First Week of Excavations

Tuesday was first day of actually digging. At first, I had mixed feelings. There was almost no instruction on what to do. For me, that is challenging and frustrating because I prefer having direction and learning how to do something before getting thrown in to something.  I was afraid I would miss something, break something, or some how mess up. However, I was able to get over it.

I wake up at 4:45 am so I am ready to go for when the bus leaves at 5:30. We arrive to the site a little before 6. When we get to the site, people volunteer for breakfast duty and pottery washing. We go to the tool shed and collect the tools for the site, trowels, brushes, backhoes, small shovels, etc. When we get to the dig area, we set up the tarp for shade. We work until 9 when we break for breakfast near the tool shed. We go back to work at 9:45. At 11:00, we have a popsicle break. We start cleaning up around 12:15 pm so we can take the bus back to the kibbutz at 12:30. When we get back, we have lunch. At 4:30, we have pottery reading.  We go to dinner at 7 and lecture is 8 pm.

The area I am working in is known as A-west. Where I am working, there is a Hellenistic/Roman wall. We were trying to find out if the wall continues but we are still unsure. Today, we possibly noticed an Iron Age wall. However, Phil, a Beduin human skeleton that disturbed the area, is making excavating the square more difficult. The potential Iron Age wall goes under the end of his tomb.  However, we can joke about Phil. We make jokes about him being the laziest worker.  There is another square in A-west that is working with several different walls and looking for a pavement, which we believe we begun to find it. This square has the challenge of being near a former Syrian trench. Most of the finds are pottery shards and bones, however in our area we have found a glass bead, a piece of glass, part of a glass bracelet, an amber bead, and several shells. We also run into different items relating to the Syrians and the Six Day War.

In the afternoon, we are free to whatever we would like to in the afternoon. I have swam in the Sea of Galilee a few times or have just relaxed. At pottery readings, we go through the previous day's pottery finds. Most are just body shards, however there are rims, bases, legs, and handles. The rims can be used to determine the type and the date. Decorations can be used to date as well. Slowly, I am catching on but there is a lot to learn.

On site, I have learned a lot! Tuesday, I learned how to take elevations manually which requires two people. One person as the special measuring stick, and the other looks through the sight for the measurement. Wednesday, I learned how to take elevations with the laser, which only requires one person. The laser stands at a specific point and the special measuring stick has a piece that when the laser gets close to the right height it beeps and when it is at the right height it is a continuous tone. I also learned how to keep the daily log which I applied the next day. The daily log has records the date, the area, the loci, the level (elevation), the strata, the squares, and the baskets. There is also a place for describing what is being done in the locus and a place for finds. On Thursday, Dr. Carl Savage, the actual site supervisor, had me be the site supervisor. I had to keep the daily log, prepare the tags for the find buckets, and mark the bone bags. I also recorded the special finds, because they are marked as a separate basket. Today, I was the site supervisor again. I learned how to make the maps of the squares.

Others excavating come from Holland, Australia, Poland, Canada, and of course the United States. Some of the students are undergraduates, some are in seminary, and others are on a gap year. Some are here for the more archaeological aspect while others are here for the more biblical aspect. With people coming from diverse backgrounds, we have wonderful conversations.