Israel

Sunday, July 2

I know that waking up at 4 AM on a Sunday seems crazy. But, crazy is the name of the game for archaeology in this region. The reason is the sun. As difficult as it is to rise from bed, the alternative is much worse: laboring at 2:00 PM in 100+ degree heat. Here’s our quiet little compound before the birds were up.  

The site is only a few miles away, so the bus ride goes fairly quickly. Most of it entails slowly circling the narrow mountain road to reach 1000+ feet above the Sea of Galilee. Here’s our bus returning to camp, and me watching my only escape leave me behind.

The bus wasn't able to drop us off precisely at the door. There’s still about a ½ mile walk up the slope of the mountain, then through the decumanus maximus (Roman version of Main Street). You may notice the statue of the horse at the highest point. It's because the city’s name was Hippos (Greek) or Sussita (Hebrew). The best guess is that it originated from the shape seen from afar: it looks like a saddle. 

One of the first tasks of excavation is to remove the underbush. This allows the team to access ancient layers. I spent over two hours wrestling with Israeli thistle bushes, all which have an uncanny ability to pierce through gloves. I came up with a movie name based on my experience: Indiana Jones and the Eradication of the Weeds. Here’s an example of before and after.

There’s no need to worry if I was lonely. There were many crawly friends around, always willing to offer a helpful stinger.

After the weeds were conquered, we then played a fun team-building game. We got to pick up a huge pile of rocks from one area, then move them to another area 35 feet away. The best part? Just when you think you’re done, they show you another pile!

We were able to relax for 20 minutes at breakfast. I quickly took this beautiful photo of the surrounding area. However, I was gently cautioned to not get any closer. The hills are still chock-full of Syrian land mines. Wanna know one way they detect them? Send the sheep out to graze. Baa, baa, baa, boom!

But it was all worth it. After seven sweaty hours in the field, we found one coin!

I can't wait until tomorrow!

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