Final Summer School Posts

I have the last two Harvard Summer School student posts today.  I'm a bit tardy with the first but it is a good read.  Thanks to all the students and staff who contributed to the blog this year.  

So, first up Stela:

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Hello! My name is Stela Martins, I am from Brazil, where I live and study architecture and urbanism. 

As I started meeting the other volunteers and telling them about my nationality, they

always asked, “Aren't you sad you're missing the World Cup?” The answer was always no.  As the brazilian team entered the soccer field, here I was on the other side of the world entering an archaeological field for the first time as part of the Harvard Summer School Program in Ashkelon trying to determine if archaeology is what I wanted to do for life. And as the players put on their uniforms and got ready, I grabbed my hat and trowel, and started my own personal match, trying to grow and beat the difficulties of using turreahs, guffas and patiches for the first time. Soon my colleagues and I became a team: together we helped each other into achieving the same goal. Our supervisors worked as the golees, letting no knowledge pass, and being there for us anytime we needed them.

As Brazil scored goals in Fortaleza, Rio de Janeiro and Minas Gerais, I scored some goals on Grid 20, Square 68 and in the compound. After only a couple of weeks I'm able to identify layers, foundations, I know how to use every tool, I can use the flote-tech machine and know how to separate floatation samples into heavy and light fraction, and I have even helped with pottery diagnostics!

As the excitement of the Brazilian people grew after we beat Colombia and reached the semifinals, my excitement in Ashkelon grew as we reached the 4th week. It's amazing to think that in such little time besides the field work, I have also learned how to use OCHRE, the total station, and have acquired so much knowledge from our lectures! And as Brazilians in Brazil can't wait for the final match, this Brazilian here in Ashkelon can't wait for the final week, when I'll be able to look back at all that we accomplished, at all of our beautiful findings - that so far go from beautiful Roman columns to Hellenistic walls - and at how much this experience has been enriching and life changing for me, as it was crucial to help me with my decision of pursuing a career as an archaeologist.

So, after all, I believe that i have taken part of a personal World Cup that led me to one of the best experiences of my life.

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To finish things off, a picture from the Megiddo Ashkelon group enjoying some much deserved gelato and the final student blog post which comes from Caroline.

Megiddo Ashkelon Group

I'm Caroline Marshall and I am a rising sophomore at Harvard and a member of the Harvard Summer School in Ashkelon. Last week the volunteers from the dig in Ashkelon were given the option of staying to finish out the season with a week of digging at the site of Megiddo. Eleven volunteers and 3 Ashkelon staff members participated in the Megiddo dig. The skills that I learned while digging in Ashkelon have proved transferable; we've fallen right into the routine here at Megiddo  and are helping with their excavation. The archaeological experience at Megiddo has somewhat differed from that of Ashkelon for me. In Ashkelon, I was digging in Grid 51, a previously excavated residential and commercial area. In the past few days at Megiddo I've watched a site transform from rubble and indistinguishable topsoil to a fully functional archaeological square in the beginning of the excavation process. Being able to participate in two different archaeological digs has been a valuable experience. It has opened my eyes to the adaptability of archaeological skills and techniques while simultaneously showing the differences in geography, architecture, and soil composition that can be found when digging even within the same country.

Picture for our Guest Post

Cheating a little bit today and posting a picture of Emily who filed a great post for us yesterday.

Emily at Megiddo

Today is actually the last day of excavation for the students who went up to Megiddo.  From everything we've heard, they had a great experience.

Now, random fun picture.  I'll tell you more about it tomorrow.  See if you can guess why at least two Ashkelon supervisors got excited about finding it.

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Guest Post from Megiddo

Today, courtesy of Emily, one of the Harvard Summer School students, we have a post about our study tour last week as well as working at Megiddo.  Enjoy.

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Hi, I'm Emily, one of the Harvard Summer School Students and one of the remaining members of the dig after being relocated to the Megiddo Excavation in the north of Israel. I am a rising sophomore at Harvard College planning on studying Human Evolutionary Biology and Chemistry, and decided to participate in the summer school to learn about the field of archaeology, to travel, and for the rare experience of participating on a dig. And it has been quite an experience. 

In Ashkelon, I was part of the team in Grid 51 beginning to uncover the 604 BC destruction by Nebuchadnezzar, but I am currently with 13 other members of the dig now working in Megiddo. Between our current digging on the new site and the rest of the group departing, we continued our tour of Northern Israel. On July 11th we enjoyed an evening in Caesarea, which has been a port city since in was built by Herod the Great in the Roman Era. The integration of the ruins with the modern harbor made it a fascinating and beautiful place to be. On July 12th, we visited the Hecht Museum in Haifa where we all lit up with the incredible collection of artifacts, as well as ones we recognized from Ashkelon like the dog burials, and went to Old Akko where we immersed ourself in both the culture by dining on Arabian food in the bazaar and tourism through exploring the Crusader underground tunnels and citadel. These trips only added to the previous days of touring sites around the north.

The past few days we have been volunteering at the Megiddo dig, which is quite a different experience than Ashkelon. I feel very privileged to be able to see what another site is like and am very glad that I remained in Israel. Though it was not what I expected and would of course rather be spending this week in Ashkelon, the trip to the north and now Megiddo have added a whole other dimension to the summer. 

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The Legacy Hotel

Another hotel, another great view.  Right now, we are in the Legacy Hotel which is adjacent to the US consulate in Jerusalem.  It's a perfect location situated as it is within walking distance of the Old City, Mamilla, Ben Yehuda street in West Jerusalem and, most importantly, the Albright, our temporary base of operations.

Work at the Albright

Staff members are rolling off books and moving on to other assorted tasks as works continues here in Jerusalem.  

Last night  a contingent attended the IAA's annual dinner for foreign expeditions.  There were a lot of familiar faces in the crowd.  It was good to exchange stories, talk about the season's progress, and think about getting back into the field.

Megiddo Group Goes Touring

Thanks to Adam for sending this picture of the "Megiddo" team touring the city of Acco.  After one last day of sites, the plan was for them to be up bright and early to work on the Megiddo excavation this morning.  As I get more updates, I'll pass them along.

Meanwhile, here in Jerusalem the remaining staff is up and back at it as we work to finish reports, phase plans and all of the other end-of-season paperwork supervisors need to submit. We're all looking forward to another productive day.

The Albright

The staff is back at work today in the courtyard and basement lab of the W. F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem.  Objects are getting processed, bookwork completed, and articles written.  Time was taken to enjoy pita and hummus from Abu Hassan's -- delicious -- and then it was back to work.

Our Megiddo group is off touring Haifa and Acco today.  Sunday they'll start digging.  We'll try to get pictures of some of the tour and/or digging to share with everyone in the next couple of days.

End of Week Five

8:00 in the morning and where is the Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon?  That's right, climbing down the Arbel Cliffs.  Amazing trek, amazing views, and for those of us who don't really like heights, a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  Really, we've done it once and now we're good.

Our stop there was followed by one at the  Beit Alfa (Alpha) Synagogue famous for its zodiac mosaic.

Mosaic in Beit Alfa (Alpha)

Volunteers taking photos at Beit Alfa (Alpha)

What an amazing tour we've had.  Today's last stop was Megiddo where a number of our volunteers, accompanied by members of the Leon Levy Expedition staff, stuck around to excavate for another week.

The remainder of our volunteers are heading home today and are already in Tel Aviv awaiting their flights, a process being overseen by our co-director.

The remainder of the staff is in Jerusalem doing, you guessed it, book work.  We'll be here a few days and then we'll see what's next.

On behalf of the entire Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon staff, I'd like to thank and commend the volunteers and staff for all their hard work and willingness to get into the dirt, their positive attitudes and calmness during a busy, challenging week and, above all, for being part of a truly memorable season.  From 604 B.C. and Islamic period workshops to the Snake Tower and tumbled medieval fortifications, it was an informative, productive, and surprising season.  

We'll still be blogging as long as we are here though with less frequency -- check back for more updates.  

I leave everyone with this really fabulous picture from the staff bus ride to Jerusalem.

Tired staff members after a three day tour...

Up North

I'll try to add some pictures of the first day of our study tour soon.  Today we saw Tell Dan, Nimrod's Fortress, Hatzor and the Arbel Cliffs.  Fun was had by all and we are enjoying a relaxing evening.  

More to come soon.

Study Tour

It's been a busy day here in Ashkelon.  The good news is everyone is safe and sound and looking forward to getting back to work when conditions to permit.  Tomorrow, the entire expedition will be headed north for a three day study tour which will include a range of sites from Caeasrea, Acco, Belvoir, Bet Shean and Nimrod's Fortress to Gamla, Hatzor, Dan, Megiddo, Gamla and whatever else time permits.  I'm looking forward to a phenomenal trip.

We'll be staying at one of the Leonardo hotels in Tiberias (which, we aren't yet certain).  We plan to return to Ashkelon Friday night.  Saturday will be our usual day off and then Sunday we'll be back at it.

I anticipate that we will have internet access as we tour the north though we will all be out and about a lot and that access may be more limited.  Check back for updates and pictures.

In the Hotel

We are working in the hotel today as we keep an eye on events.  Work will still be happening, however, as staff members make sure their books are up to date, GIS works on producing plans, and others continue writing in-progress articles.  The day looks a little more exciting for volunteers who will get to enjoy some time watching movies or hanging out at the pool or gym or best of all, catching up on sleep.  The good news is everyone is safe and we expect to get back to work soon.

Just one picture today.  Grid 47, the Roman odeon, which we finished excavating in 2012.  It seems to be weathering life just fine.

A Helping Hand

How do you move sandbags from one excavation area to another?  With a bulldozer of course.

Sami provides some assistance

It's a hot one today.  Exciting things happening.  The Snake Tower is winding up excavation.  They should be done tomorrow and we'll try to post a picture of the final results.  They've done a lot of work, answered their questions, and are now ready to move on to a new project.

In Grid 16, the Step Trench, they continue to expose more of the bedrock.  Their most interesting discovery of late, however, does not involve architecture.  Rather, it offers an explanation for what happened to the architecture, in this case the fortification walls.  They now have evidence for the sapping of the walls -- the only question is what period the walls (which have tumbled down the slope) belong to.

Grid 51 is deep into 604 B.C. and we're hoping to get some more pictures of the material to share with everyone.

Last by not least, in the Salvage Excavation they are excavating a pit full of iron implements -- blades, nails, tacks, what looks like hinges and all sorts of things.  It is very, very interesting material.

As promised, the last two weeks look to be full of great discoveries and lots of work.

Finds Display

A couple of pictures from the Finds Display today.

Co-Director Daniel Master examines some of the finds of the season

A number of finds are visible in this picture including a knife blade with a worked bone handle, a bronze handle for a metal vessel, oil lamps and an enigmatic find we are still trying to identify.

The Finds Display

It was a wonderful evening.  Congratulations to Meghan and Annikka for putting together a wonderful display and to everyone who worked to make it such a successful night.

Special Guest Post

We have another special guest post today.  Enjoy!

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Hello Everyone! I’m Abby VanderHart, a rising sophomore at Wheaton College studying Biblical Archaeology. I decided to come to Ashkelon this summer in hopes that it would give me a taste of what it’s really like to be an archaeologist, and help me decide if this is a career I would like to pursue. I’ve been here for four weeks, and am amazed at how much I’ve learned in that time.

I am working in Grid 20, also known as “Snake Tower.” Because of our excavations there we can begin to trace the ways in which the fortifications have been repaired and reused, all the way from the Hellenistic to the Crusader period. Sherds of pottery and other artifacts we find can help us in dating the wall. We’ve found pieces of Roman ceramics, glazed pottery from the Fatimid Period, ancient glass, and yes, we’ve found a couple of snakes to!

The program here at Ashkelon is well designed not only to give us experience on the field digging, but also to teach us how information and data gathered from the field is processed and interpreted. It is awesome having so many professors, scholars and supervisors working closely with us who are eager to help us learn and understand. I am excited to continue with the remaining two weeks of the season, and to continue with my schooling back at Wheaton this Fall!

Early Days in Grid 20

It's Friday

As always, Daniel Master offered a spirited and informative summary lecture on this season's excavation results.  One of the themes?  The city plan and how it changes over time from the Hellenistic through the Crusader period.  Another theme was the diversity of the site as represented by the different types of excavation, the different questions being asked, in each of the excavation areas.  

It's always interesting to see what everyone else is doing and then, of course, to see each excavation area's special finds.  A big thank you to the staff and volunteers this year for all their remarkable hard work to date.  Another thank you is owed to the Leonardo Hotel which, on very short notice,  hosted a wonderful party.  It will be hard to top the first four weeks but over the next two weeks we'll try.  

Everyone was up and out early today heading off to Masada, Jerusalem and places in between.  I'll try to gather pictures from people in the next couple of days to highlight some of the fun.  In the interim, a picture of Grid 51 supervisors intently examining their stratigraphy.  

The Day of the Party

Tonight is the culmination of our patron Shelby White's week long visit.  It starts with Daniel Master's season summation lecture at 4:30 followed by the Finds Display and dinner.  The team's youngest archaeologist is excited and so is everyone else who gets to enjoy a rare afternoon off from work.

Week 4 is officially in the books and it was another busy one.  604 B.C. in Grid 51.  More Byzantine pottery and mudbrick in Grid 16.  In Grid 20, more and  more layers of rubble which when removed, revealed more of the fortification sequence.

Rubble fills in Grid 20

And in our salvage excavation, Grid 32, things keep getting more and more interesting as Shimi digs deeper and deeper moving ever closer to the 3.6 meter depth needed by the Parks Authority.

Almost there...

In addition to the fallen wall segments, some of which have well preserved plaster facing, excavation has uncovered travertine floor tiles and more evidence for collapse.

It's the second and last long weekend of the season.  The volunteers are off to Masada tomorrow and then everyone has Saturday off before we head back to work Sunday morning.  Hard to believe its 4 weeks down and only 2 to go!

Wednesday Already?

Lots of internet trouble yesterday.  Our apologies.  

Here is a picture of the mudbrick structure in Grid 16 -- it's the yellow blocks you see towards the back of the picture.  What is it?  Only time and more excavation will tell.  How old is it?  Well, they're working on it though the answer is still early.

Today is our Finds Display and party.  We'll try to post pictures of some of the activities later today or tomorrow.

What in the World?

Looks like a big pile of stones, right?  Well, that tells only half the story.  What makes this "pile of stones" so interesting is that it consists of a number of wall fragments -- walls that were once cemented together -- some of which still have their plaster facing in place.  They are a surprising, and interesting, find because such stones were prized building materials and we seldom find them abandoned and unused.  These stones were, in fact, buried under a large leveling fill and completely ignored.  We hope to learn more about them as we continue to expose more in the coming days.  Were they part of a building that was demolished?  Did the building they come from collapse in a natural event such as an earthquake?  If we're lucky, we'll be able to answer these and many other questions.

Grid 16

The week continues to be a busy one as each grid is deep into their material.  I hope to walk the site tomorrow to take photos of each excavation area to catch up on everyone's progress.  One thing you can be sure of, each area is going to go deeper.

Week 4 in Full Swing

It was another fabulous day of work.  We woke up to coffee, muffins, and cookies for breakfast. Lunch at the new hotel included made-to-order crepes.  So far, the lodgings are proving to be a wonderful home.

Grid 51 is deep into 604 B.C. and looks to be there for the remainder of the season.  604 B.C. also means there's a lot of book work to do.  What better place to work than deep in a pit?

Working in the pit

The Snake Tower is still exposing more walls in the fortification system and Grid 16, the Step Trench, is working through large Byzantine pottery dumps, a sewer and a mudbrick construction of an uncertain though likely early date.  

New Digs

Just a quick note to say that we've had a successful move.  The Leon Levy Expedition to Ashkelon has decamped from the Dan Gardens Hotel, which is closing tomorrow for what is believed to be a two year renovation, and taken up residence in the Leonardo Hotel.  Just a quick 10 minute walk north from the hotel, the new place is a world away as you can see from the picture above.

It's a big week for us.  Our patron, Mrs. Shelby White, has arrived for her annual visit.  We have a fantastic lineup of lectures, starting with Professor Larry Stager on Carthage tonight, and series of events which will culminate with our annual Finds Display and party this Thursday.

And yes, there was a lot going on today in the field including the early arrival of 604 B.C. in Grid 51.  The next few weeks promise to be very interesting.