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
Monday, June 30, 2008
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
Day 6
I apologize for my tardiness in posting Day 6 blog. I will to yesterday and today separately so that it's not one long blog.
Work yesterday was pretty hard. Temperature did not get as hot as predicted. We're still clearing debris from a previous excavation. Saw a Bedouin shepherd come through tel Gezer with his flocks of sheep and goats. It was pretty cool. Everyone stopped to watch him pass by.
Since tel Gezer has been made a National Park recently many people come through to tour the site. Additionally, people use the areas as a recreational area to bike, jog, and walk. So, we get several visitors every day who stop and watch what we are doing.
Discovered that Tel Gezer Project employs a Bedouin man to watch our site and equipment for us at night. He sleeps ON TOP of our cargo container that holds our equipment at base camp. I had noticed a mattress up there earlier in the week but didn't think much of it.
Food yesterday was much the same as it has been. However, lunch and dinner included new main courses . . . a stuffed bell pepper (with rice and hamburger) and a spiced sausage. Interesting. I put hot sauce on the bell pepper. It was pretty good. The yellow bell pepper was a bit too mushy, but incredibly sweet. The spiced sausage was not too bad. I ate one by itself, and then another stuffed into a pita.
Did our first pottery washing yesterday. Everybody gets a labeled bucket, a bucket of clean water, a drying box, and a little vegetable brush. The pottery, which is from the previous day, is soaked in water overnight. We scrub the pottery shards clean and then set them in a box to be sun-dried. Tomorrow, the pieces we washed will be "read." The professionals sit at a table and go through the pieces to see if they are "diagnostic." That means that they have something on them or about them that can tell us something . . . when it was made, who made it, what it was used for, decorations, inscriptions, etc. 80-90% of the pottery we collect is "trash" and will be sent back to tel Gezer and dumped! Oh, the agony!
Dirt. Dirt is everywhere. When you are moving literally tons of dirt by hand it gets everywhere. I have come to the conclusion that many articles of clothing and my boots will not be making it home. They will not be usable! When I come back from the dig site I am covered in dirt. Taking my hat off and setting it down on my lap on the bus and a cloud of dust puffs up from my hat and my shorts. And I mean, just setting it down, not slamming it down on my lap!
It takes me a really long time to get clean. The tiny shower in our room is about the size of a telephone booth . . . a small telephone booth. You have to turn a dial/timer to get hot water. Apparently I don't wait long enough (or I'm not doing it right) b/c I have yet to take a hot or even a warm shower. Cold is pretty much all I get. Anyway, back to the size of the shower. Trying to clean the thick layers of dirt off the lower part of the legs is just about impossible. I'm glad I don't have to shave them like you ladies (and Jeff).
Washing clothes . . . they have a family in the Neve Shalom community that washes clothes (1 lb. for 2 shekels). They do it 2x per week. However, apparently they have a hard time getting your clothes back to you. A clothes swap is conducted the day after wash day. Some guys are still looking for their underwear! I brought enough clothes to got about 10 days w/out washing. I started to go ahead and get mine done, but considering the slim possibility of getting all my clothes back . . . I have elected to do what many are doing . . . wash my own. Some guys bought buckets and soap on "store day" and are doing them by hand and letting them dry on the patio. Looks like my Mountain Dew boxers will be flying in the wind! I'll wash all my clothes today!
Had a lecture on archaeology theory yesterday. The back of my eye lids was just about all I studied during that hour. It was tough staying awake through that lecture. Now, to be fair, I had already put in 7 hours on the tell, an hour of pottery washing, and had been up since 4:00 am. A lecture on very important information (in case Dr. Ortiz stumbles upon and reads this blog . . . he's the guy in charge and the guy who gave the lecture . . . loved it Dr. Ortiz . . . can I get that lecture on video?) is still difficult to listen to and comprehend.
Watched the first half of "Kingdom of Heaven" (figured a movie about the crusades, Jews, Christians, and Muslims would be a good movie to watch) and went to bed early . . . about 8:30 pm.
Shalom
Trey
Work yesterday was pretty hard. Temperature did not get as hot as predicted. We're still clearing debris from a previous excavation. Saw a Bedouin shepherd come through tel Gezer with his flocks of sheep and goats. It was pretty cool. Everyone stopped to watch him pass by.
Since tel Gezer has been made a National Park recently many people come through to tour the site. Additionally, people use the areas as a recreational area to bike, jog, and walk. So, we get several visitors every day who stop and watch what we are doing.
Discovered that Tel Gezer Project employs a Bedouin man to watch our site and equipment for us at night. He sleeps ON TOP of our cargo container that holds our equipment at base camp. I had noticed a mattress up there earlier in the week but didn't think much of it.
Food yesterday was much the same as it has been. However, lunch and dinner included new main courses . . . a stuffed bell pepper (with rice and hamburger) and a spiced sausage. Interesting. I put hot sauce on the bell pepper. It was pretty good. The yellow bell pepper was a bit too mushy, but incredibly sweet. The spiced sausage was not too bad. I ate one by itself, and then another stuffed into a pita.
Did our first pottery washing yesterday. Everybody gets a labeled bucket, a bucket of clean water, a drying box, and a little vegetable brush. The pottery, which is from the previous day, is soaked in water overnight. We scrub the pottery shards clean and then set them in a box to be sun-dried. Tomorrow, the pieces we washed will be "read." The professionals sit at a table and go through the pieces to see if they are "diagnostic." That means that they have something on them or about them that can tell us something . . . when it was made, who made it, what it was used for, decorations, inscriptions, etc. 80-90% of the pottery we collect is "trash" and will be sent back to tel Gezer and dumped! Oh, the agony!
Dirt. Dirt is everywhere. When you are moving literally tons of dirt by hand it gets everywhere. I have come to the conclusion that many articles of clothing and my boots will not be making it home. They will not be usable! When I come back from the dig site I am covered in dirt. Taking my hat off and setting it down on my lap on the bus and a cloud of dust puffs up from my hat and my shorts. And I mean, just setting it down, not slamming it down on my lap!
It takes me a really long time to get clean. The tiny shower in our room is about the size of a telephone booth . . . a small telephone booth. You have to turn a dial/timer to get hot water. Apparently I don't wait long enough (or I'm not doing it right) b/c I have yet to take a hot or even a warm shower. Cold is pretty much all I get. Anyway, back to the size of the shower. Trying to clean the thick layers of dirt off the lower part of the legs is just about impossible. I'm glad I don't have to shave them like you ladies (and Jeff).
Washing clothes . . . they have a family in the Neve Shalom community that washes clothes (1 lb. for 2 shekels). They do it 2x per week. However, apparently they have a hard time getting your clothes back to you. A clothes swap is conducted the day after wash day. Some guys are still looking for their underwear! I brought enough clothes to got about 10 days w/out washing. I started to go ahead and get mine done, but considering the slim possibility of getting all my clothes back . . . I have elected to do what many are doing . . . wash my own. Some guys bought buckets and soap on "store day" and are doing them by hand and letting them dry on the patio. Looks like my Mountain Dew boxers will be flying in the wind! I'll wash all my clothes today!
Had a lecture on archaeology theory yesterday. The back of my eye lids was just about all I studied during that hour. It was tough staying awake through that lecture. Now, to be fair, I had already put in 7 hours on the tell, an hour of pottery washing, and had been up since 4:00 am. A lecture on very important information (in case Dr. Ortiz stumbles upon and reads this blog . . . he's the guy in charge and the guy who gave the lecture . . . loved it Dr. Ortiz . . . can I get that lecture on video?) is still difficult to listen to and comprehend.
Watched the first half of "Kingdom of Heaven" (figured a movie about the crusades, Jews, Christians, and Muslims would be a good movie to watch) and went to bed early . . . about 8:30 pm.
Shalom
Trey
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Day 5
Same routine this morning . . . up at 4:00 am, bizarre 1st breakfast at 4:30, bus to dig site at 5:00 am. However, for the 3rd day in a row our bus driver was late (only 12 minutes today, 30 minutes yesterday) . . . strike one. Then as we were driving to the tel, he passed a big-rig truck on a curve using the opposite lane to pass . . . strike two. Then when we arrived near the tel, he dropped us off a mile away from the base of the tel b/c he said the terrain was too rough for the bus . . . strike three. Didn't like today's bus driver. I think they got the issue resolved with the bus owner b/c the new bus driver showed up at the appointed place to pick us up!
I haven't talked much about the rest of the folks on this dig. We have quite an interesting group. It will take me awhile to get around to meeting and conversing with everyone. My room mates our two "older guys." Most of you know me well enough to know that I'd rather be hanging out with young people . . . there is one guy, Nate, who is a pretty sharp grad-student at Abilene Christian University, I'd love to be hanging out with him and having some deep theological discussions. He also teaches Biblical studies. But, my room mates . . . a 68 year old retired guy and a late-thirties to early 40's guy who is head of school at a Houston private school. They are both pretty neat guys and we have had some great conversations, but . . . I'm here in the lounge area each night blogging and visiting with the "young folks" while my bunk mates are heading to bed by 8:30 pm!
Another interesting pair . . . Peter and Lan . . . he is German, she is Indonesian and they are missionaries that currently reside in Canada! He is 66 years old and she is 70!!!!!!! I am uploading a pic of the two, she is wielding a pick ax! They both work incredibly hard and are very sweet and pleasant to visit with!
Petra . . . or at least that's my nick name for her b/c I can't remember her real name (too many people). She is a BYU grad-student and she is about 4' 8" tall. She just arrived here having been on a previous dig site at Petra (remember that cool place on Indiana Jones . . . the 3rd one . . . where they go into that palace with the cool buildings carved directly into the walls . . . that's Petra). She has been there for 6 weeks, now she is here for 5 weeks, and then she is heading to another dig for 4-5 weeks. 3 digs in one summer! She gets back to the States one day before the next semester of school starts! She's nuts!
Kevin . . . you know that annoying guy in your college class that always has to ask a question to show how smart he is? Tha'ts Kevin. He's a nice guy, just talks too much and has too much to prove. In my years of student ministry I've encountered a lot of Kevins. I know how to handle them.
Dr. Ortiz . . . one of two top dogs here on the dig site. He is head of arch. program at Southwestern seminary. He is in charge of this operation. His 70 year old dad is on the trip working with us!
Those are a couple of the people on the trip. I'll share about more later.
Today, our work became work. It has already lost its novelty. Now it's just tough work. No breeze on the tel today and the temps were hotter. They said to prepare for a heat wave . . . going to hit 100 tomorrow!
My square was slow moving today. We are clearing the top layer which is primarily junk that has slid down the hill from a dump site used by an excavation in the '60s and '70s. Lots of shards of pottery, some handles from clay jars. It's backbreaking and kneebreaking work. I forgot to bring knee pads. It was on my to-do list and completely forgot them! My square supervisor is constantly on me to stop kneeling in the dirt b/c of the danger of scorpions coming up from under the dirt and stinging me. Oh, well!
By the way, digging up dirt means you have to put the dirt somewhere. I haven't mentioned this fun part of the dig. We have to wheelbarrow the load to the dump site. Our square is the farthest and most awkwardly positioned square in relation to the dump site . . . down a hill, up a hill, down a hill, up a hill, across a narrow path, and then up a very long and steep hill and then dump! Quite tiring. We take a trip to the dump every 5 minutes or so . . . let's see . . . roughly 6 hours of work (after removing break and breakfast time) that would be roughly 10-12 trips per hour x 6 . . . 60-72 trips per day! But it gives you a break from the kneeling and bending over.
Tomatoes and watermelons . . . I'm eating tomatoes like apples for 2nd breakfast. They are redder and sweeter than our tomatoes back home . . . and the juice is amazing. So, too the watermelons . . . I don't generally eat watermelon back home, but in the heat and work here it's is the most amazing sound when Gary calls out, "Fruuuuiiiiiittttt breaaaaaaakkkk!" Everyone immediately drops their tools and heads to the break tent up on the hill where Gary has sliced open 6 watermelons. I eat about 3-4 slices . . . sucking on the flesh of the fruit and getting all the juice out before eating it! Invigorating! (By the way, fruit break takes place at 11:00 am which is after 2nd breakfast which is at 8:30 am which is after 1st breakfast which is back at Neve Shalom at 4:30 am. Lunch is immediately served when we arrive back at Neve Shalom at 1:30 pm.
We had our first pottery washing today. They soak all the pottery in water from the previous day. Then we take little vegetable brushes and brush the dirt off and put them on drying racks. The pottery reading will take place the next day by trained professionals, not us peons/slaves. Pottery washing will take place each day at 4:00 pm, followed by that day's lectures. Today's lecture was given by Dr. Dennis Cole on the geography of Israel.
The Palestinian children left today, but before they left they went swimming. I went to see them and took some photos of them for y'all. I'll upload them today.
Well, time for bed.
Shalom
Trey
I haven't talked much about the rest of the folks on this dig. We have quite an interesting group. It will take me awhile to get around to meeting and conversing with everyone. My room mates our two "older guys." Most of you know me well enough to know that I'd rather be hanging out with young people . . . there is one guy, Nate, who is a pretty sharp grad-student at Abilene Christian University, I'd love to be hanging out with him and having some deep theological discussions. He also teaches Biblical studies. But, my room mates . . . a 68 year old retired guy and a late-thirties to early 40's guy who is head of school at a Houston private school. They are both pretty neat guys and we have had some great conversations, but . . . I'm here in the lounge area each night blogging and visiting with the "young folks" while my bunk mates are heading to bed by 8:30 pm!
Another interesting pair . . . Peter and Lan . . . he is German, she is Indonesian and they are missionaries that currently reside in Canada! He is 66 years old and she is 70!!!!!!! I am uploading a pic of the two, she is wielding a pick ax! They both work incredibly hard and are very sweet and pleasant to visit with!
Petra . . . or at least that's my nick name for her b/c I can't remember her real name (too many people). She is a BYU grad-student and she is about 4' 8" tall. She just arrived here having been on a previous dig site at Petra (remember that cool place on Indiana Jones . . . the 3rd one . . . where they go into that palace with the cool buildings carved directly into the walls . . . that's Petra). She has been there for 6 weeks, now she is here for 5 weeks, and then she is heading to another dig for 4-5 weeks. 3 digs in one summer! She gets back to the States one day before the next semester of school starts! She's nuts!
Kevin . . . you know that annoying guy in your college class that always has to ask a question to show how smart he is? Tha'ts Kevin. He's a nice guy, just talks too much and has too much to prove. In my years of student ministry I've encountered a lot of Kevins. I know how to handle them.
Dr. Ortiz . . . one of two top dogs here on the dig site. He is head of arch. program at Southwestern seminary. He is in charge of this operation. His 70 year old dad is on the trip working with us!
Those are a couple of the people on the trip. I'll share about more later.
Today, our work became work. It has already lost its novelty. Now it's just tough work. No breeze on the tel today and the temps were hotter. They said to prepare for a heat wave . . . going to hit 100 tomorrow!
My square was slow moving today. We are clearing the top layer which is primarily junk that has slid down the hill from a dump site used by an excavation in the '60s and '70s. Lots of shards of pottery, some handles from clay jars. It's backbreaking and kneebreaking work. I forgot to bring knee pads. It was on my to-do list and completely forgot them! My square supervisor is constantly on me to stop kneeling in the dirt b/c of the danger of scorpions coming up from under the dirt and stinging me. Oh, well!
By the way, digging up dirt means you have to put the dirt somewhere. I haven't mentioned this fun part of the dig. We have to wheelbarrow the load to the dump site. Our square is the farthest and most awkwardly positioned square in relation to the dump site . . . down a hill, up a hill, down a hill, up a hill, across a narrow path, and then up a very long and steep hill and then dump! Quite tiring. We take a trip to the dump every 5 minutes or so . . . let's see . . . roughly 6 hours of work (after removing break and breakfast time) that would be roughly 10-12 trips per hour x 6 . . . 60-72 trips per day! But it gives you a break from the kneeling and bending over.
Tomatoes and watermelons . . . I'm eating tomatoes like apples for 2nd breakfast. They are redder and sweeter than our tomatoes back home . . . and the juice is amazing. So, too the watermelons . . . I don't generally eat watermelon back home, but in the heat and work here it's is the most amazing sound when Gary calls out, "Fruuuuiiiiiittttt breaaaaaaakkkk!" Everyone immediately drops their tools and heads to the break tent up on the hill where Gary has sliced open 6 watermelons. I eat about 3-4 slices . . . sucking on the flesh of the fruit and getting all the juice out before eating it! Invigorating! (By the way, fruit break takes place at 11:00 am which is after 2nd breakfast which is at 8:30 am which is after 1st breakfast which is back at Neve Shalom at 4:30 am. Lunch is immediately served when we arrive back at Neve Shalom at 1:30 pm.
We had our first pottery washing today. They soak all the pottery in water from the previous day. Then we take little vegetable brushes and brush the dirt off and put them on drying racks. The pottery reading will take place the next day by trained professionals, not us peons/slaves. Pottery washing will take place each day at 4:00 pm, followed by that day's lectures. Today's lecture was given by Dr. Dennis Cole on the geography of Israel.
The Palestinian children left today, but before they left they went swimming. I went to see them and took some photos of them for y'all. I'll upload them today.
Well, time for bed.
Shalom
Trey
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
My New Palestinian Friends
Hey, just had an amazing time. I noticed a bunch of Arab children running around Neve Shalom. They seemed to be visiting and they kept calling out to all the Americans as they went by. After my 3rd trip past them and after our lecture, I stopped to visit with them. Their teacher spoke English and told me that they were from a Palestinian refugee camp. She had been given a grant by a group from Holland to take them out of the camp for 24 hours. They had come to Neve Shalom for the day and night to swim, play, enjoy the food, and stay the night. I asked them their names, what their favorite school subjects were, did they like music, etc. They, of course, laughed as I tried to pronounce their names. When their leader told them it was time to come eat (apparently they were waiting for our group to get through the line first), they descended like a mob on the food line . . . piling up the food like they had never eaten before, and would never get a chance to eat again. I went ahead and got my food and sat at a table with 6 of the children. Had a blast! I put tabasco on my food and really played up the "my mouth is on fire and I'm about to die" look. They laughed hysterically . . . I had an audience! You know how much I love that! We had a good time. I learned much about them and from them.
Just wanted to share that. God gave me an amazing opportunity to share myself with these children and for them to share themselves with me.
God is good!
Shalom
Just wanted to share that. God gave me an amazing opportunity to share myself with these children and for them to share themselves with me.
God is good!
Shalom
Day 4
Shalom:
Had a good night's sleep! Yeah. Up at 4:00 another 1st breakfast (same as yesterday) and off to the dig site at 5:00 am.
Here's how it works. We arrive at the base of the tell . . . (I guess this would be the time to tell you the difference between "tel" and "tell" . . . tel is used in Hebrew, tell is used in English . . . now you know) and walk uphill to the base camp (cargo container . . . big metal container you see on trains) with a shade cloth draped to the side!) and unload the tools and supplies that are stored in the cargo container. Everyone hauls supplies up the hill to the dig site. Shade tents (which we put up yesterday) are re-erected (simply pushing the poles back up and propping up the shade cloth . . . screen-like material used as a tent) and then we get to work.
Today I was immediately pressed into service cleaning out a "square" (a 5 meter x 5 meter area) that was dug out last year. I had to go down and clean weeds and sweep/brush dirt and rocks until it was clean. It was cool b/c that square had a walled room (8th century BC) with a basin sticking out of the wall . . . I'll take pics tomorrow). You would not believe the amount of pottery shards . . . they are every where! Just walking up the trail . . . on the ground near our squares on the surface. We are told that these have basically been looked at before in previous excavations and are of no value!
I have found pieces of pottery that were obvious rims of jars or containers and broken handles of jars. These are called napkin holders b/c of their shape.
After spending time in my square cleaning I was called up to begin working with my group of 5 volunteers and my square supervisor. We are in Field B (as opposed to Field A, which is down the hill. Field A is working on extending a previously excavated wall/fortification and seeing how far it goes and how it aligns with another wall on the other side of the site). Field B involves a sloping area (again some of these squares were excavated last year) where we are opening new squares. Last year they discovered evidence of destruction in the Iron Age II level (8th century . . . probably Assyrian destrcution of this Judean city) and they want to see the extent of the rooms/homes and see what the destruction layer will reveal. "What is evidence of destruction?" you ask. Well when mudbricks are exposed to 600 degree heat for a certain amount of time it becomes ceramic (basically). Some of these kinds of bricks in the walls have been found. Also, wood posts that were charred have been found.
So, we started our square by clearing the area of debris . . . grass, rocks, and old pottery and dumping in our site dump. Oh, previous to this we marked off our square with string and stakes and elevations are recorded and a top map is drawn (with all the contours and features of the square). Then we started at the highest point and began taking the dirt down about 10 centimeters (everything is metric in archaeology) at a time until it was level with a certain part of the square. Right now we have just started. Our top layers have only junk in them. Apparently the area just above our site was used by another excavation in the '70's as their dump and over time that material has slid down the hill onto our area. So, we are finding pieces of pottery that have already been looked over and discarded. That being said, we still have to be careful b/c that previous group may have missed things, and they have. Some small scarabs have been found and a few other things. Also, my friend found a loom weight yesterday. I identified it as a loom weight to my friend and then he asked Dr. Wolf (Director of Israeli Antiquities Authority) what it was . . . "a loom weight." Yeah, baby . . . I've got my archaeology grove on!
So, we are just starting in Field B. Hoping to really get into things tomorrow. I had really wanted to be down on Field A. My new friend Nate (he's a 20 something grad student from Abilene Christian University) found 2 sling stones . . . way cool. These are about the size of a baseball and obviously fashioned by human hands. Based on previous finds and the location near this wall it is most likely a sling stone.
I saw a skink in my hole that I was cleaning. Amazing little creature. Many different kinds of spiders. Several species of ants (each one quite large). Last week the survey crew had vipers coming out of the holes in the dig sites! I kept my eye on the hole that was right even with my face while I was down in my square sweeping! Gazelles have been spotted, but not my me.
Interesting . . . Israeli Air Force was doing maneuvers today. Saw several fighter planes and one attack helicopter kept circling us and doing very interesting maneuvers . . . making tight turns, quick ascensions, and taking an attack posture towards this settlement next to our dig. Very cool!
So, 2nd breakfast and fruit break were identical to yesterday. Left the dig at 12:30 pm and headed back to Neve Shalom. Once a week we will stop a this little grocery store. Today was the day! We had 15 minutes . . . it was chaos as 35 of us scrambled to find our own goodies. I picked up some Tabasco sauce, spicy mustard (for sandwiches which to this point have basically been dry . . . except today I used a type of sour cream on my meat and cheese sandwich and yesterday I actually poured chocolate pudding on bread!), some 1 liter bottles of Coke (someone took the last Dr. Pepper!), chocolate chip cookies, Hagen-Dage (don't think I spelled that right) ice cream, and an orange Fanta. Ate some of the ice cream right out of the pint carton without a spoon and chugged the Fanta. The Tabasco sauce came in handy for lunch . . . rice and some sort of chicken curry and roasted potatoes (no salad for me today).
So, that's my day. No pottery washing today. We'll start that tomorrow when we have significant pottery to process (probably 300-400 pieces a day, I think that's what they said to expect). We have a lecture at 5:30 pm and then dinner and then free time and off to bed.
I plan on downloading some more pics today (from yesterday). I didn't take my camera today.
Any questions for me?
Shalom!
Trey
Had a good night's sleep! Yeah. Up at 4:00 another 1st breakfast (same as yesterday) and off to the dig site at 5:00 am.
Here's how it works. We arrive at the base of the tell . . . (I guess this would be the time to tell you the difference between "tel" and "tell" . . . tel is used in Hebrew, tell is used in English . . . now you know) and walk uphill to the base camp (cargo container . . . big metal container you see on trains) with a shade cloth draped to the side!) and unload the tools and supplies that are stored in the cargo container. Everyone hauls supplies up the hill to the dig site. Shade tents (which we put up yesterday) are re-erected (simply pushing the poles back up and propping up the shade cloth . . . screen-like material used as a tent) and then we get to work.
Today I was immediately pressed into service cleaning out a "square" (a 5 meter x 5 meter area) that was dug out last year. I had to go down and clean weeds and sweep/brush dirt and rocks until it was clean. It was cool b/c that square had a walled room (8th century BC) with a basin sticking out of the wall . . . I'll take pics tomorrow). You would not believe the amount of pottery shards . . . they are every where! Just walking up the trail . . . on the ground near our squares on the surface. We are told that these have basically been looked at before in previous excavations and are of no value!
I have found pieces of pottery that were obvious rims of jars or containers and broken handles of jars. These are called napkin holders b/c of their shape.
After spending time in my square cleaning I was called up to begin working with my group of 5 volunteers and my square supervisor. We are in Field B (as opposed to Field A, which is down the hill. Field A is working on extending a previously excavated wall/fortification and seeing how far it goes and how it aligns with another wall on the other side of the site). Field B involves a sloping area (again some of these squares were excavated last year) where we are opening new squares. Last year they discovered evidence of destruction in the Iron Age II level (8th century . . . probably Assyrian destrcution of this Judean city) and they want to see the extent of the rooms/homes and see what the destruction layer will reveal. "What is evidence of destruction?" you ask. Well when mudbricks are exposed to 600 degree heat for a certain amount of time it becomes ceramic (basically). Some of these kinds of bricks in the walls have been found. Also, wood posts that were charred have been found.
So, we started our square by clearing the area of debris . . . grass, rocks, and old pottery and dumping in our site dump. Oh, previous to this we marked off our square with string and stakes and elevations are recorded and a top map is drawn (with all the contours and features of the square). Then we started at the highest point and began taking the dirt down about 10 centimeters (everything is metric in archaeology) at a time until it was level with a certain part of the square. Right now we have just started. Our top layers have only junk in them. Apparently the area just above our site was used by another excavation in the '70's as their dump and over time that material has slid down the hill onto our area. So, we are finding pieces of pottery that have already been looked over and discarded. That being said, we still have to be careful b/c that previous group may have missed things, and they have. Some small scarabs have been found and a few other things. Also, my friend found a loom weight yesterday. I identified it as a loom weight to my friend and then he asked Dr. Wolf (Director of Israeli Antiquities Authority) what it was . . . "a loom weight." Yeah, baby . . . I've got my archaeology grove on!
So, we are just starting in Field B. Hoping to really get into things tomorrow. I had really wanted to be down on Field A. My new friend Nate (he's a 20 something grad student from Abilene Christian University) found 2 sling stones . . . way cool. These are about the size of a baseball and obviously fashioned by human hands. Based on previous finds and the location near this wall it is most likely a sling stone.
I saw a skink in my hole that I was cleaning. Amazing little creature. Many different kinds of spiders. Several species of ants (each one quite large). Last week the survey crew had vipers coming out of the holes in the dig sites! I kept my eye on the hole that was right even with my face while I was down in my square sweeping! Gazelles have been spotted, but not my me.
Interesting . . . Israeli Air Force was doing maneuvers today. Saw several fighter planes and one attack helicopter kept circling us and doing very interesting maneuvers . . . making tight turns, quick ascensions, and taking an attack posture towards this settlement next to our dig. Very cool!
So, 2nd breakfast and fruit break were identical to yesterday. Left the dig at 12:30 pm and headed back to Neve Shalom. Once a week we will stop a this little grocery store. Today was the day! We had 15 minutes . . . it was chaos as 35 of us scrambled to find our own goodies. I picked up some Tabasco sauce, spicy mustard (for sandwiches which to this point have basically been dry . . . except today I used a type of sour cream on my meat and cheese sandwich and yesterday I actually poured chocolate pudding on bread!), some 1 liter bottles of Coke (someone took the last Dr. Pepper!), chocolate chip cookies, Hagen-Dage (don't think I spelled that right) ice cream, and an orange Fanta. Ate some of the ice cream right out of the pint carton without a spoon and chugged the Fanta. The Tabasco sauce came in handy for lunch . . . rice and some sort of chicken curry and roasted potatoes (no salad for me today).
So, that's my day. No pottery washing today. We'll start that tomorrow when we have significant pottery to process (probably 300-400 pieces a day, I think that's what they said to expect). We have a lecture at 5:30 pm and then dinner and then free time and off to bed.
I plan on downloading some more pics today (from yesterday). I didn't take my camera today.
Any questions for me?
Shalom!
Trey
Monday, June 23, 2008
Day 3: 1st day on site at Tell Gezer
Woke up at 1:30 am. The A/C unit in our domicile (derivative of Latin "domus" meaning "home" for those of my friends who slept in school more than they learned!) began making awkward noises. I thought it was freezing up. It wasn't. It was just working on over drive. Turns out the cleaning crew left a window open so all the nice cool air was being sucked out all night. Nevertheless, I could not sleep so I went out to the parking lot and patio area near the lobby and got out my lap top and did some work.
Discovered that the sound of canine creatures in the not-so-far-away distance was jackals. Very large bats were flying over head eating insects in the trees. Had to decide what to do . . . stay there and get work done and disregard my personal safety (I'm certain my life was at risk!) or run away screaming like a 8 year old girl! I ran! Naw . . . I kept working all the while looking nervously over my shoulder and my head as I continued to work.
4:00 am (wake up time) came early. Of course I was already up, so no problem for me (it's beginning to effect me now, though). Got dressed and put on my cool archaeology shorts, t-shirt, beige socks, boots, and my cool archaeology hat! Sorry, Steph, didn't put on the cool archaeology vest! Didn't want to look like a complete dork on the first day! Had my gear with me small "barbie" pick axe, called a patiche, my much larger and more masculine pick axe used for mining (got that from my father-in-law's garage/shop . . . thanks!), my trowel in it's trusty leather holster, my Indiana Jones-like archaeology bag that Steph and Grace got me for my b-day, in which I had various supplies.
1st breakfast was served at 4:30 am in the upper parking lot while we waited for our bus. Yes, I said 1st breakfast. We also have 2nd breakfast. I fel like a Hobbit (for you Lord of the Ring fans . . . "Do you think he knows about 2nd breakfast, Merry? Or what about elevensies? Re-read that with a Hobbit accent, it will be much funnier.) 1st breakfast was bread, peanut butter and various jams. 2nd breakfast was served at the dig site at 9:00 am which consisted of more bread, peanut butter, jams, lunch meat, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, cereal, and pudding. Every meal is served with this orange-like beverage and water. We took a fruit break at 11:00 am . . . watermelon . . . cold watermelon! Now I'm not much of a watermelon eater, but I was today! It was quite delicious and refreshing! (I said, "delicious and refreshing!" that's pretty funny!) Lunch was served at the end of the work day (end of working on-site) at 1:00 pm. Amazing chicken (flattened until very thin, breaded in a very nice breading which included sesame seeds and fried until very crisp. Also some amazing spaghetti pasta very lightly dressed with tomatoes and a light sauce, more cuc. and tom. salad, pita bread, roasted potatoes, etc.
That's enough about food . . . bag do the dig!
We arrived at the dig site at around 5:30 am. Dr. Sam Wolf directer of the Israeli Antiquities Authority gave us a 2 hour tour of the site, giving us key history of the terrain, city of Gezer, and history of excavations, and reviewed previous excavation sites and our current/soon-to-be home for much toiling over the next 5 weeks.
I got chased by these amazingly large hornets/bees. They came pouring out of the ground as we were standing there listening to Dr. Wolf speak. Reminded me of the passages in the OT where God said he would chase the Canaanites out of the Land with hornets! Now I know what he was talking about! (I'll have to look up the passage.)
Today at the site was a grunt work day. We set up the large shade clothes to cover the areas that we are going to be working. We used this large tools for clearing grass and debris . . . something called a terrina (I'll have to get that spelling right). A survey team has been on site for 2 weeks, getting things established and ready for our work . . . weed-eating the grass, getting supplies, etc.). We began establishing grids for work and marking out our "squares."
Lots and lots of pottery shard laying around on the surface! Much of it (most of it) is basically useless from a archaeology stand point, but it sure was cool to find . . . I mean this stuff is 2800 years old or older! I found several pieces of handles and rims which are more interesting than just the plain, flat pieces of pottery shards. So that was our work today. Basically got things set up for tomorrow. We only lost 1 worker. Young lady from a college in Colorado got overheated during the first 45 minutes of the tour/lecture with Dr. Wolf.
Temperature . . . much hotter back home in Texas! It couldn't have been warmer than about 88 degrees with a nice breeze coming off the Mediterranean and coming acros the top of the tell. However, much drier here, so dehydration is more of an issue than one would think based on the temp.
Came back at 1:30, had lunch and then some down time until 5:00 pm. Normally we'll have pottery washing time at 3 or 4 in the afternoon for a couple of hours, but not this first day. I tried to take a nap.
5:00 pm we had a presentation by one of the residents and staffers of Neve Shalom ("Oasis of Peace"). I told you in one of my previous blogs that I would tell you more about them. This is a village established in 1977 by a group of Israelis and Palestinian Arabs who decided they wanted to change the way their two groups relate to each other. They have lived peacefully in co-existence for 30 years. It was interesting to listen to Akmed and tour the area. Their link to their website is on my link list.
Dinner tonight . . . I ate grapes. I had 2 servings of lunch, so wasn't very hungry. Place 4 chess games with my new Persian chess board, with olive wood pieces . . . won every game! Now that I've blogged, time to go take a shower and get to sleep. It is 9:30 pm here and 4:00 am will be fun. Hopefully I'll be more successful in my sleep.
Keep reading my blog . . . and let me know if you find it interesting and/or entertaining!
Shalom!
Trey
Discovered that the sound of canine creatures in the not-so-far-away distance was jackals. Very large bats were flying over head eating insects in the trees. Had to decide what to do . . . stay there and get work done and disregard my personal safety (I'm certain my life was at risk!) or run away screaming like a 8 year old girl! I ran! Naw . . . I kept working all the while looking nervously over my shoulder and my head as I continued to work.
4:00 am (wake up time) came early. Of course I was already up, so no problem for me (it's beginning to effect me now, though). Got dressed and put on my cool archaeology shorts, t-shirt, beige socks, boots, and my cool archaeology hat! Sorry, Steph, didn't put on the cool archaeology vest! Didn't want to look like a complete dork on the first day! Had my gear with me small "barbie" pick axe, called a patiche, my much larger and more masculine pick axe used for mining (got that from my father-in-law's garage/shop . . . thanks!), my trowel in it's trusty leather holster, my Indiana Jones-like archaeology bag that Steph and Grace got me for my b-day, in which I had various supplies.
1st breakfast was served at 4:30 am in the upper parking lot while we waited for our bus. Yes, I said 1st breakfast. We also have 2nd breakfast. I fel like a Hobbit (for you Lord of the Ring fans . . . "Do you think he knows about 2nd breakfast, Merry? Or what about elevensies? Re-read that with a Hobbit accent, it will be much funnier.) 1st breakfast was bread, peanut butter and various jams. 2nd breakfast was served at the dig site at 9:00 am which consisted of more bread, peanut butter, jams, lunch meat, cheese, cucumbers, tomatoes, cereal, and pudding. Every meal is served with this orange-like beverage and water. We took a fruit break at 11:00 am . . . watermelon . . . cold watermelon! Now I'm not much of a watermelon eater, but I was today! It was quite delicious and refreshing! (I said, "delicious and refreshing!" that's pretty funny!) Lunch was served at the end of the work day (end of working on-site) at 1:00 pm. Amazing chicken (flattened until very thin, breaded in a very nice breading which included sesame seeds and fried until very crisp. Also some amazing spaghetti pasta very lightly dressed with tomatoes and a light sauce, more cuc. and tom. salad, pita bread, roasted potatoes, etc.
That's enough about food . . . bag do the dig!
We arrived at the dig site at around 5:30 am. Dr. Sam Wolf directer of the Israeli Antiquities Authority gave us a 2 hour tour of the site, giving us key history of the terrain, city of Gezer, and history of excavations, and reviewed previous excavation sites and our current/soon-to-be home for much toiling over the next 5 weeks.
I got chased by these amazingly large hornets/bees. They came pouring out of the ground as we were standing there listening to Dr. Wolf speak. Reminded me of the passages in the OT where God said he would chase the Canaanites out of the Land with hornets! Now I know what he was talking about! (I'll have to look up the passage.)
Today at the site was a grunt work day. We set up the large shade clothes to cover the areas that we are going to be working. We used this large tools for clearing grass and debris . . . something called a terrina (I'll have to get that spelling right). A survey team has been on site for 2 weeks, getting things established and ready for our work . . . weed-eating the grass, getting supplies, etc.). We began establishing grids for work and marking out our "squares."
Lots and lots of pottery shard laying around on the surface! Much of it (most of it) is basically useless from a archaeology stand point, but it sure was cool to find . . . I mean this stuff is 2800 years old or older! I found several pieces of handles and rims which are more interesting than just the plain, flat pieces of pottery shards. So that was our work today. Basically got things set up for tomorrow. We only lost 1 worker. Young lady from a college in Colorado got overheated during the first 45 minutes of the tour/lecture with Dr. Wolf.
Temperature . . . much hotter back home in Texas! It couldn't have been warmer than about 88 degrees with a nice breeze coming off the Mediterranean and coming acros the top of the tell. However, much drier here, so dehydration is more of an issue than one would think based on the temp.
Came back at 1:30, had lunch and then some down time until 5:00 pm. Normally we'll have pottery washing time at 3 or 4 in the afternoon for a couple of hours, but not this first day. I tried to take a nap.
5:00 pm we had a presentation by one of the residents and staffers of Neve Shalom ("Oasis of Peace"). I told you in one of my previous blogs that I would tell you more about them. This is a village established in 1977 by a group of Israelis and Palestinian Arabs who decided they wanted to change the way their two groups relate to each other. They have lived peacefully in co-existence for 30 years. It was interesting to listen to Akmed and tour the area. Their link to their website is on my link list.
Dinner tonight . . . I ate grapes. I had 2 servings of lunch, so wasn't very hungry. Place 4 chess games with my new Persian chess board, with olive wood pieces . . . won every game! Now that I've blogged, time to go take a shower and get to sleep. It is 9:30 pm here and 4:00 am will be fun. Hopefully I'll be more successful in my sleep.
Keep reading my blog . . . and let me know if you find it interesting and/or entertaining!
Shalom!
Trey
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Jerusalem Field Trip - Yeah! June 22, 2008
Day 2: Slept like a rock . . . a snoring rock! Woke up at 6:15 am and got ready for the day. Had an interesting breakfast: scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, roasted bell peppers (red, green, and yellow), roasted onions, pita bread, Greek yogurt, vanilla pudding, water, and some other thing I liked, but couldn't tell you what it was!
Headed out at 8:00 am for field trip to Jerusalem. Got to travel the modern evolution of the ancient road that heads inland from Tel Aviv through Gezer to Jerusalem. Went past the remains of Beth Shemesh (check out the story in Judges where the ark of the covenant is returned to the Hebrews after being in the custody of the Philistines for a while), Keriath Jearim (same story), and a few other points of interest that I took notes on, but can't remember right now!
In Jerusalem . . .
We went to the Temple Mount and prayed at the Western Wall (a.k.a. Wailing Wall) and left a prayer note in one of the many crevices.
We went to the Basilica/Church of the Sepulchre, the Upper Room, the Church of Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Stations of the Cross (Via de la Rosa), the traditional sight of the Tomb of King David, traveled through the Kidron Valley, and saw the Dead Sea (or at least the haze over the Dead Sea) from the back side of the Mount of Olives.
We walked through the Old City which has incredibly narrow streets lined with Arab shops selling all kinds of touristy stuff. We went to a specific Arab shop that our Tel Gezer folks have done business with in the past and he had lunch ordered for us and we shopped at his shop. "Everyone tell you they have good price, but it is a lie! I, I will give you best price!" Bought something for my wife and a chess set for me! Couldn't find anything decent for my baby girl! (Sorry, Grace! Don't worry Grace I've got lots of time!)
Lunch, that was interesting! We had our choice of falafels or chwarmas. Falafels is pita bread split open with fried chickpea patties, tomatoes, pickles, peppers, and Greek yogurt and . . . of all things . . . French fries! Chwarmas are the same thing, but instead of chickpea patties, it (supposedly) had meat. We sat/stood around (all 35 of us) in this cramped little shop eating our sandwiches while the store keepers sons(?) ran around refilling our 6 oz. plastic cups with lemonade or orange drink. It was pretty cool.
After lunch we continued our tours and came back home. Oh, lots of different languages to translate on different signs, buildings, and monuments. Many religious groups and cultures have left their marks on this city . . . Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Russian, and English. I got a chance to exercise my Hebrew and Greek. Of course, the Latin was no problem! See, TWCA students, it does come in handy!
Got back to Neve Shalom around 4:30 pm. Had another brief meeting letting us know what to expect for our first work day tomorrow (up at 4:00 am!). And, then our hosts here at Neve Shalom treated us to a BBQ on their grass lawn! Grilled hot dogs, grilled chicken thighs, hamburger patties (no buns, only pita), more cucumber-tomato salad (apparently a staple here, every meal it's available), hummus (another staple made from chickpeas into a paste/sauce . . . yuck), salad, and a very lovely carrot cake with thick creamy icing! Yum!
By the way, it's warm here, but no more than back home. Last couple of weeks have been incredibly hot in Texas and this was mild compared to that. That being said, I have been sucking down water like it is going out of style! It may not be hotter here, but it is dryer. So, lots of water in my big blue platic water bottle from Target (thanks Madisynn for helping me pick it out!).
It is almost 9:00 pm. I'm going to head out and get ready for bed. 4:00 am will come early!
Shalom!
Trey
Headed out at 8:00 am for field trip to Jerusalem. Got to travel the modern evolution of the ancient road that heads inland from Tel Aviv through Gezer to Jerusalem. Went past the remains of Beth Shemesh (check out the story in Judges where the ark of the covenant is returned to the Hebrews after being in the custody of the Philistines for a while), Keriath Jearim (same story), and a few other points of interest that I took notes on, but can't remember right now!
In Jerusalem . . .
We went to the Temple Mount and prayed at the Western Wall (a.k.a. Wailing Wall) and left a prayer note in one of the many crevices.
We went to the Basilica/Church of the Sepulchre, the Upper Room, the Church of Nations in the Garden of Gethsemane, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Stations of the Cross (Via de la Rosa), the traditional sight of the Tomb of King David, traveled through the Kidron Valley, and saw the Dead Sea (or at least the haze over the Dead Sea) from the back side of the Mount of Olives.
We walked through the Old City which has incredibly narrow streets lined with Arab shops selling all kinds of touristy stuff. We went to a specific Arab shop that our Tel Gezer folks have done business with in the past and he had lunch ordered for us and we shopped at his shop. "Everyone tell you they have good price, but it is a lie! I, I will give you best price!" Bought something for my wife and a chess set for me! Couldn't find anything decent for my baby girl! (Sorry, Grace! Don't worry Grace I've got lots of time!)
Lunch, that was interesting! We had our choice of falafels or chwarmas. Falafels is pita bread split open with fried chickpea patties, tomatoes, pickles, peppers, and Greek yogurt and . . . of all things . . . French fries! Chwarmas are the same thing, but instead of chickpea patties, it (supposedly) had meat. We sat/stood around (all 35 of us) in this cramped little shop eating our sandwiches while the store keepers sons(?) ran around refilling our 6 oz. plastic cups with lemonade or orange drink. It was pretty cool.
After lunch we continued our tours and came back home. Oh, lots of different languages to translate on different signs, buildings, and monuments. Many religious groups and cultures have left their marks on this city . . . Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek, Latin, Russian, and English. I got a chance to exercise my Hebrew and Greek. Of course, the Latin was no problem! See, TWCA students, it does come in handy!
Got back to Neve Shalom around 4:30 pm. Had another brief meeting letting us know what to expect for our first work day tomorrow (up at 4:00 am!). And, then our hosts here at Neve Shalom treated us to a BBQ on their grass lawn! Grilled hot dogs, grilled chicken thighs, hamburger patties (no buns, only pita), more cucumber-tomato salad (apparently a staple here, every meal it's available), hummus (another staple made from chickpeas into a paste/sauce . . . yuck), salad, and a very lovely carrot cake with thick creamy icing! Yum!
By the way, it's warm here, but no more than back home. Last couple of weeks have been incredibly hot in Texas and this was mild compared to that. That being said, I have been sucking down water like it is going out of style! It may not be hotter here, but it is dryer. So, lots of water in my big blue platic water bottle from Target (thanks Madisynn for helping me pick it out!).
It is almost 9:00 pm. I'm going to head out and get ready for bed. 4:00 am will come early!
Shalom!
Trey
Saturday, June 21, 2008
I'm here!
Shalom! I've arrived! Happy Birthday to me! I am celebrating my 40th birthday in the Land of Israel . . . how cool is that!
The flight from Houston to New York wasn't too bad. I med another Tel Gezer digger on the way off the plane, a pastor from Copperas Cove. We hung out and had lunch at Chili's in the airport during out 6 hour lay-over. The bacon burger was a bit dry.
As we were sitting around at the gate area I was lamenting the fact that we would not be able to go into New York and see any sights while we were here. I was hoping to see one of the infamous rats of New York that they are supposedly infested with (according to Seinfeld and other reliable sources). My friend told me to look behind me . . . there on the floor just inside the return air vent (like one of those air condition units you see at some hotels) was a rat, dead on that sticky rat paper! I thought I smelled something special!
Flight from New York to Tel Aviv, non-stop for 10 hours . . . unless of course you don't count the 2 hours we were STOPPED on the tarmac at JFK. Our pilot let us know after about 30 minutes that there was a traffic jam (with planes?) and we were number 60 to depart! About 3 hours into the flight it seemed like time was standing still . . . I think I actually saw the minute hand on my watch going backwards!
Met another 10-12 Tel Gezer Diggers on the plane. I was stuck in the middle of the middle section! Not fun, not fun, not fun! Got off the plane in desperate need of a shower!
Arrived at Neve Shalom, about 20-30 minutes from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. This is an interesting place. It is a kibbutz where both Israelis and Palestinians have chosen to live together in peace and understanding. We will be learning more about their community tomorrow. They are throwing a big BBQ (I'm a bit afraid of what they might be BBQing!) for us tomorrow night!
Had dinner tonight. Chicken legs (had an interesting taste . . . I ate one), a cucumber and tomato salad with a olive oil dressing of some kind (pretty good, favorite part of the meal), a very distinctive flavored pickle (one bite was enough), a roasted pickle (got rid of that), a piece of pita bread, some rice and some hummas (humice? hummus, hummoss . . . I don't know how to spell it). Good news . . . I might be losing some weight! But don't worry . . . I brought two 2-lb. bags of peanut M&Ms and some beef jerky!
Had a brief orientation meeting. We leave for Jerusalem and the Temple Mount tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. We'll also go to the Mount of Olives as well as go to the Old City and eat Falafels at an Arab market! Notice how Falafel sounds a lot like 'AWFUL'!!!!! Hope that's not a harbinger (look it up Jonathan, Chris, Jeff, and Matt) of what's to come culinarily speaking!
Well, I better head to bed. I have only slept about 5 hours in the last 48 (4 hours Thursday night . . . getting everything read, you know how it is!) and about an hour sporadically (look it up guys) on the flight!
I'm sorry if my blog is not terribly exciting. I will be letting you know about my simulated dig at TWCA, my real dig here in Israel, and my personal travels, experiences, interspersed with my witty repartee! Maybe something in there somewhere will be interesting, entertaining, or both!
Shalom!
Trey
The flight from Houston to New York wasn't too bad. I med another Tel Gezer digger on the way off the plane, a pastor from Copperas Cove. We hung out and had lunch at Chili's in the airport during out 6 hour lay-over. The bacon burger was a bit dry.
As we were sitting around at the gate area I was lamenting the fact that we would not be able to go into New York and see any sights while we were here. I was hoping to see one of the infamous rats of New York that they are supposedly infested with (according to Seinfeld and other reliable sources). My friend told me to look behind me . . . there on the floor just inside the return air vent (like one of those air condition units you see at some hotels) was a rat, dead on that sticky rat paper! I thought I smelled something special!
Flight from New York to Tel Aviv, non-stop for 10 hours . . . unless of course you don't count the 2 hours we were STOPPED on the tarmac at JFK. Our pilot let us know after about 30 minutes that there was a traffic jam (with planes?) and we were number 60 to depart! About 3 hours into the flight it seemed like time was standing still . . . I think I actually saw the minute hand on my watch going backwards!
Met another 10-12 Tel Gezer Diggers on the plane. I was stuck in the middle of the middle section! Not fun, not fun, not fun! Got off the plane in desperate need of a shower!
Arrived at Neve Shalom, about 20-30 minutes from Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv. This is an interesting place. It is a kibbutz where both Israelis and Palestinians have chosen to live together in peace and understanding. We will be learning more about their community tomorrow. They are throwing a big BBQ (I'm a bit afraid of what they might be BBQing!) for us tomorrow night!
Had dinner tonight. Chicken legs (had an interesting taste . . . I ate one), a cucumber and tomato salad with a olive oil dressing of some kind (pretty good, favorite part of the meal), a very distinctive flavored pickle (one bite was enough), a roasted pickle (got rid of that), a piece of pita bread, some rice and some hummas (humice? hummus, hummoss . . . I don't know how to spell it). Good news . . . I might be losing some weight! But don't worry . . . I brought two 2-lb. bags of peanut M&Ms and some beef jerky!
Had a brief orientation meeting. We leave for Jerusalem and the Temple Mount tomorrow morning at 8:00 am. We'll also go to the Mount of Olives as well as go to the Old City and eat Falafels at an Arab market! Notice how Falafel sounds a lot like 'AWFUL'!!!!! Hope that's not a harbinger (look it up Jonathan, Chris, Jeff, and Matt) of what's to come culinarily speaking!
Well, I better head to bed. I have only slept about 5 hours in the last 48 (4 hours Thursday night . . . getting everything read, you know how it is!) and about an hour sporadically (look it up guys) on the flight!
I'm sorry if my blog is not terribly exciting. I will be letting you know about my simulated dig at TWCA, my real dig here in Israel, and my personal travels, experiences, interspersed with my witty repartee! Maybe something in there somewhere will be interesting, entertaining, or both!
Shalom!
Trey
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Intro: Archaeology Dig!
My name is Trey and I teach Biblical Studies and Latin at The Woodlands Christian Academy in The Woodlands, Texas. I have been awarded a $5,000 grant by Fund for Teachers (http://www.fundforteachers.org/) to engage in a self-designed professional study abroad. I have chosen to participate in the Tel Gezer Project which is a joint venture between Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the Israeli Antiquities Authority (as well as other institutions). Here is their website if you would like more information about the project (http://www.gezerproject.org/).
I leave in a few days and will be gone for 5 weeks! During my time in Israel I will be working on an archaeology dig located on the site of the 10th century Judean city of Gezer. During my time at Gezer I will be studying archaeology theory, principles, and methodology so that I can teach an archaeology course at my school (TWCA). I am in the process of building a 50' x 50' simulated dig site on our campus. It will have 3 layers/strata of artifacts and features that fit 3 eras of Israelite history. Our students will uncover, extricate, identify, and report on their findings.
More to come later . . .
I leave in a few days and will be gone for 5 weeks! During my time in Israel I will be working on an archaeology dig located on the site of the 10th century Judean city of Gezer. During my time at Gezer I will be studying archaeology theory, principles, and methodology so that I can teach an archaeology course at my school (TWCA). I am in the process of building a 50' x 50' simulated dig site on our campus. It will have 3 layers/strata of artifacts and features that fit 3 eras of Israelite history. Our students will uncover, extricate, identify, and report on their findings.
More to come later . . .
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