Just a quick hello. I was all set to do a more extensive post on Grid 51 -- I do have pictures in hand -- but due to technical diffiuculties (read: the picture files are too large) I will have to postpone that effort.
Today, a couple of pictures of what we affectionately call "South Beach." Over the winter some very bad storms significantly damaged the shoreline of Israel. As many of you may know, a section of the cliff near the Ashkelon Holiday Inn collapsed and out spilled a large Roman period statue of a woman. Well, results weren't quite so dramatic on the tel but there was damage and in one area it revealed a fresh section of the cliff. It is possible to see walls, floors, big fills and much, much more. Dr. Moshier of Wheaton College, who has been working on the South Beach project, will be doing a guest post in which he will provide much more information.
It may be hard to appreciate how "new" the dirt looks but towards the bottom of the cut you can see bands of yellow kurkar and brown dirt. Those are just a few of the layers that stand out in the fresh cut.
Equally impressive are the remains of the medieval fortifications which tower over the beach. They are slowing sliding onto the beach but still manage to look quite intimidating. Surely Ascalon was an imposing sight when seen from the sea in antiquity.
And just for fun...
The process of dumping the dirt in Grid 38 is a very intense process. It culminates with a supervisor duel to see who can throw the most buckets of dirt over the retaining wall and into the dump. I image Josh often wins -- there is little finesse to his throw -- but Wylie has great form as seen here.
Work is going well.
The t-shirt design has been picked.
We are almost at the end of our first three weeks.
Look for some guest posts in the next week.
Time is flying!