It wasn’t too long ago I shared with you that we hit floor in our square, and I now have good news. WE HIT FLOOR AGAIN! In a completely different square (it was the one right next to us where the lintel stone is over the doorway)! It was the square that Tallel (the tractor operator that is sometimes able to come help us) moved most of the large rocks out of, which made a HUGE difference. With those rocks out of there we were able to move a good pace, just chew through the dirt (though we did run into a few obstacles of the stone variety) and hit floor (despite some reservations a few of us had about that actually happening). Needless to say, I am quite satisfied. Which reminds me of something Arthur said (the leader of the Haifa team). When he came and saw the squares my team and our other team next door had cleared, he was very impressed and told Dr. Schuler, “No Israeli team could have done that”. It felt good to hear that, to get some validation of the hard work we had done from an unbiased source.
With my time here in Israel quickly coming to an end I’ve begun doing some reflecting, and I must say that I have really enjoyed my time here. I’ve enjoyed the people (granted most of us have gotten a little annoyed with one another at least once), the places, the work (and the breaks), and most of the food. I’ve had experiences and opportunities that I would not have otherwise had. This is not a trip I will soon forget. And, I think I’ll write more on this topic towards the end of the week. That is all for now.
God’s peace
One of the changes that has taken place in my life as a result of this dig is that I have come to greatly appreciate cloudy skies. One may ask “Why would you like cloudy skies, when the bright blue sky and shinning sun is so beautiful?” , and I would respond by saying that no clouds equals blistering heat with little reprieve which makes for very unfortunate digging conditions. So, when I walk up the mountain in the morning and see the clouds, I’m a happy camper…that is until they completely disappear after breakfast and out pours the heat upon us. Now on to general dig news.
Before breakfast was pretty slow, just hauling dirt from within and around the window wall between my square and the one immediately adjacent. After breakfast things picked up (including the heat) and after hauling a few large rocks in the wheel barrow and numerous reasonably full wheel barrows, I was getting tired. Fortunately we had one of the two tractor operators at the dig helping us today, which meant we (and by “we” I mean “he”) were able to move at least a weeks worth of rock.That said, with the punishing heat and the fact that this week is the last push to the end, the last couple of hours were pretty brutal. But, as usual I survived. In one of our team’s other squares there was an inscription found in the tesera floor, which was exciting for Dr. Schuler, and the rest of the team I suppose (even though we haven’t all seen it yet. This afternoon, we have pottery washing scheduled at 5:00 and our church service at 6. Other than that I suppose I’ll probably just relax, hangout, watch some Top Gear or read.
God’s peace
Today marks the first day of our first free weekend (unless you count yesterday which was the last day of the work week). Today a few of us went to Tiberius this morning to do some shopping and walking around. It was decent, but nothing special. I did procure a CD of Israeli rock from the 90’s which is something I thought would be fun to have, therefore I bought it. We came back, some of us went swimming. We played cards and now I’m just kind of hanging out before supper. We may sit out on the beach and watch the sunset tonight, which I thoroughly enjoy and it makes me wish I had a beach to go to every night. Alas I do not, but I do have a place to go eat on THIS night, so I am going to take advantage of that.
God’s peace
Since we finished revealing the floor in my square yesterday (at least everything other than what was under the bulk), we set to removing the bulk today to completely clear the square and gain access to the doorway below the lintel we discovered last week (at least I think it was last week). The bulk is the part of earth that we did not dig out so that we had a platform to lift buckets up to and to put wheel barrows on. Removing the bulk made for a long day of hard heavy lifting, bucket tossing, wheel barrow dumping, but it was good (even though we didn’t finish yet). While removing the bulk we did find some nice pottery and glass pieces, and very ornate capital (the piece that goes on top of a pillar) which was exciting since we had not found a capital that nice until now. Other than that today was a pretty usual day. We got up at around 4:15, got digging shortly after 5:00, closed up shop a little early today (around 11:30), went swimming, got sunburned (for only the second time), cleaned pottery (which I enjoy cause we just get to sit around and chat while scrubbing pieces of pottery), had our devotion, and now I think I’m going to sit outside and read a little bit. Stay tuned for updates (which will probably include revisiting the Jerusalem and Bethlehem touring so that I can get you all up to speed on that).
God’s peace
Well, I’m still behind and after having tried and failed (whether it be a result of computer malfunction, or running into time conflicts with other things going on, or just getting distracted by other stuff) a number of times to sit down and get caught up, I’m just going to go forward from the most recent big events and hopefully get caught up with the other stuff before the end of the month.
This past weekend we visited Qumran, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found (or as Dr. Schuler would say, “Dead Sea scraps”, since most of what is left is mere remnants of the original scrolls), Ein Gedi Nature Reserve and National Park, the Dead Sea (let’s just say there is nothing like floating in 33% salinated water), and Masada (Herod’s fortress where the Jewish revolt against the Romans died).
Qumran was pretty interesting. It is pretty cool to have been able to see where these Dead Sea Scrolls I’ve heard so much about actually came from. It was interesting, too, to learn about the community that existed in the area. This community was composed mostly Jewish zealots (I suppose I could call them that) who went out to the desert to prepare for the final battles. (They thought there would be 7 battles between “good” and “evil” with each side winning three and the final battle being won by good when Jesus returns and fights on their side. Of course the battles never took place and eventually the communities disbanded.) We walked around the the excavated community reading the signs that described things, and then listening to what Dr. Schuler really thought they were. From Qumran we departed and headed for Ein Gedi.
Ein Gedi was awesome. There was a nice hike up the mountain to the different falls (although on the way down I did smoke my head on a tree branch, but thankfully my thick skull protected me well) where we got to swim in a little pool beneath one of the beautiful waterfalls and had some spectacular views. We also got to see some ibex on the nature preserve (which was cool, since there weren’t any fences or anything separating us). What I found especially exciting (not jumping for joy exciting like the camel ride, but just a cool thing) was that in addition to seeing the falls and some of the nature preserve we got see a synagogue with a zodiac made out of tesera on the floor. (Tesera is the little squares of stone used to make mosaics. This type of mosaic in a synagogue is the only one of its kind in the world.) We also got to see the site where Dr. Schuler’s digging adventures began 10 or 11 years ago. Then, from Ein Gedi we headed over to the Dead Sea, which is definitely one of my favorite experiences from the trip (we also had lunch somewhere in there).
The Dead Sea is so named (as many of you may know) because of its high salt content which does not allow anything to live in the water. Yet, that same high salt content that prevents the development of life can be A LOT of fun. Before arriving at the Dead Sea we talked a little bit about what it was going to be like, but I still didn’t really know what to expect. When I entered the water, I was not disappointed. As soon as I got far enough out that my feet were not touching I just bobbed in the water. I could literally sit back, put my feet up and float effortlessly without putting my head in the water and getting it all in my ears (there was actually a warning sign that specifically said not to put one’s head under the water). I could run in the water (the Dead Sea would be an ideal location for water aerobics) and actually move forward. Really the only thing that I “struggled” with was sometimes staying stable, because I was so buoyant. Well there was one other down side, which was that I immediately became very aware of every single nick or scratch on my body. In summary (of the Dead Sea visit), I’ve never experienced anything like it and probably never will again, unless I go to space. After the Dead Sea, we settled into the youth hostile we were staying at that night (which was way nicer than I thought it would be).
At the youth hostile we had a great dinner (probably the best meal I’ve had since I’ve been in Israel), our devotion, lead by Kyle, then had the evening to ourselves. I mention the devotion because, in addition to it being a well done devotion, we concluded it with singing the Doxology. In that small room crowded full of 22 people all we could hear were voices in unison lifting up simple praises to God, and it was awesome. The following day we climbed Masada (at least some of us did) and let’s just say it wasn’t all praises coming forth from my mouth.
Climbing Masada is one of the most intense physical feats I’ve ever done. It must have been about 10,000 degrees Celsius outside (perhaps a slight exaggeration) the mountain is about 1000 feet tall (no exaggeration there) and the snake path was incredibly steep in places. When we got to the top, though (Dylan, Dr. Marrs (a professor from St. Louis Seminary who came on the dig with his wife), and I made the ascent in about 28min. The average time for someone in good shape is about 40min.), I felt a real rush of adrenaline (I think they call it a runner’s high) and totally thought it was worth it. We explored Masada for a little while, looking at all the buildings including the two palaces Herod had up there, and learned more about the Jewish Zealots who made their last stand there during the Jewish Revolt. We then headed back to the kibbutz to relax a little and then head to bed before work in the morning.
Now for a synopsis of the work week thus far. The square I’m working finally finished uncovering our floor, two other squares our team is working in found mosaic floors (one with an inscription in it), and in my square we thought we may have found a tomb, but Dr. Schuler now thinks it is more likely a stylobate (a piece of architecture designed to hold up columns on the side of a road). (The building in my square exists where there once was a road.) And that’s just about it for now (or at least the major stuff). I still hope to get caught up, but this post is probably long enough.
God’s peace
Wow, its been a long time since my last blog post, and between then and now A LOT has happened, or at least it seems that way. On account of how much happened over the past week or so I’m having trouble deciding where to start, so I think I’ll just start typing and we’ll go from there.
The first big events that come to mind are the trips we took to Jerusalem and Bethlehem, therefore that is where I will start. We left last Thursday at around 2:30 in the afternoon and drove to Jerusalem (it was about a two hour ride). On the way we stopped at a gas station for bathroom breaks and to buy water or snacks or whatever people wanted, you know, just part of the typical routine for going on a decently long drive. BUT, what wasn’t typical was that this gas station/rest stop had a…wait for it…CAMEL! YES! A CAMEL! For those of you that do not know, riding a camel is one of the things I really wanted to do while in Israel (and something I just wanted to do sometime in my life), but after speaking with Dr. Schuler it sounded like I might not be able to. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this gas station just so happened to have a camel or two in stock. Even though it was just a walk around the parking lot, it was still awesome (I would like to go on an actual Camel ride through the desert some time though). We reloaded the bus and departed for Jerusalem. After 2 hours or so we arrived in Jerusalem and walked to our hotel.
Upon entering the lobby I was immediately impressed by my surroundings (and the complimentary orange juice). The structure of the building was stone, all the furniture was fancy shmancy, the light fixtures were quite ornate, there was nice art work on the on the walls. It made me think of some middle eastern palace or something (I don’t remember if I got a picture of it on facebook, but if I didn’t you can see a picture of it on Kyle’s flickr page at, flickr.com/kylesorkness). Upon entering my room (I didn’t actually have my own room, but shared one with Kyle and Dylan), even the floor my room was on, I was, shall we say, slightly less impressed (pictures of the room are also on Kyle’s flickr). Alas, it was not a big deal since we didn’t come to Israel to spend time in our hotel room. And on the that note this post progress into some of our Jerusalem adventures.
Dr. Schuler packed a lot into our day and a half in Jerusalem, we saw a great many things, heard a great deal of information, and learned a lot (or at least had the opportunities to learn lots, unfortunately I did not retain a lot of it. Perhaps over time it will come back to me). The first stop (after the hotel) during our adventures in Jerusalem was the place where Jesus was tried sentenced before Pilate. Now, I expected/hoped for this to be a really emotional/powerful experience, and reasonably so I would say. Unfortunately that is not what happened. Instead I regarded it with a degree of indifference. That is to say, I didn’t really feel a powerful emotional response, which was slightly disappointing at first. While sitting there though, I had a thought. And that thought was this, intially it seems appropriate to be a in a sort of melancholy mood, sitting in the place where my Savior, by no fault of his own, was sentenced to a horrific death as part of paying the penalty for MY sin;yet a feeling of exuberance also seems appropriate. I had that thought while watching some Jewish boys playing soccer, having fun and enjoying themselves just 20 meters in front of me on the same property. The death of Jesus was not in vain. He died and ROSE again, thereby conquering sin and death giving us freedom from it’s tyranny and eternity in relationship with Him, which is certainly cause for rejoicing. And on that note, I think I’m going to take a break from recapping, because we have to move to another building tomorrow so I have to pack up all my stuff and I may or may not have started yet. I’ll follow this up with further recap and try to get you all caught up. Off to pack.
God’s peace
Today was pretty successful. Started the day with a B.E.A.UITIFUL sunrise and of course the awesome view that we get to enjoy everyday. We found a stone with some, what we think to be Greek, inscriptions on it, and some pillars, a base, and a capital. At the end of the day I felt no where near as exhausted or sore as I did yesterday (well, to be honest it wasn’t extremely different, but I did feel better today and I just think it sounded better saying it the way I did). All that said, there were some unfortunate aspects of the day. 1) the fact that we got to see beautiful sunrise meant that there were no clouds in the sky which of course means more heat (thankfully we have the net over our digging site) 2)Well, to be honest that was the only real downside in my opinion; we had a few other difficulties but nothing we could not over come. Oh, and another pretty cool thing that happened today was that our food guy (apparently a lot better than the guy last year) brought us not only some fruit (which he has done almost every day we are digging), BUT he also brought us some popsicles which were very delicious (partly due to the heat, and partly due to that fact that they were just good flavors). And that’s the broad summery of today’s work, so yeah, over all the work day was successful. We moved a bunch of rock and dirt, found some cool stuff, and got popsicles.
Back at the Kibutz, the afternoon and evening were pretty successful as well. Lunch was good (got hamburgers), swimming was fun (for the most part), supper was decent (actually it wasn’t that great), gotta watch the sunset with friends (new and old), went for a late night swim, hung out with some people from the University of Haifa team, and will hopefully get to sleep earlier tonight.
God’s peace
one-point-great asked: Why have you not signed up for a Krav Maga lesson?
haha, I don’t know if that is going to be an option on this trip. BUT, we’ll see.
loflifelcms asked: David,
Jim Rogers here. I have been on the Hippos dig seven times, but obviously not this year. I am curious as to what square you are digging in where you found the wall. Give my best to Darryll, John, and JimJim. FYI, JimJim became JimJim so as to not be confused with me in previous years.
Hey Jim, nice to hear from one of the experienced diggers from digs past. I don’t remember exactly which square we are working on, but I’ll try to remember to find out and let you. I’ll give your best to Darryll, John and Jim Jim. And, thanks for the information about Jim Jim, because I had actually been wondering that.
I don’t really know how to respond or send new questions on here, but I’ll try it like this. In response to your question about what square I am working in, I believe it is F10.
