Extreme Makeover: Rome Edition

After shoot of the square our team excavated with the square supervisor Dr. Peterson doing paperwork. 

Wow, what a week! It is amazing that waking up at 4 in the morning to throw rocks in the Israeli sun could be so rewarding. Archaeology definitely falls under the "delayed gratification" category. After seeing Theo and Nathan off to Holland I went to a guest house outside of Jerusalem and met up with a volunteer team from Associates for Biblical Research (ABR). I had no idea what to expect of these experience other then it was one I could not pass up. My roommate from Prairie–Jeremiah who had arrived a week earlier–gave me a heads up on what to expect. On an archaeological dig the second word is by far the most dominant one. I cannot believe how much dirt we moved in such a short time.

Our team, Dr. Peterson, Myself, Jeremiah Zuo and Abigail Leavitt.

Our schedule was pretty intense; 4:00 am wake-up call, 4:30 breakfast, 5:00 load the bus, 6:00 arrive at the site, 10:30 lunch, 2:00 load the bus again, 2:30 ice cream stop, 3:00 pottery washing, 4:00 pottery reading, 6:00 dinner, 7:00 lecture, 8:00 bedtime. If is wasn't for the daily showers and nice beds it would be harder then tree planting.

The 2011 "Search for Ai" Group with Leaders Gary Byers and Scott Stripling. 

After the first day of no exciting discoveries I was thinking "if I wanted to pick rocks I could have just stayed on the farm". But early the second morning we discover the interior of a Roman wall and I never looked back. It was so incredible to see this entire house taking shape before my eyes with every load of dirt moved. By the end of the third day we had a full room exposed with a doorway and threshold. the forth and fifth day reviled an interior dividing wall with two windows in them (similar to the building style in Capernaum). Although we were looking for evidence of Joshua's late bronze age Ai and not a 1st century residents, it was exciting for me to unveil a little part of history. As a team we also found coins, tools, stoneware, glassware, sling stones, and an abundance of pottery ranging from 1200 B.C. to 500 A.D.

Many coins were found this dig season, these were some from Herod Agrippa. 

I would recommend this experience to anyone with an interest in the field of archaeology regardless of experience or education. You can find more information here.

Next up the Netherlands to see some old friends Jonny and Karine, and some newer friends Peter and Sarah. Also to meet up with Nathan and Theo to fly home.

--Kevin