Life in the Trenches–Ashkelon Grid 16

First of all, we would like to thank our readers for their interest in our photo product–we had a wonderful time putting it together during our Vagabonding Tour, and it is now linked in our sidebar if you would like more information.  As today marks our 2nd Independence Day in Ashkelon, we would like to describe what life has been like for Rebekah for the past 4 weeks.

One of the exciting aspects of field archaeology is the various experiences available: occupation levels, the nature of finds, even the methods used can vary depending on where you are digging, and what you are digging for. Last season, I had the opportunity to work in Grid 38, where we carefully traced floors and occasionally broke out the delicate tools to flake up layers of phytolith (vestiges of organic materials like baskets or grain) or carefully pedestal beautiful Philistine artifacts. However, this season, I have been in the new Grid 16. Together with my old supervisor and a new team of volunteers, we have been excavating a step trench in the North Tel of Ashkelon.

The step trench is an excavation method in which the team digs a trench into a hill or slope of a tel (or rampart) to explore the occupation levels by excavating graduated levels from top to bottom—creating a visual stairway from the latest occupation to the earliest. For us, this was a steep bit on the side of what was at first assumed to be a Crusader-era moat by our friend Richard Cornwall.

Looking from the North Tel across the “moat.”

Our first week was spent transforming what we lovingly termed “The Waterslide,” a flat, slippery grade cleared by heavy equipment, into two squares and 6 steps. Over the past 4 weeks, those steps have been deconstructed and reconstructed as massive amounts of dirt have been dug and dumped by our team, fluctuating from 8 volunteers to 6, plus our two intrepid supervisors. And in those 4 weeks, we have articulated a fantastic tumbled down tower, cleaned out an early-Islamic water channel, sorted through many hundreds of years worth of assorted and intersecting garbage pits, and lovingly cleaned several courses of an Early Bronze Age mudbrick wall.

Grid 16–Week 1

Grid 16–Week 4

Each day is strenuous, as we use large tools like pickaxes and turias to move dirt into gufas and buckets (which we then haul out). And after the big messes are cleaned up, our task is to brush the loose soil off our area to reveal pit or mortar lines (this is an art—it’s really all in the wrist). But it’s exciting. We’re not treasure hunting, and would have been sorely disappointed so far if we were. But we’re seeking answers to questions of what parts of the site were inhabited, and by whom and how they lived. The Crusader and Islamic levels have yielded sherds from Cyprus to China and beautifully glazed local pieces. The Byzantine and Roman levels gave us parts of oil lamps and red-glazed ware. Atticware speaks of the Hellenistic age. Most precious of all have been the few ugly sherds of Early Bronze vessels.

Hauling Gufas with a Smile

Through this quest for ancient humanity, you also learn a lot about modern humanity. You live in a land with foreign customs and politics, and learn to navigate and understand them. You also get to watch a rag-tag bunch of near-strangers from all walks of life evolve into a battle-hardened team unified by pride, mutual respect, and the occasional baked goods.

Grid 16 Family Photo

Grid Foxes of Ashkelon

One of the fun things about traveling is enjoying the ecology of other lands.  For example, Trent’s fox in Grid 20, where they are exploring the Islamic and Crusader fortifications in the “Snake Tower.”  The fellow seems to be an adolescent who is more interested in playing with his rocks and dirt mounds than avoiding humans.  His interest in archaeology has also led to reports of volunteers in the trench looking up to see a fox peering down at them.

Our little friend is part of a long line of Grid Foxes that have graced us with their presence.  The whole family turned out last season to watch us sweat and toil in Grid 38 (and never offered to lend a paw).

Lunch above the “City of Palms”

The past two weeks or so, we’ve been bouncing around Jerusalem and making a few excursions to outlying areas.  Yesterday was one of those excursions, and a kickin’ lunch view to boot.

Enter Tel es-Sultan, Jericho, City of Palms, and the Mt. of Temptation (the first three being the same, the later is a separate entity).

Tel es-Sultan, as the site of Biblical Old Testament Jericho, has seen excavations by some of the biggest names in archeological history.  Seemingly fitting, along with the big names, it has also been a site of flashy archaeological debate for many years.  We shall not go into flashy debate items here.  Our intent is to provide a few high level shots of the site (pun intended), relate its setting to Biblical texts, and provide insight to the good food at the mountain next door 🙂

The shots below were taken from the “Mt. of Temptation,” just west of Jericho.  As the name implies, this is the traditional location where Jesus was “tempted” by the devil (Matthew 4), and a Greek Orthodox monastery atop the mountain is perched there to remember this tradition (this tradition has no relation to Old Testament history).

From the photos blow, you can see the setting (albeit through the desert summer haze), a good visual backdrop to verses mentioning geographical and physical aspects of Jericho’s setting it in Biblical texts.  A word about the cables in the photos later in the post.

Jericho and Jordan Valley from Mt. of Temptation

Closer shot of the Jericho tel from the Mt. of Temptation. The building that is most prominent, between the cables just before they reach the tower, is just in front of the tel. The tel is what appears to be a long sandy/grayish hill or mound. It extends slightly to the right, you can see a second gondola/cable tower (with gondolas just in front of it) covering the southern edge of the tel. It extends left to the group of buildings at the end.

Numbers 22:1- “Then the children of Israel moved, and camped in the plains of Moab on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho –“

From the angle of the first photo, you can see two interesting things.  One is the Jordan River Valley, or the Great Rift Valley as is it sometimes referred to.  In the bottom right corner, you see the edge of the Judean Hill Country dropping off into the Jordan Valley (same mountains from which the photo is shot).  The Jordan River resides in the bottom of the valley, thus, “on the side of the Jordan across from Jericho.”  Number two concerns the north end of the Dead Sea.  It’s hard to see in this photo, again, because of the summer haze, but halfway up the photo on the right side, where the land appears to become sky, a portion of that blue is actually water of the Dead Sea.  This provides another interesting point in that just above the Dead Sea on the other side of the Jordan is known as the “plains of Moab.”  So the “plains of Moab” and “across the Jordan,” are two things we can see in this photo, described from Numbers 22:1.

Deuteronomy 34:3- “…the South, and the plain of the Valley of Jericho, the city of palm trees, as far as Zoar –“

Below is a shot of palm trees from the tel, along with other items of agriculture.  Given the heat and barrenness of this area, you can certainly see were springs of water (or rivers) make a difference, especially when harnessed for irrigation.

Palm trees and other agricultural items from Jericho. You can also see the mountains of Jordan in the background, across the Jordan River Valley.

Joshua 2:16- “And she said to them, ‘Get to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you. Hide there three days, until the pursuers have returned. Afterward you may go your way.’”

This verse is in the context of Joshua sending the spies to Jericho and their interactions with Rahab.  This verse is where she helps them escape after it is suspected by some in the city (who informed the king), that Israelite spies had come to investigate the city.

The photo below is looking south from the Temptation Mount and provides a good profile view of mountains they could have hidden in.  The Judean hills “behind” Jericho to the west would have been a logical hiding place, since the search party would have probably looked east, toward where Israel was encamped across the Jordan.

Profile Shot Looking South of Judean Hills

Lastly, there was a mention above about the cables in the photos from the top Mt. of Temptation.  While Mt. of Temptation has the monastery on the side of the mountain, it also contains a few shops, a restaurant, and a snack bar or two.  How do you get to that spot on the side of the mountain?  Yep, that’s where the cables come into play.  For a nominal fee, you can ride a snazzy set of cable cars up to Mt. of Temptation.  There you will be tempted by an assortment of souvenirs and food.  We failed the food portion of the test, as you see below.

This view show the restaurant in the center, cable cars to the right side, and the monastery staircase is visible to the left along with the edge of the monastery buildings.

Musakhan Chicken- Marinated half chicken, grilled with special summaq, sauteed onion, and served on Tabooun bread

Chicken breast cooked in lemon sauce and tarragon

So, if you ever make it to the top of Mt. Temptation, soak up the views that help you see the surrounding of Jericho and the Jordan Valley, and pay a visit to the Sultan Restaurant.  It’s not as pricy as you would expect, for a touristy restaurant, and provides stunning views of the Jericho and the Jordan Valley (if you can acquire a table out on the terrace).

A Few of Our Favorite (Unexpected) Things

When you walk around Jerusalem, there are lots of things you expect to see. Cathedrals, cats, pilgrims, and mosques—minarets, cramped markets, and fantastic costumes. However, it’s the things that you don’t expect that either escape your notice altogether, or remain indelibly stamped on your psyche forever.

We saw this cute three-wheeler on the hotel roof, but what Spider Man, Mickey Mouse, and Super Lion have to do with one another evades us at the moment.

Spiderman, Mickey, and Super Lion–An Unstoppable Team!

I’m mildly suspicious of a restaurant that claims an authentic Mexican experience, when they misspell the Spanish words.

Not to be mistaken for Pollo Loco.

Who doesn’t fancy a spot of cake? Especially when it’s English!

I would try it, but for fear of crushing disappointment if it turned out to not be delicious cake.

I never expected that one would have to be told this on a crowded, traffic-laden thoroughfare. I’m sure there’s a story behind it, though.

Seriously, don’t play soccer in traffic.

We should probably eat here so that our submersion into the culture will be complete.

What kind of music do they play in there?

Mamma never wanted you to get a tattoo, but how could she say “No” to one that’s from the Holy Land parlor?

How could this not end well?

We really have nothing to add to this one.

A picture worth a thousand words

Checking out the local artwork is always a unique cultural experience.

Jerusalem was celebrating its Formula 1 race.

We saw this painting of the Western Wall, and then realized something important was missing from the cityscape.

While we’re at it, we never thought we’d run into Formula 1 racing in Jerusalem at all.

The track is ready!

Some of the vents are custom made in the Jewish Quarter.

Special vents in the Jewish Quarter

The cats run the gamut—from sleek fat cats to ragged scrappers. Some are just more photogenic than others.

Sort of the feline junior high yearbook photo

And, last, but not least, we’d like to take this opportunity to commemorate the moment our trip took a turn for the horrific. We first ran into this guy in Tiberias in September 2012. About 10 days later, we saw him again near Lachish. Yesterday, we turned the corner around the hotel, and there he was, staring into our souls.

Just when you thought it was safe–Creepy Teddy Bear Stare, Part 3

Project #2: Vagabonding in Israel for 40 Days (or So)

Picture of the Temple Mount from a south view. You may have to click to see the larger image, but from left to right you can see the Temple Mount, with the Old City walls below it, the Kidron Valley, and then the Mount of Olives (green clump of trees on the right). This shot was from June 14th, on a field trip/break day from the dig.

So you may remember from our first post from back in June, as we ramped up the blog again, we had a few “projects” coming up.  Digging in Ashkelon was #1, vagabonding in Israel for about a month is #2.

How did this project develop?  Project #1 is part of a larger endeavor, which will keep us here in Israel until December (more on that later, Project #3).  Project #2 is the in-between time of projects 1&3, about 40 days.

We faced the question of what to do with those 40 days.  Round-trip plane tickets home?  Sounds logical, but as we looked at that price, the question became, “Could we stay in-country for that or less, and visit the major sites in Israel relevant to the Biblical text?” This would be the ancient cities and tells (ancient mounds), not just popular tourist sites, although some of them are.  A little number crunching indicated that it would be close, assuming we used small hotels, hostels, and perhaps even a Bedouin tent :), and in general, lived life on the cheap.

While we dearly love our families, and desire greatly to see you all soon, you know the adventurous spirits we are. Project # 2 it is.

So, while the sun sets on the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon, the sun rises on explorative vagabonding in Israel.

Sunset on the ancient seaport beach of Ashkelon.

Hopefully, we will be able to keep you more up to date with Project #2, as our schedule will be a little more flexible and not quite so intense.

Archaeology Dig- a Day in the Life

Ok, so we have not posted as much as we would like over the course of this dig, and this post will help explain why.   This was also requested in a comment a few weeks ago (!).

4:30 a.m.- Wake up call

Yep, 4:30. Or 4:00, depending on how much you love sleep and how badly you want to be on time for the bus.

4:45 a.m.- First Breakfast

First breakfast is more like a morning snack.  This is what will give you the energy to get on the bus, arrive at the site, and begin making your way to the grid.  This will also carry you through the first 3.5 hours of digging.  Not sure how it is with other digs, but here in our hotel, this breakfast consists of bread and butter, honey or marmalade to spread on the bread, cookies or crackers, coffee, and tea.  We usually have to supplement with fruit and other healthy snacks. This is also when staff members will get their top plans reflecting the previous day’s work.

4:55 a.m. – Bus to site

The 5 am Bus

For our dig, the hotel is only about 1.5-2 miles from the actual dig site, so the ride is just a few minutes. Other folks have longer commutes.

Yes ladies, this is all of 30 minutes from the time you wake up until the time you have traveled to your site….not much time for hair 🙂

5:30 a.m. – Begin digging

While not an official scheduled time, by the time we have entered the “pottery compound” (explained later), retrieved all items needed to dig for the day, made the trek to our grid and set up shop, it’s about 5:30 and the digging commences.

So whether you are tracing floors, using a pick-axe to remove fill, conducting a two-handed trial scrape to expose mortar lines, or using a wheelbarrow to take dirt out of the grid, these first few hours are usually filled with lots of good ol’ fashion manual labor.

Trent brushing after tracing a shell floor.

9:00 a.m. – Second Breakfast

No sound as sweet as the breakfast call…

Given the name of this time period, we feel a little like hobbits (pun intended).  Anyway, since the 4:45 breakfast is not super substantial and you have worked 3 hard hours of manual labor (and it’s another four hours until lunch), you need breakfast again.  With this breakfast, you have your breads and spreads again, but throw in a few more items like cereals, yogurt, and a little protein (tuna and eggs–it’s not kosher to mix your meat and dairy).  Interestingly enough, tuna sandwiches on hoagie style rolls are a typical breakfast item here.  It may sound a little odd, but it’s really not that bad.

9:30 – Back to digging

Just before breakfast, did you hit with a patich and uncover the edge of a piece of pottery?  Did your soil color change with the scrape of your trowel to reveal a mortar joint that may be a newly discovered mud brick wall?  Did you strike down with your pick-axe and rattle your teeth on a large stone below the surface?  For any of these new discoveries, which could potentially unlock new secrets of the Byzantines, Persians, or the Philistines, you now have 3.5 more hours to unearth the big discovery.

11:00 a.m. – Fruit Break

TIme for a break, the breeze is nice!

With all of the heat and sun, you need a break once again.  So drink plenty of water and have an apple or pear.  Conveniently in Trent’s case, fruit break also come with a view of the Mediterranean.

1:00 p.m. Bus back to the hotel, and lunch!

Time for a shower and lunch.

After you have finished uncovering that newly discovered Philistine house, you are now hungry.  You also stink, so shower first and then lunch.

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Siesta!

While 1-4 is “free” time, when you include lunch and other activities that are always popping up (like running to the Russian market for bandaids, catching up on journals, and school meetings), this three-hour period goes quickly every day.

4:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Pottery compound

Pottery washing: Red buckets contain pottery from the grid and the black bucket is the clean washing water. The washed pottery is placed in cardboard fruit crates to dry.

Ever wonder what they do with all of the pottery found on an archaeological dig?  Yes, every piece is washed, classified, and stored away.  Ok, so maybe not truly every piece, but most found pieces are processed in some way.  This washing and sorting process is actually quite fun as you learn about pottery and how to identify different styles of it.

6:15 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. Lecture

As this dig includes several summer school programs, there are usually lectures just before dinner.  From a general introduction of our site, to information about other sites in the area, archaeology methods and techniques, the lectures are always packed with good information.

7:00 p.m. – 8 p.m. Dinner

Long day, need food.

8 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Catch up

Work on journals again, email family, perform any other administrative tasks, and hopefully try to go to bed as soon as possible. If you’re on staff, this this is time for writing up your notes, checking your top plans, and thinking about tomorrow’s work. You may have a late night.

That’s a day in the life of a dig participant.  It’s a full day from 4:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. of the workweek.

Throw in a weekend excursion or two, and that is the reason for so few blog posts during this dig!

You can read about one of those excursions on Luke Chandler’s blog.  We had a great time with him, almost two weekends ago now.  Check out his post here.

New adventures…

…coming soon.

Experiencing the Top of Europe on the Jungfrau

We have been home almost two weeks now.  We never quite caught up on posting about the remainder of our trip until now (and we slipped in a post for Columbus 🙂

Before we get into the last post about the “Top of Europe,” here is what we plan to do with the blog after the trip. Most likely once or twice per week, we’ll try to post content much like you’ve seen so far.  There is so much much history, culture, art, nature, and many photos going along with these items which we want to share.  Hopefully you will like reading about it as much as we like writing about it.  So check back in occasionally or sign up for email alerts over on the right side of the page, as we would love for you to continue the journey with us.

The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau Peaks

We wrap up our trip with a breathtaking journey to the “Top of Europe,” and we mean that quite literally. At 13,642 feet above sea level, the Jungfrau peak is the highest point in Europe and almost everything becomes strenuous. This is one of three peaks clustered together, the Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau. Some stories say the mountains represent the monk (Mönch) protecting the maiden (Jungfrau) from the evil ogre (Eiger). These peaks also front Europe’s longest glacier, the Great Aletsch Glacier (14 miles long, 3300 feet deep). All combined, it creates a panorama of the kind of beauty that can bring tears to your eyes.

View of the Valley Beyond the Peaks

To get to the Jungfrau, we took a cogwheel train through a tunnel system in the Eiger, which began construction in 1893 and was completed in 1912. At the top (11,716 ft), we came out at the Sphinx astronomical observatory, clinging to the high point like some sort of lopsided shanty. Appearances aside, it offers an astounding view of the both the heavens and the earth.

The Sphinx Observatory

From the observatory, you can wander through a network of tunnels leading outside for the 45-minute hike across the edge of the glacier to the peak of the Mönch for a delicious and well-earned meal at the Mönchsjoch Hütte (Mönch’s Hut), a little way station perched on the side of the peak. Here you can enjoy a decadent concoction of bread smothered in 1/2 inch of Swiss cheese, ham, sausage, and all topped with a fried egg. It’s OK–hiking at that altitude burned those calories off pretty fast.

The Great Aletsch Glacier

On a side note, literature fans will also enjoy the fact that JRR Tolkein once toured the Berner Oberland area and was inspired by what he saw. The beautiful and gentle Lauterbrunnen valley became Rivendell. The glacial river rushing through the Lauterbrunnen valley at the foot of the Jungfrau also flows through Rivendell as the “Brunnen” river. The Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau make their appearance as the three peaks of the Misty Mountains in Khazad-dûm: Caradhas, Fanuidhol, and Celebdil–where Gandalf battled the Balrog. Tolkein loved the lore of Northern Europe, but he was enchanted by the geography as well.

Tolkein’s View of the Jungfrau

The valley itself is astoundingly lovely, with rough snow sheets melding into rolling pasture land. You can watch the occasional avalanche or herd of ibex above you in the mountains.

Some Ibexes…Ibeces…Ibexi…an Ibex and Another Ibex

Celebrating Columbus Day

Today is one of those wonderful holidays where some lucky folks are off of work or out of school. The rest of us are a little jealous. But it is an American holiday, and sometimes it’s good to stop and think about why.Why are we celebrating Columbus? It all starts in 1453. Prior to that year, the Europeans enjoyed the exports of Asia (i.e., the Indies) by land travel. These products included spices, exotic fabrics and ceramics, opium, and the bubonic plague. This trade had been booming since around 200 BC, during the Greek and then Roman empires. But when the Ottoman Turks took over in 1453, the land routes suddenly became quite hostile and the Europeans began turning to the sea.

Marco Polo spearheaded the sea trade movement.

Christopher Columbus (or Cristóbal Colón in Spanish) was a mariner and self-educated man who enjoyed the works of Marco Polo, Ptolemy, and Pliny the Elder, as well as the Apocrypha. He would later produce a book explaining how his exploration was a fulfillment of biblical prophesies. His brother was a cartographer, and together they cooked up this great idea involving bad math, worse geography, and a fast route to Japan by going west instead of east.

The math just didn’t work out…

Tradition tell us that his idea was rejected because everyone just knew the world was flat and he would sail right off the edge. Reality tells us that his idea was rejected because everyone knew his math was bad and his route wouldn’t work. His proposal was turned down by Portugal, England, Genoa, and Italy–even Spain, at first.

Geography Just Doesn’t Work That Way

Then, in 1492, flush from their victory over the Moors, Ferdinand and Isabella saw him one last time. And they decided to just go with it. Columbus would get his ships, his crew, and his titles of Admiral of the Ocean Sea and Viceroy and Governor of whatever country he found (plus 10% of all treasure).

Columbus subsequently discovered the Bahamas, Cuba, Panama, and some parts of South America in his four voyages. Not North America, though–that goes to Leif Ericson, about 500 years earlier. And Giovanni Cabot, who sailed in the name of England, and thus was not popular with colonial America. We adopted Columbus as our champion instead. Out of spite.

Columbus was in, Cabot was out.

Columbus died in relative prosperity, enjoying a quiet apartment in Spain, though he spent a short stent in jail for committing atrocities against the natives under his governorship. The Crown also stripped him of his rights to a cut of the treasure, which his heirs eventually won back after his death. He now resides in Sevilla, Spain.

Tomb of Columbus

Switzerland- Land of Mountains, Trains, Gondola Lifts, and, Well, Cheese (and Chocolate)

Switzerland, small and landlocked in the middle of Europe with the Alps on the southern border, is a beautiful country with a postcard-like ambiance across most of its land. For us, given our interest in nature, hiking, mountains, trains and more, we wanted to give it a shot.  Since we were already across the pond, plane tickets were cheap. Through a handy-dandy guide book, we found a lady who rents part of her cabin (sectioned off much like an apartment or B&B room) for less than most hotel rooms you would find driving across the U.S. Put all of that together and you have a room with a view like this….

Our View in Gimmelwald, Switzerland

This is a view from our cabin in the little town of Gimmelwald. The Google map link below will give you an idea about where this is in the southern central part of the country. If you are a Google Earth user, search for this town name in Switzerland and tilt the view to see the elevation, and you will get a good idea of the mountain terrain in this area.

So a little about Switzerland. Historically, the land area of Switzerland has Greek and Roman history just as many other European and near-east countries. Although you don’t typically think of Rome when thinking about Switzerland, you do have Roman archaeological sites in the country, such as Augusta Raurica in the north central part of the country and Avenches, located close to Bern, in the central part of the country. The 12 and 13^th centuries saw the rise of the “Old Swiss Confederacy” (the common CH abbreviation you now see for Switzerland, which is Confoederatio Helvetica, Latin for “Swiss Confederation”). This era brought many of the communities of the central Alps together. This union allowed the Swiss to fight against other European powers, such as the Habsburg Empire, and win some notable victories, which established some level of Swiss independence in the region. However, due to some internal weaknesses and the power of the French in the Napoleonic era, the Swiss did fall under French rule for a short time. That French rule ended toward the beginning of the 19^th century, with the Swiss reestablishing independence and also beginning the long road of Swiss neutrality, which is still in existence today.

The attitude of neutrality even precipitates down to their animals.  Walk along the quite mountain trails between the villages and try to pet the goats, cows, sheep, dogs, and cats along the way. You will find they accept the petting, but very nonchalantly, and may walk away at any time and stare at you indignantly, as the cow below did to us. Hey, it’s Switzerland.

Neutral Swiss Cow

Just up from the village we were residing in is the peak of the Schilthorn. This peak is notable for a revolving restaurant perched at the top (@ 9,744 ft.). The restaurant and the associated viewing platforms offer spectacular views of the Eiger, Mӧnch, and Jungfrau peaks across the valley. These peaks are commonly noted as “Top of Europe,” which is served by the highest running cog-wheel train in Europe.

The Three Peaks: Eiger, Mönch, and Jungfrau

Also, the restaurant at the top of the Schilthorn is one of the main settings for the film, “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service,” a James Bond 007 movie from the late 60s. They blew it up in the movie, but, luckily, it is actually still there and serving a delicious “007 Breakfast Buffet” at 10,000 feet.

Breakfast at 10,000

Over the next day or two, we’ll dedicate a few other posts to some Roman ruins we visited and the peak of the Jungfrau.