Down and Out

June 26, 2013  Wednesday

I had a rough night and woke up Wednesday morning with mild fever and chills, a sore throat, streaming sinuses, and my standard croaky sick voice.  Of course I stayed back at the hotel, and Pete went on to the dig.  

I was sorry to miss a visit from Dan Bahat, another famous Israeli archaeologist.

Shimon, Scott, Dan, and James.

If I were at the dig today, I'd be sifting the contents of these red buckets and finding all kinds of cool stuff.

This is Yousef, who lives across the busy street from the dig.  He is our site foreman, neighborhood liaison, tool & equipment storage provider, stone-smasher extraordinaire, and all-around great guy.

End of the dig day means carrying the tools over 

 

I also missed the Wednesday evening lecture on "Oil Lamps in Ancient Times" by Dr. Anna de Vincenz, an Italian independent research who is currently a fellow at the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research.  Pete reports the following:
•  The nozzles on Herodian lamps flare outward.
•  Roman lamps are highly decorated, but Jewish lamps are generally undecorated.
•  Lamps, like any pottery, are extremely useful in dating a site and identifying the culture.