Logs and photographs posted by participants in Samford Summer in Israel, a four-week program in which students dig at an archaeological site and receive course credit.
Photos from the advance crew and the first week of digging
Dear Family and Friends, I missed writing last week because the weekend was completely filled with obligations, some welcome and others just plain tiring. Friday was our first kiddish celebration: a welcoming of the end of the work week and the beginning of Sabbath rest with a little service that entails blessings in Hebrew over candles, “fruit of the vine,” and bread, some readings from the Bible and a book of prayers (the readings are our own idiosyncratic additions), a singing of Psalm 133:1 (“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters live together in unity.”), and then a round of hugs accompanied with the blessing, “Shabbat Shalom” or “Sabbath peace.” Dinner follows. Last Saturday we took our first weekend trip to Sepphoris and Capernaum and ending with a dip in the Sea of Galilee. It was blazing hot. This was the first year we’ve gone to a pay beach, which means we had access to a clean area under trees with chairs, a ...
Samford Summer in Israel is a program of Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama. Samford students excavate in Israel for four weeks and receive credit for the course Field Methods in Archaeology, offered by Dr. James Riley Strange, Assistant Professor of Religion at Samford's Howard College of Arts and Sciences. This blog contains his logs as well as logs and photos from students on the trip. The first Samford Summer in Israel trip took place from June 5 to July 6 2009. In 2009 and 2010 Samford students participated in the University of South Florida Excavations at Sepphoris, directed by Dr. James F. Strange (a.k.a. "Abuna"), Distinguished Professor of Religious Studies at USF. In 2011 Samford students took part in a new project at the site of Shikhin near Sepphoris. Visit the Samford Summer in Israel Facebook page by clicking the link to the right. For more information about the department of religion at Samford University visit their web site at http://howard.samf...
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. Th...
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