First Day of the Dig!

June 16, 2013  Sunday

Dr. James Tabor, one of our directors, is also blogging about the dig.  His entry for today can be found at http://jamestabor.com/2013/06/16/mt-zion-2013-let-the-digging-begin/
He provides interesting historical and scientific background.  I'll report the view from the trenches.

It's the first day of the dig!  Work days are Sunday - Thursday.  Friday is the Moslem sabbath and of course Saturday is the Jewish sabbath.  These are the two groups we most wish to avoid offending.  Here's our daily schedule:

• 5:00 a.m.  Breakfast pastry, water for Pete & Angie, tea and coffee for everyone else.  This means we have to get out of bed no later than 4:30!  After this morning carb and caffeine fix, we set out on foot and walk through the Old City, entering at one of the northern gates (Damascus or New) and exit at the Zion Gate on the southwest corner of the City.  It's a 30-minute walk for people with intact knees.
• 5:45 a.m.  Arrive at site.  
• 6:00 a.m.  Start work.
• 8:30 a.m.  Break for breakfast, which is supplied by the hotel and brought to the site.  Breakfast is fruit, breads, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers, hard-boiled eggs, halva, water for Pete & Angie, tea and coffee for everyone else.  We all eat as much as we can because it has to carry us for many hours.  
• We must also drink plenty of fluids during the working day so we don't become dehydrated.  A medically trained staff member walks through the site with water and keeps a sharp eye on our well-being.
• Bathroom breaks involve a 10-minute hike down Mount Zion and back up into the Old City to the traditional site of King David's Tomb, where there are free toilets that we are allowed to use.  It's already clear to me that our group needs to donate several cases of toilet paper to the proprietors!
• 1:00 p.m.  Stop for the day.  Each day the site has to be completely cleared of tools and equipment (which are stored nearby) and secured.  
• Afternoon activities include lectures, field trips, and free time.  

Here are some of our first photos from the site.  We're being divided into several groups.  Our main job for the next day or two is to clear the site of weeds, debris, and dirt that have accumulated since the dig was last worked in 2009.

Leland, the man in the green t-shirt, is the nephew of John who has loaned me his cane.

The dark-haired man in the background is Arne, a Norwegian philosopher.  The smiling woman in the foreground is Melissa, a civil engineer in California with Caltrans.

I'm working with Jonah (standing headless behind me), scanning the surface with metal detectors before we disturb things too much.  He's an English student in his gap year.  We found a total of four coins (two Roman, one widow's mite, and one octagonal Moslem-era coin).  We had to mark the location of each find so that it could be recorded.  The coins we found were in areas where dirt had previously been moved, so their location wasn't all that significant.

Pete's doing heavier work down at a lower level.  He's working with guys named Joel and Terry on a 2nd temple period site.  Jonah, my partner for the day, is the red-haired guy in the background.  The darkened slope in the background is where Jonah and I found three of our coins, as well as some Roman glass.

The upper levels of our site date back to the Moslem period (12th century).   Part of what we can see here dates back to the Roman era (time of Jesus).  A Mikveh, or ritual immersion pool, is just out of sight at the bottom of some steps.  Other areas of the site are even older.

The white bags along the fence on the left contain the dirt, weeds, and other stuff to be hauled away.  Various items of interest are in the blue buckets.

This is Dr. Shimon Gibson, one of our directors.

Yesterday most of these surfaces were covered with weeds, debris, and drifted dirt.  Now they've been swept down to the rocks.  We used stiff brushes (handle-less brooms) and worked on our hands and knees to clear the area.  I worked on this rectangular space with some other people.  This is quite a job for someone who hates housework ....

We stopped work early today.  I think James and Shimon didn't want to wear us out too much.  Many of the group are still jet-lagged!  

Note that while it appears that we are outside the Old City, James makes it clear in his blog (referenced at the beginning of this post) that the walls at the time of Jesus enclosed this site.  James likes to say the time of "Hillel, Jesus, and Herod" -- politically correct!  :)

We walked back through the Old City to the hotel.  My knee has become very painful so it was a real struggle for me.

This mosaic on the walkway reminds me of the wood inlay in our entryway at home.