These dig days start at 420a when my alarm goes off and I go up to breakfast at 430a. I have cucumbers some green peppers and a bowl of cereal. We get our lunches from the moshav which aren't bad. We get some bread, chips, and some fruit. I take some cheese from breakfast and we have some peanut butter. We try to leave Yad Hashmonah at 5a and as we are getting to the site, Khirbet el-Maqatir, we see the sun rising over Jordan. Khirbet el-Maqatir is what the site's modern name and the archaeologists are arguing to be the Ai of Joshua.
When we get to the site we get our equipment, which is stored in the shed of some Arabs who are letting us store our stuff there. We get digging around 615-645a. There are five different areas at Khirbet el-Maqatir that people are digging at. I'll be talking about mine, since I'm digging there.
At my square they dug a test trench to see what they found and they found a large stone, which means that it is a wall. So my square is seeing what we can find around that wall. Monday we were pretty meticulous with our work not taking much dirt out. Tuesday, since we found cobble-like stones going over the wall we sped up work to see the extent of it in our square. They aren't sure why they were put there or what they are for, but they were made to be level, but it goes over the wall, which is interesting. Today we removed those cobble stones and dug along the wall. The wall is defined by the biggest stone. What we found today is that some other big pieces (not as big as the big one) are on top and next to the wall. We had a prominent archaeologist, Shimon Gibson, come by the site. From the pottery we had in our bucket he said that the site can date back to the Middle Bronze Age. At the end of these last two days (and the following days) we get a giraffe's view of our square photographed by the photographer.
What is nice is that we have shade things we put up and there is a wind blowing almost always. Its a lot of squatting, sitting, and kneeling (I do the least of kneeling because it'll make the knees worse later). Anyway, we work until 1030a and have lunch until around 1115a. We work until 2p and then we take all the equipment and put it back in the shed. On the way back to Yad Hashmonah we stop off at an Israeli settlement where we can buy an ice cream from the grocery store, and the first two days I've gotten Magnum bars, very good ice cream bars. When we get back here we have to wash our pottery that we found which takes about until 330-415p (it goes longer as more pottery is found). After that I work out since I need to stay in good shape. I workout in the same area I worked out in during IBEX. Yesterday I included a run that went from the IBEX dorms to the Neve Ilan Hotel, then to the gate of the monastery at Kiryat Ye'arim (it was closed) and back, which was a 5mi run, almost half of it being uphill. I then go to dinner, which starts at 6p. We then have a lecture that goes from 7-8p and then I'm free.
I came into this dig not expecting much and much has not happened, so I'm not disappointed. What I'm doing is how most people do archaeology. Most people do archaeology by paying money and using their time to go do their work. No one makes a living doing it. Most of the head guys are teachers. To me, having to pay a bit of money to do long days of the work we are doing, with not much return (of course no monetary return), does not seem to be worth something to get into for me too seriously. People have too much of a romantic view of archeology...thanks Indiana Jones! I really do like archeology though for its scientificness. Just as we use science to discover what God does in his creation archaeology is a way we can see the places history took place, and gain a deeper insight to history. Its also nice to point people to these evidences archeology gives us to show them that the actual places and names in the Bible exist.
I'm not 100% against not wanting to do archeology. Yesterday, I was talking with a younger guy that is not a part of the group who is getting his PhD in Archeology and from other digs he has been on this dig is not too exciting. So I'm not experiencing the best. Who knows, maybe I might do digs in the future but not too often (I think the majority of the group does 1-2 digs a year).
The people I'm working with, with the exception of three are all old...like 50s and 60s. I'm quite surprised that they do all the work we do, not that its super hard, but its not the easiest (with all that sitting and whatnot my back is tired for the length of time we work). My square supervisor, an older guy, asked me on the way back today if I wanted to go to Petra with him on Sunday. That is something I've been wanting to do and am willing to do, but then he was talking with others to see how long it would take. Yes it would be a long day, but I would much rather do it with someone else than by myself. So we'll see.
Work from Monday. REMEMBER the trench exposing the big wall rock was done last year.
Work from Tuesday
Work from Wednesday
1 comment:
Sounds like you are "digging" your trip. I remember the ice cream also -- very good ice cream. You will enjoy Petra if you get to go.
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