that he would give the keys to the kingdom of heaven to Peter/the church. This passage has amazing implications for Protestant and Catholic theology. How one understands this passage is important for his/her faith tradition. (Matthew 11)
This is the site of the grotto of the Greek god Pan. Also, a palace of Herod Philip is here. Too much to address here, but it was totally amazing.
We left there and headed to the Golan Heights area. Along the way we saw (but did not stop at) Nimrod's Fortress. In Golan we stopped at a place called Coffee Anan (or something like that). It is the location of a former Israeli military bunker that was the sight of significant fighting during the War of 1967 (modern day) with Syria. It was totally cool, you could see the Syrian border in the valley below and the place where the Syrians broke through. An Israeli tank is left (as a memorial) in the valley below.
We headed back to Tiberias from there. Day 2 over.
Link to the Israel Parks and Nature Reserve
http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/index_search_tree.php3?NewNameMade=0&InitialEntry=1&from=116
I believe I left off talking about tel Dan. At tel Dan we walked through a beautiful jungle-like oasis with water from snow-melt from Mt. Hermon that forms into beautiful rushing rivers/creeks. The path cut through the trees and the river crossings are so amazing. You didn't feel like you were in Israel, or at least, not what you would expect in Israel. It was actually very relaxing walking through the park, through (under) the forest and listening to the water (sometimes rushing by, sometimes quietly babbling by).
We went next to Caesarea Philippi and Hermon Springs Nature Reserve. Here the natural springs from Mt. Hermon come right out of the ground. The water is so clean, clear and perfect, you wouldn't believe it. We refilled our water bottles directly from the place where it was flowing out of the rocks. I drank straight from the spring. It was so cold and amazing. You have to realize that is was amazingly hot in order to appreciate how refreshing the the water was for us. (While I'm on the subject of water . . . I am drinking about 4 liters of water before noon each day. I am drinking more water than I ever have before, so you don't have to worry about dehydration!)
Caesarea Philippi is the place that (more than likely) Jesus took his disciples and he asked them, "who do men say that I am?" and then, "who do YOU say that I am?" Peter then makes that amazing confession of faith, "You are the Christos, the son of the living God." You remember Jesus' response? "You (Peter/or Peter on behalf of the Apostles) are petros (little rock) and/but upon THIS petras (large, immovable rock) I will build my church." (Emphasis mine.) He also said that he would give the keys to the kingdom of heaven to Peter/the church. This passage has amazing implications for Protestant and Catholic theology. How one understands this passage is important for his/her faith tradition. (Matthew 11)
This is the site of the grotto of the Greek god Pan. Also, a palace of Herod Philip is here. Too much to address here, but it was totally amazing.
We left there and headed to the Golan Heights area. Along the way we saw (but did not stop at) Nimrod's Fortress. In Golan we stopped at a place called Coffee Anan (or something like that). It is the location of a former Israeli military bunker that was the sight of significant fighting during the War of 1967 (modern day) with Syria. It was totally cool, you could see the Syrian border in the valley below and the place where the Syrians broke through. An Israeli tank is left (as a memorial) in the valley below.
We headed back to Tiberias from there. Day 2 over.
Link to the Israel Parks and Nature Reserve
http://www.parks.org.il/ParksENG/index_search_tree.php3?NewNameMade=0&InitialEntry=1&from=116
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Day 14-16 Saturday
Saturday, we went to Genessaret (sp?). This is a kibbutz that houses a 1st century fishing vessel uncovered here in the Sea of Galilee about 23 years ago when there was a drought and the level of the sea had gone down. This was the first (only?) 1st century fishing vessel ever found and it was in nearly complete form. They carefully excavated it and moved it within 13 days!!! (limited time b/c water level was coming up). They moved it to a secure place and then soaked it in a chemical solution of some kind for 10 years that slowly replaced the water in the wood cells. The wood was so water logged that it was like cardboard and would fall apart if they were not careful. The water was gradually replaced and now the wood is hard/sturdy and the boat is on display. The Passion Play of Eureka Springs has a replica of this boat at their New Holy Land Tour. The groups that I have taken there have seen this before.
From there we headed to the Mt. of Beatitudes. There is a church or monastery there, but we didn't pay to go in. We went onto the slopes of the hill that led down to the sea and discussed the Sermon on the Mount.
We traveled to Hazor (another place mentioned along with Gezer and Megiddo as a city that Solomon fortified). Each of these cities is located at key locations on the Via Maris ("way/road of the sea") that connected Egypt to Anatoth (Turkey/Asia Minor) and Mesopatamia (Assyria and Babylon and Persia). This road carried rich caravans of supplies and treasures as well as marching armies. These three cities were key in securing and assuring Israelite control.
We headed North of the Sea of Galilee to tel Dan near Caesarea Philippi. This is the remains of the ancient city of Dan, generally referred to as the northern most point of ancient Israel ("from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south, visited there last week]"). It is at this location that a archaeology photographer accidentally uncovered an amazing find a couple of years ago. You may not be aware of this fact, but in many academic circles the existence of Solomon and David are thought to be fictitious/mythical characters made up by Jews during the monarchy era (920-586 BC) to create some heroic figures of their history/faith. Outside of the Bible, neither of these names appear in any documentation (Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, etc.). However, all that changed when this photographer accidentally knocked over a stone as she was putting her tripod away, and on the bottom of it had an Aramaic inscription. The text is fragmentary, but it had the words "bet dvd," which many scholars believer says "beth David" (house of David) and is referring to king of David. It is a Syrian document discussing some Israelite kings that have been subjugated (probably Jehoram/Joram and Ahaziah) and refers to them as from the "bt dvd" ("House of David"). This was a huge find since this is the first time prior to 500 BC that David is referred to outside the Bible. Lots of other cool stuff.
I'll finish my blog for the weekend tour tomorrow and upload some pics. Time for bed!
Shalom!
Trey
We went to Caesarea Philippi near Mt. Hermon.
From there we headed to the Mt. of Beatitudes. There is a church or monastery there, but we didn't pay to go in. We went onto the slopes of the hill that led down to the sea and discussed the Sermon on the Mount.
We traveled to Hazor (another place mentioned along with Gezer and Megiddo as a city that Solomon fortified). Each of these cities is located at key locations on the Via Maris ("way/road of the sea") that connected Egypt to Anatoth (Turkey/Asia Minor) and Mesopatamia (Assyria and Babylon and Persia). This road carried rich caravans of supplies and treasures as well as marching armies. These three cities were key in securing and assuring Israelite control.
We headed North of the Sea of Galilee to tel Dan near Caesarea Philippi. This is the remains of the ancient city of Dan, generally referred to as the northern most point of ancient Israel ("from Dan [in the north] to Beersheba [in the south, visited there last week]"). It is at this location that a archaeology photographer accidentally uncovered an amazing find a couple of years ago. You may not be aware of this fact, but in many academic circles the existence of Solomon and David are thought to be fictitious/mythical characters made up by Jews during the monarchy era (920-586 BC) to create some heroic figures of their history/faith. Outside of the Bible, neither of these names appear in any documentation (Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian, etc.). However, all that changed when this photographer accidentally knocked over a stone as she was putting her tripod away, and on the bottom of it had an Aramaic inscription. The text is fragmentary, but it had the words "bet dvd," which many scholars believer says "beth David" (house of David) and is referring to king of David. It is a Syrian document discussing some Israelite kings that have been subjugated (probably Jehoram/Joram and Ahaziah) and refers to them as from the "bt dvd" ("House of David"). This was a huge find since this is the first time prior to 500 BC that David is referred to outside the Bible. Lots of other cool stuff.
I'll finish my blog for the weekend tour tomorrow and upload some pics. Time for bed!
Shalom!
Trey
We went to Caesarea Philippi near Mt. Hermon.
Day 14-16 Friday
Well, we made it back. Our Northern tour being complete, I shall now regale you with the details of the trip . . .
I got to sleep in until 6:00 am each morning! Yeah! We traveled North to Caesarea on the coast (not to be confused with Caesarea Philippi north of Galilee near Mt. Heron and the earlier city of Dan). This was amazing. Herod the Great built a harbor there and a fortress and palace. This is the place where Paul was incarcerated for about 2 years (Acts 23-26). They have the palace and administrative building excavated, including the room that was used as an audience room. This would (more than likely) have been the room where Paul addressed governors Felix and Festus! Amazing hippodrome (place where chariot races were conducted . . . ever seen Ben Hur?) is excavated. There are also Byzantine (3rd century-6th century AD) remains and Crusader (10th century-12th century AD) remains. Just amazing stuff!
From there we headed North to Mt. Carmel and stood atop a monastery building that commemorates the the ministry of Elijah, specifically the confrontation he had with Ahab and the prophets of Baal and Asherah. Got to see the plains of Megiddo/plains of Jezreel/Plains of Esdraelon from the top of Mt. Carmel (if your eschatalogical interpretation is so inclined, then this is the place where the Battle of Armageddon (har "mountain" megiddo "of Megiddo" and thus Armaggedon) will take place at the end times. We went to tel Megiddo (city that Solomon fortified and has gate structure just like Gezer where we are working, also Solomon's famed stables, also Josiah (king of Judah) died here in 609 BC trying to stop Egyptian Pharaoh, Neco II, from joining the Assyrians to fight against the Babylonians.
We headed towards the Sea of Galilee and stopped at Zippori. Never heard of it? Neither had I! However, this was the capital of Galilee (Jesus' home territory) during the 1st century AD. It is odd that the New Testament is silent regarding this very important city. It is within walking distance of Jesus' home town of Nazareth and Capernaum (Jesus' ministry headquarters). The site is completely amazing. We walked inside the underground water cistern (one of many we have walked since I have been here) at got some amazing pics. They have some beautiful and mostly intact floor mosaics. The original stone roads are in place and the deep ruts worn into the stone by carts and chariots are visible.
We stayed the night on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee at Tiberias. We stayed at a hotel called Hotel Arabel. Got the A/C going and it was not cooling down. Realized that it probably had a governor on it under the cover to keep people from turning it down and running the A/C. We wouldn't want paying customers to be comfortable or anything like that! However, what the management at the Hotel Arabel did not realize was that where there's a will, there's a Trey! (I made that up this weekend, what do you think? Not too ostentatious, is it?)
I pulled out my pocket knife, unscrewed the two screws holding the cover on and then used my knife blade to pry the thermostat dial up and over the metal governor tab. Now I could turn it down as low as I needed! As guys came by asking how/if our A/C was working, I gave them instructions and passed the knife around. They were paying me much homage that evening!
We decided to walk around and ended up walking about 1 mile downhill (yes, that's right downhill, which means, you got it, we had to walk uphill on the way back!) towards the Sea. The Sabbath (Friday at sundown until Saturday at sundown) had just begun, so the streets were pretty quiet. Made our way to the sea and came to what was sort of like a boardwalk with restaurants, shops, people trying to sell you junk, etc., and it was not empty. Apparently quite a few non-practicing Jews in Tiberias and/or Palestinians. We walked around a bit and bought some Italian gelato (ice cream) and then headed back. It is interesting that ice cream is such a big thing here. Yes, I know it's hot here. But, it's hotter or at least, just as hot in Texas. But, they have ice cream stands every 50 feet. They are everywhere. Works for me!
I'll continue on the next entry . . .
I got to sleep in until 6:00 am each morning! Yeah! We traveled North to Caesarea on the coast (not to be confused with Caesarea Philippi north of Galilee near Mt. Heron and the earlier city of Dan). This was amazing. Herod the Great built a harbor there and a fortress and palace. This is the place where Paul was incarcerated for about 2 years (Acts 23-26). They have the palace and administrative building excavated, including the room that was used as an audience room. This would (more than likely) have been the room where Paul addressed governors Felix and Festus! Amazing hippodrome (place where chariot races were conducted . . . ever seen Ben Hur?) is excavated. There are also Byzantine (3rd century-6th century AD) remains and Crusader (10th century-12th century AD) remains. Just amazing stuff!
From there we headed North to Mt. Carmel and stood atop a monastery building that commemorates the the ministry of Elijah, specifically the confrontation he had with Ahab and the prophets of Baal and Asherah. Got to see the plains of Megiddo/plains of Jezreel/Plains of Esdraelon from the top of Mt. Carmel (if your eschatalogical interpretation is so inclined, then this is the place where the Battle of Armageddon (har "mountain" megiddo "of Megiddo" and thus Armaggedon) will take place at the end times. We went to tel Megiddo (city that Solomon fortified and has gate structure just like Gezer where we are working, also Solomon's famed stables, also Josiah (king of Judah) died here in 609 BC trying to stop Egyptian Pharaoh, Neco II, from joining the Assyrians to fight against the Babylonians.
We headed towards the Sea of Galilee and stopped at Zippori. Never heard of it? Neither had I! However, this was the capital of Galilee (Jesus' home territory) during the 1st century AD. It is odd that the New Testament is silent regarding this very important city. It is within walking distance of Jesus' home town of Nazareth and Capernaum (Jesus' ministry headquarters). The site is completely amazing. We walked inside the underground water cistern (one of many we have walked since I have been here) at got some amazing pics. They have some beautiful and mostly intact floor mosaics. The original stone roads are in place and the deep ruts worn into the stone by carts and chariots are visible.
We stayed the night on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee at Tiberias. We stayed at a hotel called Hotel Arabel. Got the A/C going and it was not cooling down. Realized that it probably had a governor on it under the cover to keep people from turning it down and running the A/C. We wouldn't want paying customers to be comfortable or anything like that! However, what the management at the Hotel Arabel did not realize was that where there's a will, there's a Trey! (I made that up this weekend, what do you think? Not too ostentatious, is it?)
I pulled out my pocket knife, unscrewed the two screws holding the cover on and then used my knife blade to pry the thermostat dial up and over the metal governor tab. Now I could turn it down as low as I needed! As guys came by asking how/if our A/C was working, I gave them instructions and passed the knife around. They were paying me much homage that evening!
We decided to walk around and ended up walking about 1 mile downhill (yes, that's right downhill, which means, you got it, we had to walk uphill on the way back!) towards the Sea. The Sabbath (Friday at sundown until Saturday at sundown) had just begun, so the streets were pretty quiet. Made our way to the sea and came to what was sort of like a boardwalk with restaurants, shops, people trying to sell you junk, etc., and it was not empty. Apparently quite a few non-practicing Jews in Tiberias and/or Palestinians. We walked around a bit and bought some Italian gelato (ice cream) and then headed back. It is interesting that ice cream is such a big thing here. Yes, I know it's hot here. But, it's hotter or at least, just as hot in Texas. But, they have ice cream stands every 50 feet. They are everywhere. Works for me!
I'll continue on the next entry . . .
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Day 13
Day 13 . . . 2 work weeks down and 3 to go! Today is our last day of the week to work at the site. We leave first thing in the morning for our Northern tour of the Galilee region. I'm not certain if I'll have internet access (without paying for it) at the hotel we will stay at, so I may not be able to blog until Sunday night when we return.
Today a film crew came around interviewing and filming the project. Dr. Ortiz had told us ahead of time that they would be coming. They are filming for some documentary. Don't know all the info, but I'll get it. They interviewed many of us.
Funny story . . . amongst the crew in my square I am kind of the scrounger for the group. If we need it, I'll find it . . . "appropriate it" or "liberate it" from its (at that time) owner/user. A couple of days ago we got a wheelbarrow that had only one handle with a rubber cover. The other handle was bare medal. Doesn't feel too good on the hand, even the gloved hand. On one of my wheelbarrow runs I approached one of the groups that had two wheelbarrows (they are much closer to the dump spot) and one of the young ladies was about to take one of them to the dump. I asked if I could take it for her and of course she said, "yes!" So, I left mine there, took hers and then went right on back to my square with her wheelbarrow . . . with two rubber handles! All's fair in love and archaeology digging! Well, today, my compadre was too slow in getting our wheelbarrow and this time he came back with NO RUBBER HANDLES!!! No problem! Took my first load. Stopped on the way back and parked my wheelbarrow next to another empty wheelbarrow (with rubber handles), bent down to "tie my shoes," stood up and took the wheelbarrow next to mine! SCORE!!!! Learned that in a spy movie, but it wasn't wheelbarrows, but briefcases with secret documents and cool spy stuff! (I knew watching all that TV would come in handy!)
I know right now my mom and dad are reading this and shaking their heads in disapproval. I know you raised me better than that, but I'm a changed man. The desert will do that to you! Again, all's fair . . .
We did get to stop at the store today!!! I bought Coke (no Dr. Pepper available!), Oreos, some pita chips, Pringles (jalapeno flavor), Hagen Dazs ice cream (cookies and cream), ice cream fudge bars, bath soap, laundry soap ($20!!!!!!!!), and a bucket for doing laundry.
Spent an hour in the shower doing laundry. Again, the shower is the size of a small phone booth (for those of you old enough to have seen one). Very tricky, Ninja-like maneuvers had to be employed in order to get this done! I've got laundry hanging all over the place outside. Balcony railing, the railing of our neighbors across the walkway, etc. Everybody has laundry everywhere. There is no modesty here . . . all garments have to be washed and dried somehow! Over in the states this simply would not work for me, but here in Israel, my Sponge Bob boxers and Mountain Dew boxers are flapping in the wind!
It's funny, generally speaking I don't go out amongst people without being decently dressed and hair spiked or a hat on. However, we spend 8 hours a day looking absolutely filthy, covered in dirt . . . shirts grimy, shorts puffing dirt with every step, socks that just an hour earlier were white or tan are now dark brown, face, neck, arms dirt covered, blowing dirty mud-slicks out of our noses on the bus ride home . . . so when we get back to "civilization" at Neve Shalom, it really doesn't matter what we look like. When I clean up, I wear shorts and a t-shirt and my sandals, and I don't worry about my hair being fixed, shirt ironed, face shaved. Everybody is in the same boat . . . we're just happy to be clean and around others who are clean!!!
Tonight we had a 4th of July celebration BBQ . . . hot dogs (terrible, not sure what's in them), hamburger patty (no buns, but pita bread), grilled chicken thighs, and all the other fixings that go with an Israeli meal. They fixed it for us outside on their grassy, party area. They had a sound system set up and one of the Israelis was our DJ. It was interesting. The first hour was spent playing the soundtrack from Hair (not Hair Spray), the even older musical (1970's) Hair!! Funny choice. Eventually, Simon and Garfunkel, and some other oldies. Eventually they busted out some current songs. Many of the folks stood around and visited and some were in a large circle throwing a frisbee. Everybody is just glad to have the next 3 days off!
Tonight they put out a display of a few of the things that have been found and already cleaned, analyzed, and documented. I took pics and will upload some. They had 2 of the things that I have found . . . a stone weight and a pottery shard worked and used as a stopper for a jug. So far some pretty cool finds. About 6 or 7 Scarab seals were found. The details on them are amazing. You'll really enjoy those pics!
Been playing chess with anybody who will play. Haven't found anybody who can stand up to the master! Waiting for a challenge!
I am missing bacon . . . anything pork really! I've been dreaming about baby back ribs (I did 4 racks of them before I left . . . they sure were tasty!), bacon wrapped jalapenos, jalapeno bacon (from HEB . . . go get some, you'll love it), chipolte grilled shrimp, Whataburger, fajitas, tortilla chips and salsa . . .
Well, I guess I'd better go get ready for our trip. Need to pack (see if any of my clothes are dry, yet). I miss you guys. Can't wait to get back and share the trip with y'all!
I'm putting pics in the blog instead of adding them a different way, but can't figure out how to put titles, so here is what is pictured . . .
Pics 1, 2, 3, scarab seals (check out the details)
Pic 4 Loom weights
Pic 5 Part of a zoomorphic jug (possibly lion's muzzle with whiskers)
Pic 6 Weights for scale
Pic 7 Zoomorphic jug
Pic 8 Ballista (weapon . . . ball used in sling or some other device)
Pic 9 Cosmetics bowl
Pic 10 Stopper for jug
Pic 11 Dr. Ortiz (left) and his father, Frank, age 70
Pic 12 Me and Mark, square buddy
Pic 13 Food at 4th of July BBQ
Pic 14 Ghassan (Palestinian arch. student) and Eddie (Israeli roustabout, he's our go-to-guy for getting things)
Pic 15 Husband and wife and can't remember their names (oops)
Just saw a really cool fire works display while I was trying to upload the pics. Saw them in the valley East of here. Pretty cool! Happy 4th of July!
Shalom!
Trey
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Day 12
Digging, digging, digging! Lot's of digging. We are to the point where we are sifting every khoufa (pronounced "goofa") of dirt. A khoufa is a bucket made from recycled tires (I uploaded a pic of something that looks like our khoufas). We put a sifter over the wheelbarrow and pour our dirt and sift it. Dirt flies everywhere! Any pieces of pottery that is quarter-sized or larger we keep, plus any MC (material culture).
I have discovered two things about our square: 1) we are digging over what used to be a pet rock farm b/c we are finding all the remains of that farm; or, 2) we are working over what used to be handle factory which made all the handles for pottery in the area, b/c we are finding a bazillion (is that a real word?) handles!
My square is revealing fired-mud brick. This is mud-brick that on fire so hot that it melted together and then glazed into this hard material, but with enough shape that you can still tell what it used to be. They are trying to determine if we are looking at a wall that has collapsed (2nd floor) or it is a wall "in situ" ("in place" or "in its situation" . . . if you are in the medical field you recognize that phrase). We have uncovered a pillar (the top of it). Half of it was in our balk, but since we are taking down our balk, we finally revealed the other half today. It is sitting in a spot that matches the other pillar in the area already excavated (last year) adjacent to our square. Now . . . is it a pillar for a courtyard, or a pillar that supported a second floor? It is amazing to watch the professionals dialogue and discuss and form hypotheses and then change their opinions as new information is added (as we continue to move dirt and uncover more area).
What is really awe-inspiring . . . or what's a better way to say it . . . I really desire to be reverent . . . yah that's it . . . this room that I am opening up used to be someone's home. It hasn't been walked in for about 2725 years. The last time someone did walk here a tragedy was unfolding . . . . fear . . . terror . . . pain . . . uncertainty . . . faith being tried . . . faith being lost . . . as the Assyrians, probably being led by the infamous Tigleth Pileser III, were knocking the walls down to the city and slaughtering nearly all the inhabitants of the city. The person who lived in this house . . . did he/she die or was he deported to another part of the Assyrian empire, taken away from all that he/she knew and loved? Did the mother watch her husband killed, did the children watch their parents killed? Did they stay huddled up in the house undiscovered until the Assyrians left and then moved on to a new life? Will we find the remains of those who used to call this home? Who knows? What we do know is that when these walls collapsed, everything . . . everyone . . . that was in this house(s) was left buried until we uncover them.
It's not something I want to take lightly. The dirt I trod, the rocks I move has history. I want to be ever mindful of that.
Now, moving on to something less intense . . . I did not like our bus driver today! Today was store day! He didn't stop! He said that he had not been given sufficient notice and didn't have time to stop for 15 minutes! We almost had an international incident on our hands! He was coming between me and my Dr. Pepper! . . . If he cares about international peace and good relations between Israel and US, he'd better stop tomorrow, or you'll be reading a headline about it on Friday!
Tomorrow is last day for the week! Yeah. We leave for our northern field trip to Galilee and surrounding area on Friday morning. We will be gone for 3 days, returning on Sunday.
Tomorrow we will be having a 4th of July celebration! Don't know what that will look like, but it will be something different!
New friend . . . Ghazan (Ghasan?) . . . he is a young, budding, Palestinian archaeology student. I met him when we first got here, but we have been having some great conversations together lately. My other friend, Mark, who is the son of the President of Mid-Western Baptist Theological Seminary, has been engaging Ghazan in conversations and sharing his faith. Mark is a really neat, outgoing, personable kind of college kid! So, we have been answering questions from Ghazan about American culture, sayings, gestures, etc. He has been very inquisitive and he has amazing English. Well, today was his 24th birthday. He lives in Bethlehem and is, of course, away from his family. I figured everyone needs a birthday present so I gave him one of my pocket knives, one of those multi-function tool kind of things. He did not want to take it, but I insisted. He didn't know what to do. It's like he had never been given a gift before. I was glad to give it to him. I brought it as a back up to my main one. It reminded me of how blessed I am. I have so much, been given so much, I take for granted so much. It truly is more of a blessing to give than to receive!
Well, computer just reminded me that my battery is about out, so I'd better git! I'll try to upload a few pics before it goes completely!
Shalom!
Trey
I have discovered two things about our square: 1) we are digging over what used to be a pet rock farm b/c we are finding all the remains of that farm; or, 2) we are working over what used to be handle factory which made all the handles for pottery in the area, b/c we are finding a bazillion (is that a real word?) handles!
My square is revealing fired-mud brick. This is mud-brick that on fire so hot that it melted together and then glazed into this hard material, but with enough shape that you can still tell what it used to be. They are trying to determine if we are looking at a wall that has collapsed (2nd floor) or it is a wall "in situ" ("in place" or "in its situation" . . . if you are in the medical field you recognize that phrase). We have uncovered a pillar (the top of it). Half of it was in our balk, but since we are taking down our balk, we finally revealed the other half today. It is sitting in a spot that matches the other pillar in the area already excavated (last year) adjacent to our square. Now . . . is it a pillar for a courtyard, or a pillar that supported a second floor? It is amazing to watch the professionals dialogue and discuss and form hypotheses and then change their opinions as new information is added (as we continue to move dirt and uncover more area).
What is really awe-inspiring . . . or what's a better way to say it . . . I really desire to be reverent . . . yah that's it . . . this room that I am opening up used to be someone's home. It hasn't been walked in for about 2725 years. The last time someone did walk here a tragedy was unfolding . . . . fear . . . terror . . . pain . . . uncertainty . . . faith being tried . . . faith being lost . . . as the Assyrians, probably being led by the infamous Tigleth Pileser III, were knocking the walls down to the city and slaughtering nearly all the inhabitants of the city. The person who lived in this house . . . did he/she die or was he deported to another part of the Assyrian empire, taken away from all that he/she knew and loved? Did the mother watch her husband killed, did the children watch their parents killed? Did they stay huddled up in the house undiscovered until the Assyrians left and then moved on to a new life? Will we find the remains of those who used to call this home? Who knows? What we do know is that when these walls collapsed, everything . . . everyone . . . that was in this house(s) was left buried until we uncover them.
It's not something I want to take lightly. The dirt I trod, the rocks I move has history. I want to be ever mindful of that.
Now, moving on to something less intense . . . I did not like our bus driver today! Today was store day! He didn't stop! He said that he had not been given sufficient notice and didn't have time to stop for 15 minutes! We almost had an international incident on our hands! He was coming between me and my Dr. Pepper! . . . If he cares about international peace and good relations between Israel and US, he'd better stop tomorrow, or you'll be reading a headline about it on Friday!
Tomorrow is last day for the week! Yeah. We leave for our northern field trip to Galilee and surrounding area on Friday morning. We will be gone for 3 days, returning on Sunday.
Tomorrow we will be having a 4th of July celebration! Don't know what that will look like, but it will be something different!
New friend . . . Ghazan (Ghasan?) . . . he is a young, budding, Palestinian archaeology student. I met him when we first got here, but we have been having some great conversations together lately. My other friend, Mark, who is the son of the President of Mid-Western Baptist Theological Seminary, has been engaging Ghazan in conversations and sharing his faith. Mark is a really neat, outgoing, personable kind of college kid! So, we have been answering questions from Ghazan about American culture, sayings, gestures, etc. He has been very inquisitive and he has amazing English. Well, today was his 24th birthday. He lives in Bethlehem and is, of course, away from his family. I figured everyone needs a birthday present so I gave him one of my pocket knives, one of those multi-function tool kind of things. He did not want to take it, but I insisted. He didn't know what to do. It's like he had never been given a gift before. I was glad to give it to him. I brought it as a back up to my main one. It reminded me of how blessed I am. I have so much, been given so much, I take for granted so much. It truly is more of a blessing to give than to receive!
Well, computer just reminded me that my battery is about out, so I'd better git! I'll try to upload a few pics before it goes completely!
Shalom!
Trey
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Day 11
The day has gone on in just about a routine fashion. I need to reiterate how weird it is to eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for 1st breakfast at 4:30 am . . . it's weird. And then, 2nd breakfast . . . it's still just weird to be eating a turkey and cheese sandwich for breakfast along with a whole tomato (eaten like an apple, straight out of the hand).
I am glad I bought the spicy mustard last week at the store . . . that reminds me, tomorrow is "store day!" We get to stop for 15 minutes at a little grocery store on the way home from the dig site tomorrow! It is mad chaos as 35 adults rush about the store looking for their favorite goodies or needed supplies. I'm still good on my supply of spicy mustard and tabasco sauce. The Peanut M&Ms I brought from home are still good (I haven't even finished the first 2 lb. bag yet) and I still have my beef jerky. But, I need some coke or Dr. Pepper and a bucket for doing laundry. It will make doing laundry much more effective and easier. I've been using shampoo to wash the clothes, so I'll look for laundry detergent, too.
We took down most of our balk yesterday (please read yesterday's blog for explanation). We are right on top of Iron Age destruction. We'll see if anything gets revealed tomorrow. We are proceeding at a much slower pace now, being careful in our picking and meticulous in our searching. We have busted out the screens for sifting . . . talk about dusty! By the way, the dust/dirt is a fine powdery gray color, but it looks almost white. If you look at my boots, they are no longer brown, but ashen white. Untying my shoes sends a blizzard of dust into the air.
I have finally posted some new pics from this weekend. One from En Gedi (waterfall), 3 from Masada, and a couple more. Check them out. I also posted a pic of a McDonald's sign, as well as a pic of a Camel Spider. This is the kind of spider that I watched the lady at Arad chase outside when I was attempting to sleep outside b/c of the incredibly hot temperature inside my room. My spider was about the size of your fist and moving quite fast.
Also, killed my first scorpion on Friday. He was in our wheelbarrow, which means one of us had just dumped him in there. Eagle eyes from now on! One of the girls said they found one in their room yesterday! I thought we were safe in there!
Lecture tonight was on the Bronze Age, specifically the Late Bronze Age (time of the Exodus). Pretty interesting.
Same food for dinner, except had roast beef as the main course. It was pretty good. Did you know the ice cream is better over here. I had a Nestle ice cream bar with chocolate ice cream inside and inside of that was a strip of hard chocolate . . . I've never seen anything like this back in the states . . . and boy was it good! Yum!
Oh, in case anybody (mom) was planning on sending a care package of some kind . . . don't! Our square leader had her husband send her some of her clothing (not sure why) and she had to pay 300 shekels (about $100) for customs! He had already paid for the shipping, this was extra! So, if you were planning to send me cookies or something sweet like that, I appreciate the thought, but I can't afford them!
Well, that's about it for tonight. Heading to bed.
Shalom!
Trey
I am glad I bought the spicy mustard last week at the store . . . that reminds me, tomorrow is "store day!" We get to stop for 15 minutes at a little grocery store on the way home from the dig site tomorrow! It is mad chaos as 35 adults rush about the store looking for their favorite goodies or needed supplies. I'm still good on my supply of spicy mustard and tabasco sauce. The Peanut M&Ms I brought from home are still good (I haven't even finished the first 2 lb. bag yet) and I still have my beef jerky. But, I need some coke or Dr. Pepper and a bucket for doing laundry. It will make doing laundry much more effective and easier. I've been using shampoo to wash the clothes, so I'll look for laundry detergent, too.
We took down most of our balk yesterday (please read yesterday's blog for explanation). We are right on top of Iron Age destruction. We'll see if anything gets revealed tomorrow. We are proceeding at a much slower pace now, being careful in our picking and meticulous in our searching. We have busted out the screens for sifting . . . talk about dusty! By the way, the dust/dirt is a fine powdery gray color, but it looks almost white. If you look at my boots, they are no longer brown, but ashen white. Untying my shoes sends a blizzard of dust into the air.
I have finally posted some new pics from this weekend. One from En Gedi (waterfall), 3 from Masada, and a couple more. Check them out. I also posted a pic of a McDonald's sign, as well as a pic of a Camel Spider. This is the kind of spider that I watched the lady at Arad chase outside when I was attempting to sleep outside b/c of the incredibly hot temperature inside my room. My spider was about the size of your fist and moving quite fast.
Also, killed my first scorpion on Friday. He was in our wheelbarrow, which means one of us had just dumped him in there. Eagle eyes from now on! One of the girls said they found one in their room yesterday! I thought we were safe in there!
Lecture tonight was on the Bronze Age, specifically the Late Bronze Age (time of the Exodus). Pretty interesting.
Same food for dinner, except had roast beef as the main course. It was pretty good. Did you know the ice cream is better over here. I had a Nestle ice cream bar with chocolate ice cream inside and inside of that was a strip of hard chocolate . . . I've never seen anything like this back in the states . . . and boy was it good! Yum!
Oh, in case anybody (mom) was planning on sending a care package of some kind . . . don't! Our square leader had her husband send her some of her clothing (not sure why) and she had to pay 300 shekels (about $100) for customs! He had already paid for the shipping, this was extra! So, if you were planning to send me cookies or something sweet like that, I appreciate the thought, but I can't afford them!
Well, that's about it for tonight. Heading to bed.
Shalom!
Trey
Monday, June 30, 2008
Day 10
Another day of digging! Up at 4:00, 1st breakfast, blah, blah, blah . . .
Our square is taking down one of our balks. "What is a balk?" you may be asking. Well, each square is 5 meters x 5 meters. However, we (us professional archaeologists) do not excavate the entire 5 x 5 square. We come in 1/2 meter from all sides making our excavated site 4 x 4 meters and leaving a 1/2 meter wall or balk, which when combined withe the balk of the surrounding squares makes the entire balk 1 meter wide all the way around the square.
Well, we are going to be tying into the squares excavated last year and thus taking down our West balk. We are anticipating finding 8th century destruction, which is what they found on the other side of our balk. Also, they had found above that several "mass" dog burials. So, I've had to go slowly through this area being cautious of bones. We have found some, but not full skeletons.
In our balk I did make two interesting finds . . . I found a nearly perfectly round stone with a flat base. It is obviously been worked (that means tooled or manipulated or shaped by human hands) and is possibly a weight for measuring out gold, silver, grain, etc. I also found a small, round potsherd (broken pottery piece), but again b/c is was perfectly rounded it is definitely been "worked." For what purpose . . . possibly a game piece, or a token, or who knows. They will clean both pieces and analyze them later this week. It was pretty cool to find those pieces. Also found some flint scrapers.
The square on the other side of the square that was excavated last year made two pretty significant finds. One was a zoomorphic pottery piece (that means a pottery piece that is shaped like an animal). The head of a bull(?) which would have been the spout of a jug. Only the head was found. They also found a scarab seal. It is a small stone (about 1/2" x 3/8") with a scarab beetle engraved. It also had epigraphic evidence (writing). This is probably the biggest find so far. However, they are expected much more and cooler stuff to come!
Had a run-in with a wheelbarrow today. We have to move the dirt that we excavate to our "dump." We have to go up and down several high and low spots, but the last run is about 40 yards up a steep hill on very soft dirt that is littered here and there w/large sub-surface stones. You have to really get a head of steam if you want to make it up the hill, making sure to avoid the stones. Well, I missed one. My wheelbarrow came to a quick stop and I kept going . . . smashed my shin into the back leg of the wheelbarrow and the handle rammed into my left rib cage! I'll be feeling that for a while. It certainly left it's mark.
Pottery washing this afternoon was a chore . . . not much fun, hunched down brushing small pieces of pottery. But, it's not too bad.
Lecture tonight on Bronze Age . . . pretty interesting. I bought an interactive DVD for $10 from the doc that gave the lecture. He has put together a bronze age (time of Abraham down to Exodus) graphics program that lets you walk into the walls of a city and look up and down and to the left and right and go into houses and temples etc. It's pretty cool. Well worth the $10. Y'all will get a chance to see it when I get back.
Well, it is 7:24 pm and I am thinking about heading to bed. Today was pretty hot today and I'm pretty warn out.
Shalom
Trey
Our square is taking down one of our balks. "What is a balk?" you may be asking. Well, each square is 5 meters x 5 meters. However, we (us professional archaeologists) do not excavate the entire 5 x 5 square. We come in 1/2 meter from all sides making our excavated site 4 x 4 meters and leaving a 1/2 meter wall or balk, which when combined withe the balk of the surrounding squares makes the entire balk 1 meter wide all the way around the square.
Well, we are going to be tying into the squares excavated last year and thus taking down our West balk. We are anticipating finding 8th century destruction, which is what they found on the other side of our balk. Also, they had found above that several "mass" dog burials. So, I've had to go slowly through this area being cautious of bones. We have found some, but not full skeletons.
In our balk I did make two interesting finds . . . I found a nearly perfectly round stone with a flat base. It is obviously been worked (that means tooled or manipulated or shaped by human hands) and is possibly a weight for measuring out gold, silver, grain, etc. I also found a small, round potsherd (broken pottery piece), but again b/c is was perfectly rounded it is definitely been "worked." For what purpose . . . possibly a game piece, or a token, or who knows. They will clean both pieces and analyze them later this week. It was pretty cool to find those pieces. Also found some flint scrapers.
The square on the other side of the square that was excavated last year made two pretty significant finds. One was a zoomorphic pottery piece (that means a pottery piece that is shaped like an animal). The head of a bull(?) which would have been the spout of a jug. Only the head was found. They also found a scarab seal. It is a small stone (about 1/2" x 3/8") with a scarab beetle engraved. It also had epigraphic evidence (writing). This is probably the biggest find so far. However, they are expected much more and cooler stuff to come!
Had a run-in with a wheelbarrow today. We have to move the dirt that we excavate to our "dump." We have to go up and down several high and low spots, but the last run is about 40 yards up a steep hill on very soft dirt that is littered here and there w/large sub-surface stones. You have to really get a head of steam if you want to make it up the hill, making sure to avoid the stones. Well, I missed one. My wheelbarrow came to a quick stop and I kept going . . . smashed my shin into the back leg of the wheelbarrow and the handle rammed into my left rib cage! I'll be feeling that for a while. It certainly left it's mark.
Pottery washing this afternoon was a chore . . . not much fun, hunched down brushing small pieces of pottery. But, it's not too bad.
Lecture tonight on Bronze Age . . . pretty interesting. I bought an interactive DVD for $10 from the doc that gave the lecture. He has put together a bronze age (time of Abraham down to Exodus) graphics program that lets you walk into the walls of a city and look up and down and to the left and right and go into houses and temples etc. It's pretty cool. Well worth the $10. Y'all will get a chance to see it when I get back.
Well, it is 7:24 pm and I am thinking about heading to bed. Today was pretty hot today and I'm pretty warn out.
Shalom
Trey
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Day 9: Negev/Southern Israel Field Trip
Negev field trip . . . continued . . .
We left the hotel Arad and headed to tel Arad just a few miles away. It was the site of ancient Arad. Again, too cool for details here!
From there we headed West to Beersheva (or Beersheba). This is the traditional southern-most point of the nation of Israel. Abraham planted a Tamerisk tree here when he dug a well. We stopped to have lunch and I ate at . . . McDonalds!!!!!!!! Greasy hamburger . . . greasy, golden french fries . . . iced coke . . . apple pie . . . ice cream cone!!!!!!! I am sooooooooo tired of having cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, olives and hummus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Israelis need some new plays in their culinary play book!!!!!! Lunch was great. They even had a McDrive thru!!! I took a picture!!!!
From Beersheva we headed west and north to the Mediterranean Sea and the ancient Philistine city of Ashkelon. Everyone swam in the sea . . . several of us opted to amuse ourselves watching them as most of them were dumb enough to swim in the middle of jelly fish and get multiple stings! I wasn't too impressed . . . looked an awful lot like South Padre Island. But, the remains of Ashkelon were cool.
Left Ashkelon and headed back North and inland toward Neve Shalom. Along the way we passed the Valley of Elah which is the ancient site of the battle between David and Goliath and several other important places.
Got back . . . tired. Washed my about 5 days worth of laundry in the shower while I showered! It took about 40 minutes. Hung everything out to dry. Had dinner . . . caught up with blog and now I'm ready for bed and that early 4:00 am alarm clock!
This week is only going to be a 4-day work week. We leave early Friday morning for our 3-day field trip to the North!
Shalom!
Trey
We left the hotel Arad and headed to tel Arad just a few miles away. It was the site of ancient Arad. Again, too cool for details here!
From there we headed West to Beersheva (or Beersheba). This is the traditional southern-most point of the nation of Israel. Abraham planted a Tamerisk tree here when he dug a well. We stopped to have lunch and I ate at . . . McDonalds!!!!!!!! Greasy hamburger . . . greasy, golden french fries . . . iced coke . . . apple pie . . . ice cream cone!!!!!!! I am sooooooooo tired of having cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, olives and hummus for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The Israelis need some new plays in their culinary play book!!!!!! Lunch was great. They even had a McDrive thru!!! I took a picture!!!!
From Beersheva we headed west and north to the Mediterranean Sea and the ancient Philistine city of Ashkelon. Everyone swam in the sea . . . several of us opted to amuse ourselves watching them as most of them were dumb enough to swim in the middle of jelly fish and get multiple stings! I wasn't too impressed . . . looked an awful lot like South Padre Island. But, the remains of Ashkelon were cool.
Left Ashkelon and headed back North and inland toward Neve Shalom. Along the way we passed the Valley of Elah which is the ancient site of the battle between David and Goliath and several other important places.
Got back . . . tired. Washed my about 5 days worth of laundry in the shower while I showered! It took about 40 minutes. Hung everything out to dry. Had dinner . . . caught up with blog and now I'm ready for bed and that early 4:00 am alarm clock!
This week is only going to be a 4-day work week. We leave early Friday morning for our 3-day field trip to the North!
Shalom!
Trey
Day 8: Negev/Southern Israel Field Trip
Okay, amazing 48 hours . . . here's the highlights:
We left Neve Shalom on Saturday morning and headed East through Jerusalem and made our way down across the Judean wilderness (remember the days of testing of Jesus after his baptism?) toward the excavated ruins of Qumran. Qumran is site dating to the middle of the 1st century AD and destroyed by the Romans @ AD 70 during the Jewish War. Qumran was possibly inhabited by a group of Jews called the Essenes (I've taught or mentioned much of this to y'all in my classes/lessons). Qumran overlooks the Dead Sea and just across a narrow gully, up in the side of the chalky mountains, are many caves. It was in these caves that a Bedouin shepherd boy discovered what we know as the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) back in 1947/48. It was very cool to see the caves and the remains of the community and its position overlooking the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea, by the way, is visible from Jerusalem, as soon as you move over the Mt. of Olives. It has this perpetual haze over it from the evaporation. I'll talk more about that in a minute.
After we left Qumran we headed to En Gedi. En Gedi is an amazing oasis on the shores of the Dead Sea about half way down the western shoreline. Beautiful greenery that follows the course of a natural spring that flows out of the mountains down multiple water falls into the Dead Sea. The Israeli water conservation department as redirected the water before it gets to the Dead Sea (so that it isn't just wasted by evaporation) and uses it for irrigation. En Gedi plays into the biblical narrative on a couple of occasions. One important one is the during the time period of Saul's kingship. After David had become so popular, Saul attempted to kill David. It is in the oasis of En Gedi ("spring of the kid (goat)") that David hid and had an opportunity to kill Saul when he was "taking care of business" in a cave where David and his men happened to be hiding. The walls of the mountains are littered w/caves. There are other stories involving En Gedi . . . can you see if you can find another one(s) . . . let's see how good you are at using your Bible (or google) to look up information.
From En Gedi we went to the Dead Sea to swim. We stopped at a restaurant near the shores to eat, changed clothes, and then went into the water. Most oceans are 4-6% salinity. The Dead Sea is 30%!!!! I know you've heard stories about the buoyancy, but it is totally amazing to experience. The water is incredibly warm (air temperature was 109). The salinity of the water causes every cut or skin irritation to burn like you can't imagine. And it doesn't stop until you wash it off!!!! The water also has kind of a greasy fill to it . . . so many different types of minerals in it. At first the water forces you either onto your belly or your back. You have to force your legs down and kind of kick your legs back and forth (once you've found equilibrium) to keep yourself upright. I experienced it . . . and then got out. No need to hang spend too much time in the water. They actually don't recommend spending longer than 20 minutes in the water (I think that's the right amount of time).
Across the Dead Sea (and it's pretty narrow) is the Moabite mountains. The Moabites were a tribe that the Israelites had a lot of interaction with throughout their history.
From the Dead Sea (and after a good shower that I had to pay 2 shekels for . . . that's under $1) we headed to Masada! Masada, an almost impenetrable fortress built by King Herod the Great, is located on an amazing mesa on top of a massive mountain. We took a cable car up, but the only way of the mountain in Herod's day was a very narrow path called the snake path. 74 years after the death of Herod a group of Jewish rebels, the Zealots, took refuge in the fortress as Rome's 10th legion under the leadership of soon-to-be emperor Vespasian and then his son (and soon to be emperor) Titus began a 3 month siege. From the top of Masada you can see the remains of at least 6 Roman encampments surrounding the mountain. You can also see a siege wall that the Romans built all the way around the mountain so that no Jew could escape. The snake path was impossible to use to take the fortress. The army could only move a couple of men side by side up the path . . . easy to pick them off and thwart an attack. So, the Romans built a massive ramp to the top of Masada. It is still there and truly spectacular. In order to keep the dirt from just eroding away, the Romans built wood boxes and filled them with dirt. This gave them structure and allowed the massive ramp to have serious stability and support (as evidenced by the fact that it is still here). What is also truly amazing is that the Romans had to bring the wood from the western highlands . . . back across the Judean wilderness/desert.
The ruins of Herod atop Masada are impressive . . . too impressive for me to give details. I'll have to share them with you later. Let's just say one knows why "the Great" is after his name. He didn't do anything on a small scale!
Oh, by the way, when the Romans finally got to the top . . . all the rebels had committed suicide, about 800 of them. Only one woman and two children survived.
We walked the snake path back down the mountain and from there west across the Negev (desert) to Arad. Arad was on the fringe of the Negev and was the capital of the Eastern Negev territory. We stayed at a hotel in Arad. The dinner was pretty good. We all walked about 2 miles to a mall. I got ice cream! Yeah! 13 shekel . . . about $4.
On the way back we noticed that the wind had picked up. The air is so hot that it rises with such force it draws massive winds off the Mediterranean Sea (about 40 miles to the West). The winds blew all night long probably a steady 15-20 mph wind with gusts probably around 40 mph! It was amazing! However, the hotel A/C was not working well. I opened my window but that didn't work b/c no other window to draw the air in. I hung out the 3rd floor window for a while but that wasn't working for me. So, I went outside and slept on a concrete bench for about an hour. The lady working the front desk woke me up when she was chasing a massive spider out the door. It apparently eats scorpions (which she said was good b/c that means not too many scorpions around right now) and it only occasionally bites people. The spider as a big as my fist! I decided at that point it would be better to sleep indoors. I opened a window in the lobby and pulled a sofa up to it and slept there. The lady was nice enough to bring me a pitcher of ice water! I slept off-and-on until 5:30 am and then went back up stairs to get ready for the day.
I'm going to continue day 9 on the next blog!
Shalom
We left Neve Shalom on Saturday morning and headed East through Jerusalem and made our way down across the Judean wilderness (remember the days of testing of Jesus after his baptism?) toward the excavated ruins of Qumran. Qumran is site dating to the middle of the 1st century AD and destroyed by the Romans @ AD 70 during the Jewish War. Qumran was possibly inhabited by a group of Jews called the Essenes (I've taught or mentioned much of this to y'all in my classes/lessons). Qumran overlooks the Dead Sea and just across a narrow gully, up in the side of the chalky mountains, are many caves. It was in these caves that a Bedouin shepherd boy discovered what we know as the Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) back in 1947/48. It was very cool to see the caves and the remains of the community and its position overlooking the Dead Sea.
The Dead Sea, by the way, is visible from Jerusalem, as soon as you move over the Mt. of Olives. It has this perpetual haze over it from the evaporation. I'll talk more about that in a minute.
After we left Qumran we headed to En Gedi. En Gedi is an amazing oasis on the shores of the Dead Sea about half way down the western shoreline. Beautiful greenery that follows the course of a natural spring that flows out of the mountains down multiple water falls into the Dead Sea. The Israeli water conservation department as redirected the water before it gets to the Dead Sea (so that it isn't just wasted by evaporation) and uses it for irrigation. En Gedi plays into the biblical narrative on a couple of occasions. One important one is the during the time period of Saul's kingship. After David had become so popular, Saul attempted to kill David. It is in the oasis of En Gedi ("spring of the kid (goat)") that David hid and had an opportunity to kill Saul when he was "taking care of business" in a cave where David and his men happened to be hiding. The walls of the mountains are littered w/caves. There are other stories involving En Gedi . . . can you see if you can find another one(s) . . . let's see how good you are at using your Bible (or google) to look up information.
From En Gedi we went to the Dead Sea to swim. We stopped at a restaurant near the shores to eat, changed clothes, and then went into the water. Most oceans are 4-6% salinity. The Dead Sea is 30%!!!! I know you've heard stories about the buoyancy, but it is totally amazing to experience. The water is incredibly warm (air temperature was 109). The salinity of the water causes every cut or skin irritation to burn like you can't imagine. And it doesn't stop until you wash it off!!!! The water also has kind of a greasy fill to it . . . so many different types of minerals in it. At first the water forces you either onto your belly or your back. You have to force your legs down and kind of kick your legs back and forth (once you've found equilibrium) to keep yourself upright. I experienced it . . . and then got out. No need to hang spend too much time in the water. They actually don't recommend spending longer than 20 minutes in the water (I think that's the right amount of time).
Across the Dead Sea (and it's pretty narrow) is the Moabite mountains. The Moabites were a tribe that the Israelites had a lot of interaction with throughout their history.
From the Dead Sea (and after a good shower that I had to pay 2 shekels for . . . that's under $1) we headed to Masada! Masada, an almost impenetrable fortress built by King Herod the Great, is located on an amazing mesa on top of a massive mountain. We took a cable car up, but the only way of the mountain in Herod's day was a very narrow path called the snake path. 74 years after the death of Herod a group of Jewish rebels, the Zealots, took refuge in the fortress as Rome's 10th legion under the leadership of soon-to-be emperor Vespasian and then his son (and soon to be emperor) Titus began a 3 month siege. From the top of Masada you can see the remains of at least 6 Roman encampments surrounding the mountain. You can also see a siege wall that the Romans built all the way around the mountain so that no Jew could escape. The snake path was impossible to use to take the fortress. The army could only move a couple of men side by side up the path . . . easy to pick them off and thwart an attack. So, the Romans built a massive ramp to the top of Masada. It is still there and truly spectacular. In order to keep the dirt from just eroding away, the Romans built wood boxes and filled them with dirt. This gave them structure and allowed the massive ramp to have serious stability and support (as evidenced by the fact that it is still here). What is also truly amazing is that the Romans had to bring the wood from the western highlands . . . back across the Judean wilderness/desert.
The ruins of Herod atop Masada are impressive . . . too impressive for me to give details. I'll have to share them with you later. Let's just say one knows why "the Great" is after his name. He didn't do anything on a small scale!
Oh, by the way, when the Romans finally got to the top . . . all the rebels had committed suicide, about 800 of them. Only one woman and two children survived.
We walked the snake path back down the mountain and from there west across the Negev (desert) to Arad. Arad was on the fringe of the Negev and was the capital of the Eastern Negev territory. We stayed at a hotel in Arad. The dinner was pretty good. We all walked about 2 miles to a mall. I got ice cream! Yeah! 13 shekel . . . about $4.
On the way back we noticed that the wind had picked up. The air is so hot that it rises with such force it draws massive winds off the Mediterranean Sea (about 40 miles to the West). The winds blew all night long probably a steady 15-20 mph wind with gusts probably around 40 mph! It was amazing! However, the hotel A/C was not working well. I opened my window but that didn't work b/c no other window to draw the air in. I hung out the 3rd floor window for a while but that wasn't working for me. So, I went outside and slept on a concrete bench for about an hour. The lady working the front desk woke me up when she was chasing a massive spider out the door. It apparently eats scorpions (which she said was good b/c that means not too many scorpions around right now) and it only occasionally bites people. The spider as a big as my fist! I decided at that point it would be better to sleep indoors. I opened a window in the lobby and pulled a sofa up to it and slept there. The lady was nice enough to bring me a pitcher of ice water! I slept off-and-on until 5:30 am and then went back up stairs to get ready for the day.
I'm going to continue day 9 on the next blog!
Shalom
Friday, June 27, 2008
Day 7
Hallelujah . . . it's Friday! We have completed our first week of work!!!!!!!!! It's Friday, it's Friday, it's Friday!!!! I'm a bit exuberant (excited, Jonathan) if you can't tell.
Work on our square is progressing. We have dug down about 70 centimeters on one corner of our square, only about 20 centimeters on the southern corner (we're on a slope). We have finally come to evidence of mud-brick destruction. This is what they are looking for, 8th century destruction. This would be during the Assyrian period, during the reign of Tiglath Pileser (or Tiggy as I affectionately and informally refer to him in my lectures). This got Dr. Ortiz (project director) and Dr. Braun (one of our field archaeologists and my specific field director (fields A & B, I'm in field B) pretty excited. We ended the day by cleaning and drawing our baulks (that's the name of the walls that you create as you dig down). We'll hoping to begin to hit some interesting stuff next week. The reason why destruction layers get these guys so excited is b/c they are more likely to find a great deal of MC (material culture . . . items used or created by humans) when a city is destroyed. People take stuff with them when they move. If, however, someone kicks your walls down and kills you and burns your house down, things get left right where you left them and everything comes crashing down on top of it preserving it for me the novice/volunteer achaeologist to find!
I will tell you that this has also been a humbling experience. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "You're not doing that right. . . . Let me show you. . . . Don't do that . . . too deep . . . too shallow . . . too hard . . . too soft . . . too slow . . . too fast . . . don't use the patiche (little pick) use a trowel . . . don't use your trowel . . . use your patiche, etc. etc. etc. I guess what is most frustrating is that I'll do something that I just watched my supervisor or one of the field archaeologists do and then be told that I shouldn't do it. One person will tell us to do it one way and then another will tell us to do it a different way. Just seems like the learning process often includes contradictory information/instruction. Oh, well. I know my wife is probably thinking . . . "It's good for him to be humbled."
A group from tel Megiddo came and toured our site today (1 Kings 18 and 19, Ahab and Elijah; also King Josiah died there confronting Pharaoh Neco in 609 BC . . . trying to intercept him before he could get to Assyria to help the Assyrians [their allies] in their fight against the Babylonian juggernaut . . . check the later part of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles). They are working on that site and we will be going to their site in a week or so.
Killed my first scorpion today. Most squares had already had them, but we hadn't. It was only a matter of time!
Lunch was great. Had some schnitzel with rice along with some more of that great cucumber and tomato salad. Pretty good. Skipped 2nd breakfast and fruit break today. Not in the mood.
Today, after lunch . . . no pottery washing and no lecture! Yeah! We can rest (and in my case washing 7 days of laundry) and get ready for our tour this weekend. We will be leaving early tomorrow morning for our southern tour. We will be touring (and swimming in) the Dead Sea! Masada (the site of the siege of Zealots at the end of the Jewish War in AD 73 . . . they all committed suicide the day before the Romans breached the walls after a 3 year siege and building a massive ramp to get to the top)! We'll also tour Arad, En Gedi, Beersheba, the Negev and a few other places. We'll also make our way to the coast and swim in the Mediterranean Sea.
So, this weekend ought to be a fun trip. We'll be gone both Saturday and Sunday. We'll be staying at a hotel somewhere (not sure where) Saturday night.
Okay, battery almost dead, so I guess that means time to go. I'll try to blog over the weekend.
Shalom
Trey
Work on our square is progressing. We have dug down about 70 centimeters on one corner of our square, only about 20 centimeters on the southern corner (we're on a slope). We have finally come to evidence of mud-brick destruction. This is what they are looking for, 8th century destruction. This would be during the Assyrian period, during the reign of Tiglath Pileser (or Tiggy as I affectionately and informally refer to him in my lectures). This got Dr. Ortiz (project director) and Dr. Braun (one of our field archaeologists and my specific field director (fields A & B, I'm in field B) pretty excited. We ended the day by cleaning and drawing our baulks (that's the name of the walls that you create as you dig down). We'll hoping to begin to hit some interesting stuff next week. The reason why destruction layers get these guys so excited is b/c they are more likely to find a great deal of MC (material culture . . . items used or created by humans) when a city is destroyed. People take stuff with them when they move. If, however, someone kicks your walls down and kills you and burns your house down, things get left right where you left them and everything comes crashing down on top of it preserving it for me the novice/volunteer achaeologist to find!
I will tell you that this has also been a humbling experience. I can't tell you how many times I've heard, "You're not doing that right. . . . Let me show you. . . . Don't do that . . . too deep . . . too shallow . . . too hard . . . too soft . . . too slow . . . too fast . . . don't use the patiche (little pick) use a trowel . . . don't use your trowel . . . use your patiche, etc. etc. etc. I guess what is most frustrating is that I'll do something that I just watched my supervisor or one of the field archaeologists do and then be told that I shouldn't do it. One person will tell us to do it one way and then another will tell us to do it a different way. Just seems like the learning process often includes contradictory information/instruction. Oh, well. I know my wife is probably thinking . . . "It's good for him to be humbled."
A group from tel Megiddo came and toured our site today (1 Kings 18 and 19, Ahab and Elijah; also King Josiah died there confronting Pharaoh Neco in 609 BC . . . trying to intercept him before he could get to Assyria to help the Assyrians [their allies] in their fight against the Babylonian juggernaut . . . check the later part of 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles). They are working on that site and we will be going to their site in a week or so.
Killed my first scorpion today. Most squares had already had them, but we hadn't. It was only a matter of time!
Lunch was great. Had some schnitzel with rice along with some more of that great cucumber and tomato salad. Pretty good. Skipped 2nd breakfast and fruit break today. Not in the mood.
Today, after lunch . . . no pottery washing and no lecture! Yeah! We can rest (and in my case washing 7 days of laundry) and get ready for our tour this weekend. We will be leaving early tomorrow morning for our southern tour. We will be touring (and swimming in) the Dead Sea! Masada (the site of the siege of Zealots at the end of the Jewish War in AD 73 . . . they all committed suicide the day before the Romans breached the walls after a 3 year siege and building a massive ramp to get to the top)! We'll also tour Arad, En Gedi, Beersheba, the Negev and a few other places. We'll also make our way to the coast and swim in the Mediterranean Sea.
So, this weekend ought to be a fun trip. We'll be gone both Saturday and Sunday. We'll be staying at a hotel somewhere (not sure where) Saturday night.
Okay, battery almost dead, so I guess that means time to go. I'll try to blog over the weekend.
Shalom
Trey
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