Israel

Wednesday, July 12

I arrived at my assigned place this morning expecting to clean tesserae again. However, my supervisor called me by name and directed me to the side chapel. Other team members had already excavated the bulk of the debris, but there was about one inch remaining. My job was to remove each rock by hand, then carefully sweep up the remaining dirt. After I fully revealed the mosaic, four more volunteers jumped in and cleaned it with sponges and water.

The inscription surprised everyone. In Greek, it translated to: “Eat at Burger Drive, Home of the Whapper.” Ancient people were just like us afterall!

Really, the translation is: “Offering in favor of salvation and succor for Urania and Theodoros. Lord God, accept! Amen! In the time of indiction 4 and year 619.” It’s similar to when we construct new buildings today. People purchase bricks or tiles with their name to donate and to be remembered. It happened in antiquity too. If you’d like more details, read this article.

I decided to skip breakfast and enjoy one of my last days. Typically, the site is full of activity, but I wanted to sit quietly and remember my experiences here. It was during that time when my son called. I happily spoke with him while taking in this view. Tabgha and Capernaum are in the distance. Our dirt buckets are at the lower left.

Tomorrow, I say goodbye to this great city and begin the journey home.

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