Banias Falls

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Second Letter from Nazareth
Dear Family and Friends,
I am writing later than usual this Sunday because of morning chores.More about that momentarily.
Last week I mentioned that I met Dad everywhere.That is still the case, and I don’t imagine it will end.I cannot ask him all of the questions I have about his experiences digging in the 1970s and 80s, why he dated certain pottery forms the way he did, or any of the other things only he could tell me.Their number must be countless because I’m not running out.I ask and not hearing his answer reminds me to grieve.Did you ever hear him speak?Maybe you know what I’m talking about.At Kiddish last Friday Mom told me, “I miss his voice.”
Morning chores began when Tom McCollough and I met Motti Aviam at an archaeological site north of the eastern end of the Beit Netofa Valley, near the ancient divide between “Lower” and “Upper” Galilees.The adjectives refer to relative elevations: the modest hills of the Lower Galilee give way to the steep mount…
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Third Letter from Nazareth and Jerusalem

Sunday June 11 Through Sunday June 18, 2017
As I begin, it’s Sunday evening and tomorrow we start our last week in the field.I’m sitting near the top of a hill called Jebel Qat, just east of our site and a little over a mile north of Sepphoris.I’ve driven students to their field exam among the ruins on this hill, and I am listening to the wind rattle the loose cover of the porch roof that shades my head.The porch belongs to a hut that houses young men who guard the surrounding fields from produce and livestock poachers.The western breeze cools me.
This is the week I most wish to be back home but have the most to do. Closing down a dig season may require more work than starting one.Crew members will be at their busiest too, as they finish digging, trim and draw balks, sweep for final photos, and help other squares to do the same.Many will spend both mornings and afternoons at the site, so we will be on the lookout for exhaustion.The evening work, however, feels more relaxed and peac…
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Fourth Letter, from Jerusalem

Dear Family and Friends,
Today is our second full day of three in Jerusalem.We arrived Friday evening—the beginning of Shabbat—as we usually do and ensconced ourselves in rooms at St. George’s Cathedral guesthouse. We had a few minutes to take in the attractive dining room and bar with the lovely garden, then we hiked down Nablus road and through the Damascus Gate until we reached the Western Wall.
Up to this point the experience has been full of novelties and adventure for our first-timers, but Jerusalem multiplies the exotic encounters.On these hikes I wear my big white hat (a gift from David Johnson at Samford) so that those at the back can keep sight of me, and I give a brief lesson on how to move through a crowd like a Middle Easterner.But the sights, sounds, and scents allure, and the group slows like rubberneckers on a highway.Well I can’t blame them.They are seeing architecture that dates from the Crusades to the 16th century; smelling spices, coffee, and unpleasant odors; an…
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