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