Day of the Ruins

Today was our chance to explore all around the Sea of Galilee.

Capernaum:
So much history here! Incredibly, Peter ' s house was in continual use and had been expanded over the years to accommodate the growing gathering of believers. In the fourth century an octagonal church was built on the site which surrounded and included the original room.

Today a church is both built and suspended over the original room, and has a glass floor you can see through.

The whole town of Capernaum had been built of hewn basalt. What a spectacular sight that must have been--a jet black city set on a hill of golden waves of wheat.

As Dave and I sat there, taking in the Sea of Galilee, its waves lapping up against the stone beach reminded us of the sounds of Lake Peysenski in Park Rapids, Minnesota.

The Franciscan monks own 3/4s of Capernaum. The Greek Orthodox own the other 1/4. They haven't done much with their site except use the ancient grinding stones as flower pots. They had peacocks on their grounds, and had built a really lovely church with gorgeous frescoes and iconography inside. There was a service taking place as we entered, fascinating ritual and chants, with bells and incense, votive candles and food offerings.

Chorazim:
We pretty much had this site to ourselves. The main building was a synagogue with the seat if Moses in it. Strangely, Hellenistic motifs showed in the decorative carving, such as Medusa ' s head.

As we contemplated these ruins dozens of 'rock rabbits' came scampering out of their hiding places, the lizards came out to the sun themselves, we could hear the bees humming in the shade trees, and even saw a young fox run through.

Remember Matthew 11:20-24..."Woe to you, Chorazin..."

Magdala:
Again, we had the place to ourselves. This is where Mary Magdalena came from. Here we saw three mikvah (ancient Jewish ritual cleansing baths of 'living,' or flowing water). There was also a modern church with a gorgeous malachite floor made to resemble flowing water, with real flowing water in the backdrop. On top was a full size boat serving as altar.

The Jesus Boat, Golan Heights Winery, and Bethsaida

Tiberias

Am lying down in Room 1 of a wonderful little place called the Aliyah Return Center. It's on Yohanan ben Zakai 1, Tiberias, Israel, within a 3 minute walk down to the Sea of Galilee. They are a Christian organization existing to help Jews return to Israel--read 'Zionist Dispensationalists.' I LOVE them!!

We had a great last dig yesterday; Dave and I got to do water sieving, washing pottery, and working in our own fine grids. I finally found my own wine jug and named it "JARoboam I," and Dave found a wine jug too: "JAR-fleet Academy." We collapsed happily in our beds.

After breakfast this morning, and warm goodbyes to the Tel Kabri crew, we headed over to the 'Jesus Boat.' Utterly fascinating!

Next was the Golan Heights and the third largest winery in Israel. It is truly lovely country up there; we could clearly see Israel is never going to hand this beautiful land back to Syria. (And they shouldn't. The Golan Heights are well within the boundaries of the Promised Land.)

We had already decided to eat or dinner at an award-winning restaurant (named Auberge Shulamit) tucked away in the Rosh Pina mountain range. On our way we saw a turn-off for Bethsaida. We were amazed at how beautifully the site has been restored.  It is still an active archeological excavation, but now we could recognize the equipment and some of their methods.

I already miss Tel Kabri! They're going to start removing the pots on Monday or Tuesday, and we're going to miss it. On the other hand, Dr. Eric Cline will keep it well recorded on the Tel Kabri Excavations 2015 Facebook page.

We Have WiFi!

Yesterday Dave uncovered a beautiful wine jug and part of the palace floor, and today uncovered another amphora. One of the archeologists told Dave he was "a natural," and he really is. He's contributed major skills this week.

I've also been able to at least articulate some of the amphorae, and make myself useful in other ways (like carrying buckets of soil to Dirt Mountain).

Yesterday the team decided to take down an avocado tree next to the site and brought in a tractor to dig out the roots. Next the grad student team (called "The Participants") excavated a large new area and set up a canopy. And...they found a pot!

Assaf exclaimed that in all the 28 years of his career at excavation sites he has never seen a team accomplish what they did--from flat ground to found artifact in one day. Naturally they were resting on their laurels at dinner when the announcement was made.

Dave and I decided to transfer from the Field School to The Participants next day.

So this morning--4:15 a.m.--we were up 'n' at 'em, admired their work then proceeded to unearth at least a dozen more wine jugs before we knocked off at 1 p.m. We're going to stay with the Participants tomorrow, looks like, wash our last round of pottery, dig the last round for the week, then hang out with the archeologists one last time before we head off to Tiberias.

We really felt sore muscles today! After lunch, showers, and Motrin, we took a walk along the Med, sat on the weathered stones, rested, and enjoyed the sound, color and sweet aroma of this ancient sea

The Day of the Wine Amphorae

This morning seemed leisurely with breakfast at 8 a.m., washing pottery and bone fragments at 9 a.m. and attending a workshop on reading pottery fragments at 10 a.m. Assaf, one of the two archeologists on the team, invited everyone who was interested to stay as he went through the rest of the previous day's finds. Working with him was his post doc, Alexandra.

After lunch we want to the dig site and stood amazed at all the progress made by the second shift (which dug yesterday afternoon and this morning). Fifteen wine amphorae have now been unearthed, all in various stages of being broken--by earthquake? Fire? (We've been finding charcoal at regular intervals.) Invasion?

Dave and I worked in another section of the site, 'articulating' the 'fine sites' where the amphorae are lying. It is with meticulous and patient care that an area is articulated, painstakingly scraping one thin layer after another of dirt.

It was absolutely electrifying to see these wine jars slowly emerging from the earth where they have lain hidden for literally 3,500 years. The last eyes to see them were Canaanites living in antiquity.  As I placed my hand on the side of the wine jar next to me, I thought of the last hand to touch it, the hand just before mine, an ancient hand, spanning millennia to make contact with mine. What was that person thinking about as they adjusted this wine jar, balancing it into place with all its companion vessels? What must it have been like for them to live in this beautiful palace of long ago?

Also uncovered today was the white plaster floor, still smooth and lovely, preserved against all odds. The students bantered back and forth about how they would name the jars ("SidJARtha, JARkovsky, JARdonnay" along with "Fred," and other arcane offerings. They are wildly intelligent, all of them, and good company.

Tonight we all sat around in the grass and talked about Biblical Archeology. I spoke for the importance of the Bible and the practicality of using it as a reference. I also said people (those who are offended by the phrase 'Biblical' Archeology) do well to disengage their emotions from it, because it truly is a remarkable and unique document which still gets a wide readership. The Bible is a bridge between regular people and archeology.

Tomorrow morning it's 4:15 for us again, and a workshop on how to work a "fine site" in the afternoon. The time is going do fast!!

Tel Kabri

3:35 a.m. and we were up 'n' at 'em! For once jet lag was in our favor. We had a cup of hot coffee, bread and peanut butter, then on the bus and out the gate by 4:45 a.m. 

Our task as newbies was to excavate a wall using pick axes, enormous hoes, trowels, brushes, and the best dust pans I've ever seen.

Hundreds of black buckets were stacked along the trenches, and honestly, we filled those bad boys up again and again with rocks and dirt.

(Note to self: working out would have been a good way to prepare for archeological excavations)

Along with us were Mike and Dave, two enterprising young men who knew just how to work it. A little later came a 70 year old native Jewish man, sinewy and tanned, who inspired us to keep up our pace.

Assaf, the Israeli archeologist partnered with Dr. Cline, oversaw our efforts, and identified whatever we found--pieces of pottery, charcoal, flint, charred bone, and half of an ancient olive pit.

In the trench next to us, the team uncovered the tops of four enormous wine jars, exactly what we're supposed to be unearthing this season.

Breakfast was at 8 a.m., three hours after working had commenced, and was the usual buffet of tuna, olives, lebneh, quiche, cheese, and cut veggies. We took a fruit break at 11 a.m. (peaches); both breaks were very welcome.

We came home to lunch at 1:30 p.m. (more Israeli buffet, this time including roasted eggplant and a few other sundry dishes which were absolutely delicious), while the second shift geared up to head out to the dig.

Dave and I took after-lunch showers then collapsed on our beds for a nap. We slept like rocks (nyuk nyuk) for a solid two hours, then sat in lawn chairs in the field school's garden, taking in the ocean breeze coming from the Med just a humdrum meters away.  We hung out with the young Phds, Dodi (Israeli), who was on our team tagging all the artificats, and a young woman archeologist whose team we'll be on tomorrow.

Permission is limited for photographs of the site, but hopefully tomorrow or the next day Dave and can get a tour of the areas we are allowed to shoot.

Tomorrow we'll wash the pottery we found today, then get a workshop on archeological pottery care and dating. Tonight Eric Cline gave a fascinating lecture on Biblical Archeology, and I remembered all over gain why this is such an exciting adventure!! Dave and I uncovered a wall hidden for four thousand years. Imagine! Can't wait to see what else is under all that dirt.

The students are a very enjoyable mix of men and women, from a variety of disciplines and universities. Today, as Assaf surveyed our excavation,  he remarked, "This is really such a nice group. Not every year is like this year. You all really get along so nicely."

Thank You, God, for Your presence here with us.

Akko

What a beautiful day! "Akko," We learned, is the place God said to the sea, "Stop here," during the creation of the world.

A delicious Mediterranean breakfast (halvah, Turkish coffee, pickled beets, fresh melon, all variety of cheeses, salads, olives, pita, lebnah, yoghurt, hummus...) and a shower later, we walked through the Turkish bazaar.

We found some some special presents for our girls (oooOOOOOOooo \o.O/ what could it be???).

Later we visited a mosque founded by a man known as The Butcher. By his description, he really was! But the mosque was quite lovely, with a story about Muhammad's move from Mechanics to Medina carved into the marble and painted Robin ' s egg blue, all around the arches throughout the room.

The Crusaders built a strong fortress here,    and to this day it remains both sturdy and beautiful.

Afterwards we headed to the field school where we'll be staying for the week, and took a walk along the Med.

Really excited about tomorrow! They've found jars!!!