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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
