Samford Summer in Israel

I should be reading student field exams, but we leave for the airport soon and I feel like spending the last bit of time in Jerusalem thinking in print about the first Samford Summer in Israel. I think I mentioned in the earlier post that the excavation was a success from an archaeological standpoint. That is, we started the season to answer a discreet set of questions. Really, there was one primary question: were we excavating one complete building or two? An ancillary question was to get a better understanding of what happened to the building(s) in the eastern part after it/they went out of use in the fourth century. We were not able to answer the first to our satisfaction, but as so often happens in archaeology we left with more questions. We were able to answer the second more successfully: in the eastern part of the building(s), almost immediately after it/they went out of use the Byzantines started robbing out stones right down to the foundations. Then they or others came in...

I'm sorry that it has been such a long time since my last post. The more you dig the more you multiply paperwork, and the last week of the dig is especially busy. We've drawn final top plans and sections, taken final photos, had our final party, and just now we are scheduled to eat our final lunch in the Hotel Galilee. Then it's down to Jerusalem for an evening at the Western Wall and dinner. Tomorrow and the next day (Sat and Sun) there will be optional tours of sites and museums, and we'll be on the plane back to the States very early Monday morning. I'll have more to say later to try to sum up what has been a very successful season, both for USF Excavations at Sepphoris (the first excavations in nine years) and for the inaugural year of Samford Summer in Israel. The students left the States as novices and will return home as trained field archaeologists. James Strange

To those so inclined to read this... This past weekend was our first full weekend of free time here in Israel. At the last second I decided to travel with Michael Flowers, one of the other volunteers, to Jerusalem so that the taxi ride would cost less for both of us. Once we finally got in the taxi (about 45 minutes after it was at the hotel) we then picked up a third member to the party at one of the neighboring towns. I think we picked her up at Afula, but it could have been Haifa. We then continued east until we got to Bet She'an and then turned went south. This course of direction led us straight through the area known as The West Bank. The entrance check point wasn't a big deal at all - we just drove straight on through. The change was immediate and easy to see as I went from the area just outside of the WB where there was a gas station and a small shopping area to the area just inisde of the WB where there was an old gas station no longer in operation (it was being ...

Shalom from the Holy Land! My name is Caroline May and I'm a senior sociology major from Cedar Bluff, Alabama. Israel is my first trip abroad, but I've already decided that it won't be my last. I'm hoping that students who are interested in studying archaeology in Israel or just in coming and experiencing this amazing place will find our posts useful and perhaps a little entertaining. Come. That's my advice if you're thinking about next summer or ever. It's unlike any other experience you will ever have in your life. Hello, you're on a REAL archaeological dig for a whole month with people who've been doing it forever so they know their stuff. Oh, and did I mention this all takes place in Israel? Because it does. I have to remind myself of that every so often when I wake up to the most amazing view. Okay, we've seen and done tons of stuff so I'm going to hit the highlights. 1.) Attef, the sweetest man alive and one of the brothers ...

So I have been meaning to post on this blog for the past three weeks, and am finally doing it now. My name is Anna Wilgus, and I am a junior religion major from northeast Texas. I chose to come on the dig mainly because I just wanted to see the Holy Land and I am getting 4 credit hours to do so. I knew nothing about archaeology prior to this trip. I was curious, but it honestly was not my motivation for coming. But after spending three weeks digging up the earth at Sepphoris, archaeology has found a special place in my heart. The first thing on the agenda upon arriving was to be split up into our squares. Each student was assigned to a small team of volunteers and one staff member who would be supervising the square. I was assigned to square 94, and my area supervisor is Joanna Strange, my professor's sister. The team met together one night before going out to the dig site, and Joanna did her best to explain to me what we would be doing every day. However to a completely i...

Randy and Aaron excavating Area Supervisor Randy O'Neal Joanna Strange, Anna, and Virginia Skeeter drawing final top plan Tommy again Matt McRae Lunch in the hotel dining room Claudia Dold Area Supervisor Dr. Connie Groh Anna Wilgus taking notes in the square from Area Supervisor Joanna Strange Glenn Downing Jack Wilgus and Caroline May drawing top plan Tommy Archer and a sherd from a Roman bowl Matt McRae, Tommy Archer and Dr. Groh excavating a balk Dr. Strange, Anna, Jack, Caroline and Glenn discussing stratification in the balk Dr. Strange, Anna, Jack and Caroline reading the balk Jack Wilgus and Glenn Downing Caroline May and Glenn Downing sifting Anna Wilgus pointing to the top stone of a wall Aaron Carr

Third Post, Installment 3 The archaeology is going well, although we have had to purchase tools because another excavation at the nearby site of Cana has been borrowing ours and some have vanished into some parallel universe populated by odd socks from the dryer and repairmen who leave jobs half done. We had to order picks from a hardware store just down the street. The proprietor, whom I just met, invited me to have coffee with him when we pick up the tools. This is typical in the Middle East, where hospitality is dear. The Samford crew is approaching the task of archaeology with enthusiasm and curiosity. Many have been made Assistant Area Supervisors in their squares. Anna Wilgus literally jumped up and down when Joanna Strange asked if she would like to be an assistant. I asked Caroline May and Jack Wilgus which of them anticipated returning to Sepphoris or digging somewhere else. Since both expressed an interest, I named them as “co-assistants.” The only issue left to decide wa...