Had a meet and greet in the shelter at midnight! Then Hamas took the night off, or rather the Israel's Air Force bombed them back to Iron Age I. Up at 4:30 a.m. Actually I was up at 3, ya...3 and off to Tel es-Safi at 5:15. To get ready we have to load many jugs of water for drinking and and washing of hands. Then the area F crew hike up to the top, it was spectacular this morning as the sun was coming up, we could almost see the coastline to the west and the hills and high hills to the east...great way to see the geography of the Bible. Then we raise our tent like shelter that covers the did site, the Jolly Roger is raised and we go to work. I have been working with Dr. Mark Jenkins from Evangel University in Springfield, MO. Great to work with and learn from a gifted Christian scholar.
Today we cut down into an area that comes from the 9th or 10th century b.c. Exciting to realize that we are handling pottery, bone (not human), flint, rock and charcoal from the tine David was in Gath and ruled Israel. We dug for some three hours then hiked back down, about a mile for breakfast...salads, yes lettuce, cucumber, peppers, etc...a few different kinds of breads, cottage cheese, yogurt, honey, peanut butter, hard boiled eggs, cereals, hot water for tea or instant coffee, and of course tune fish, there is tuna in the morning and tuna for supper...good thing I like tuna. We then clean-up and hike back up the rocky trail to Area F.
At the end of the day Eric Welch and his crew uncovered a floor, since it was at the end of the day they will examine it closer tomorrow morning...also Mark and I uncovered a softball sized hunk of charcoal, the largest he had ever seen and a rather interesting rock...again we will spend time checking it out tomorrow.
Everything that is collected is marked with several identification points, so if it is bone, pottery, stone...it is given a number...so today I learned to mark each group of items...very meticulous work, this archaeology thing.
We then clean up at 12:30 lower the flag and our tent and carry everything we collected back down to the bus. There are 4 other areas that are also working at different points on the tel. One area uncovered two sets of complete pottery, some 6-7 pots total...I believe they are looking at the Philistine era.
The day was clear and quiet until we reached the bus and off in the distance we heard 3 booms and saw three puffs of white smoke...all that remained of a rockets after the Iron Dome took iout. Oh ya, we did have have some 30-40 Israeli soldiers come by on patrol...we were safe!
This afternoon after lunch I began packing up my backpack for the return trip to the Old City of Jerusalem...then back to the kibbutz Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow we lose almost half the group, they are leaving because of the tensions in the area and their governments would like them to leave, not forcing but strongly encouraging. I however feel very safe, secure in God's protection, no matter where I am.
Today we cut down into an area that comes from the 9th or 10th century b.c. Exciting to realize that we are handling pottery, bone (not human), flint, rock and charcoal from the tine David was in Gath and ruled Israel. We dug for some three hours then hiked back down, about a mile for breakfast...salads, yes lettuce, cucumber, peppers, etc...a few different kinds of breads, cottage cheese, yogurt, honey, peanut butter, hard boiled eggs, cereals, hot water for tea or instant coffee, and of course tune fish, there is tuna in the morning and tuna for supper...good thing I like tuna. We then clean-up and hike back up the rocky trail to Area F.
At the end of the day Eric Welch and his crew uncovered a floor, since it was at the end of the day they will examine it closer tomorrow morning...also Mark and I uncovered a softball sized hunk of charcoal, the largest he had ever seen and a rather interesting rock...again we will spend time checking it out tomorrow.
Everything that is collected is marked with several identification points, so if it is bone, pottery, stone...it is given a number...so today I learned to mark each group of items...very meticulous work, this archaeology thing.
We then clean up at 12:30 lower the flag and our tent and carry everything we collected back down to the bus. There are 4 other areas that are also working at different points on the tel. One area uncovered two sets of complete pottery, some 6-7 pots total...I believe they are looking at the Philistine era.
The day was clear and quiet until we reached the bus and off in the distance we heard 3 booms and saw three puffs of white smoke...all that remained of a rockets after the Iron Dome took iout. Oh ya, we did have have some 30-40 Israeli soldiers come by on patrol...we were safe!
This afternoon after lunch I began packing up my backpack for the return trip to the Old City of Jerusalem...then back to the kibbutz Sunday afternoon. Tomorrow we lose almost half the group, they are leaving because of the tensions in the area and their governments would like them to leave, not forcing but strongly encouraging. I however feel very safe, secure in God's protection, no matter where I am.
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