Farewell to Israel!

Today (Thursday) may be the last time I have access to a computer. The excavation office is packing up here at the kibbutz and moving to Jerusalem tomorrow. The dig season is over for Tel Rehov as of today. We have tomorrow and part of Saturday to wind down and get ready to fly back to the U.S. I think most people in our group are looking forward to coming home.

I just wanted to list a few insights and remembrances from our five weeks here in Israel. Some are duplications from my blogs, but others are things that stand out and will be forever remembered:

* Getting off the plane in Tel Aviv, marveling that we are actually in the Holy Land.
* Schlepping our luggage from the bus up a hill to JUC. No curbside service for us!
* JUC is on septic tank; that meant we could not put ANYTHING in the toilet...not even toilet paper!
* Walking the Jerusalem ramparts in the morning heat.
* Hezekiah's Tunnel - Amazing!
* Standing on Temple Mount - Wondrous!
* Jacob's Pizza - the best pizza in Jerusalem!
* Singing hymns a capella in the underground dwellings at Bet Guvrin Maresha.
* Getting to know the people in our group and the others who joined us on all our excursions.
* Floating in the Dead Sea and covering ourselves with Dead Sea mud.
* Pita, pita, and more pita!
* Singing and dancing on the boat as we crossed the Sea of Galilee.
* Witnessing a soon-to-be first-time mom (Jan, who was part of our group) standing next to the place where Jesus was born in Bethlehem - a poignant picture!
* Knok-Out ice cream bars - Awesome!
* Praying at the Western Wall on Shabbat.
* Worship night in the garden at JUC the last night we were all together before our group broke up to come home or go to other places of interest.
* Crashing after excavating from 5:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.

Statements made to our female students from vendors in the Old City in Jerusalem:
"Your husband is a lucky man!"
"You're worth 600 camels!"
"Excuse me, you dropped something...my heart!"
"You looking for a husband? Me! Me!"
And last, but certainly not least...."Come with me to my home in Hebron for 4 days and meet my family!" (He was enamored by 3 of our female students. Needless to say, the girls did not go with him!)

The students are thinking about the first thing they want to eat when they get back home. I'm yearning for an In N Out burger! So, be prepared to visit a fast food restaurant or something that has meat and cheese together (basically not found in Israel because they keep kosher).

As mentioned before, this has been a trip of a lifetime. We all took vast amounts of pictures, so also be prepared to peruse these pictures and listen to stories told. This was a life-changing trip and one that has helped us all grow in our faith and our relationships. God has been faithful to us and has walked with us throughout this amazing adventure. He is so good to us!

Blessings to each family represented. You have such amazing young adults! I love every one of them!!! I look forward to seeing them on campus next year or staying in contact through Facebook.

Shalom for the last time!

Bev

The most significant find of the season...

Carly topped off the season with, "the most significant find" according to the main archaeologist Amni, she found a seal with ancient writings on it. Dr. Mullins thinks the writings on it might be something numeral, however until specialists look at it, nothing can be confirmed....but either way, way to go Carly. She thought she had found a rock at first...little did she know she was looking at 3,000 year old writings!

The Weekend and Beyond

Last weekend was very relaxing for some and quite a lot of driving for others. As you've seen in the pictures that Scott has put up on the blog, a number of students headed to Petra, which was quite a trek. But, they all say it was worth the sights and adventures they experienced. The other contingent of students went to the Sea of Galilee and had a very relaxing and restful time on the shore and in the water. A small group of us stayed at the kibbutz and went swimming in the pool here on Saturday and then visited the Sahne Pools down the road on Sunday. They are a number of pools fed by natural springs, banked by grass, palm trees and other trees to make for a very refreshing afternoon pastime. We floated, we swam, and we sat by the side of the pool while the tiny fish nibbled our feet, relieving us of dead skin that needed sloughing off! Doesn't that sound inviting??!!

We are back into the excavation portion of our trip. Most of the students are enjoying it; others, not so much. It is very dirty and very labor-intensive. And some of us have not had the joy of discovery that others have had. There are definitely discoveries being made: intact small juglets, larger jars, loom weights galore, walls (as Scott has shown in his pictures), figurines, and one small mold of a figurine which was possibly used to make those figurines that have been found. But, it does take stamina and a willingness to endure great physical activity without much promise of any reward. So...yesterday I decided I'd rather stay in an air-conditioned room back at the kibbutz instead of sifting buckets of dirt, checking it for artifacts, and hauling the sifted dirt in wheelbarrows to the dumpsite. So, today I found myself sleeping in, having to show up at the excavation office at 8:00 a.m., working with others, tagging artifacts as they come in from the field and chatting amiably. It was great!

I will probably get one more blog out before we head to Tel Aviv on Saturday to fly home. This has truly been a trip of a lifetime. But, we are winding down and thinking of home and loved ones. Those are such wonderful words!

Shalom.

Bev

Week 1 of the Dig photos (and petra!)

Petra, the Monastery

Petra the Treasury

Petra, the Treasury, with our group in it

Scott At the Dig

Steven at the dig

The dig site, Area C, where Steven and Allison were working

Area C -Where Scott, Rachel, and Jordan were working. The highest point is the top soil, The first indent on the left is a wall that runs N/S, and the little step is another wall running E/W, t he last step at the bottom is how far away we are from the floor of the complex

Wide shot of Area C

And the Dig Goes On...

We've now had four days in the field at Tel Rehov. It is fascinating just what is coming out of the earth in some parts of the tel. My area is not having too many finds...small pieces of pottery sherds, bone fragments, seashells and flint. Other than the great find Karly discovered on Tuesday (see previous blog), it's been slow in our area. I've visited the other areas and they seem to be having great success with their finds. During the pre-dinner hours each day we wash the pottery that we have found the previous day and then sort them for cataloging later in the dig office. We also have the privilege of listening to lectures on Tel Rehov and other aspects of archaeology by very prominant people in the field. If you'd like to find out more about the digsite, log onto rehov.org where you'll find information about where we're digging.

The students are looking forward to the weekend, when many of them are taking off for nearby distinations, such as the resort we stayed at when we were at the Sea of Galilee last week (En Gev). Others are planning a trip to Petra. Me, I'm relaxing at the kibbutz here, borrowing a Jane Austin book and taking it slow. That's my idea of a great weekend!

I'll keep checking in, when there is news to tell.

Blessings and Shalom!

Bev

Excavating: Awesome and Exhausting!

This is our second day of excavating Tel Rehov. We arrived at the kibbutz where we're staying on Sunday afternoon. The kibbutz is at the eastern end of the Jezreel Valley, not far from Beth She'an where we studied the ruins of that tel last week. The kibbutz is very shady, lots of space, and has a grocery store, which the students like! The south end of the kibbutz sits at the foot of Mt. Gilboa, where Saul and Jonathan were killed and the Philistines carried off the Ark of the Covenant. Everytime I look up, I imagine Saul fighting the Philistines and I wonder just where on Mt. Gilboa the battle took place. But, it really doesn't matter...just living for the next two weeks at the foot of that landscape where this well-known Biblical event took place is wondrous in itself!

We woke up bright and early (well....early at least!) on Monday morning at 4:30 a.m. to get out on the tel right before the sun came up. We were given our assignments as to the area we would be working in, and promptly went to work. I'm in Area A with Callan, Jessica, Karly, and Jesse. The others of our group are in Area C and Area D. Area C is a treasure trove of artifacts...you walk around that site and just observe all the different kinds of pottery they are taking out of the earth. There are HUGE storage jars just sitting in a couple of the rooms that have been excavated. Then, I watched yesterday as they pulled a cute, little juglet from the ground. It was completely intact except for a small hole in the side (possibly where a pickaxe hit it as they initially broke up the ground for excavation). If you like this sort of thing (and I do), this is amazing! Monday was exhausting as well as exhilerating, simply because we weren't used to the early hour and to the physical labor (hoeing dirt into buckets and carrying those buckets to a dirt pile to the side of the site). By 12:15 p.m. we wearily climbed aboard the bus to take us back to the kibbutz, completely covered from head to toe with a layer of fine dust all over us. I have never been so dirty in all of my life! We were talking about how we all looked like Pigpen from the Snoopy cartoon....as we walk, we stir up clouds of Israeli dirt everywhere we go! I stumbled into my room, took a shower immediately and promptly took a nap! I think I had a bit of heat exhaustion as well, since it was close to 105 degrees yesterday. But, drinking more water and rest revived me and we had a BBQ out on the lawn with everyone (including the archaeologists and the Israeli students) celebrating the 4th of July.

Today (Tuesday) was easier than yesterday, having acclimated ourselves a little to the environment. And we had quite a little excitement in our Area A! I was standing at the sifter (shaking a bucket of dirt through a sieve to find artifacts - pottery sherds, animal bone, seashells, and flint) when Karly showed a small object to our lead archaeologist, Haggai, and asked if it was anything. He took one look at it and said, "This is the greatest find in our area up to this point!" It was an oval seal with pictures and some kind of writing on it. The archaeologists immediately took measurements and obtained samples of the ground around where the seal (or scarab, as they called it) was found. I took a picture of Karly and the seal with my camera as well. Then the lead archaeologist of the whole excavation, Dr. Amihai Mazar, came to the site and exclaimed over the find. He made Karly feel very important as the discoverer of this most interesting artifact. They will be sending the object to a specialist to find out what is actually written on it. Haggai told me to look out for the impression of that seal in my sifter, since there may be some evidence of that around the location of the find. My most important find today was olive pits! There were dozens in the sifter and they were gathered without actually touching them since the carbon from my body would damage these ancient pits. I had to use my trusty trowel to fish them out and deposit them in a specially-made container. So, I was in the pits today! :)

I am able to use the computer in the excavation office, so hopefully I can get online every couple of days or so. I'll keep you posted as to other finds. It looks promising!

Bev

Pictures

So i was slacking a little bit...but here are some pictures!

Caesarea Philippi (Northern Galilee)

Sea of Galilee (sunset)

Megiddo

The Ladies (in Galilee...somewhere)

Jordan River

Capernaum

Caesarea Maritima (Mediterranean Sea)

Boat ride across Galilee

Arbel Cliffs (overlooking the Northern part of the Sea of Galilee)

The last day with the whole group

On Thursday (July 1), we embarked on our last bus tour with the full group we've been with since we came to Jerusalem. This group consisted of people from all over the US, not just APU people. We've gotten to know them, learn Hebrew songs with them, joked with them and trudged up Masada with them. They have truly become friends. It will be sad to say good-bye to them at the certificate ceremony tonight. But, I get ahead of myself...here is what we did with them on Thursday:

We headed out to the Ephraim and Manasseh areas of Israel. Ephraim is the heartland of the early settlement of the Jews in Israel, dating back to the time of the judges. We started our tour of the area with Mt. Gerizim, the place of blessings (as opposed to Mt. Ebal just north of it, which is the place of cursings). Afterwards, we stopped at a Samaritan museum with a presentation by the head of that museum. He's the grandson and the son of the former two high priests for the Samaritan people. He gave quite an in-depth overview of who the Samaritans are and what they believe. He told us that his people are currently the bridge between the Palestinians and the Israelis; that the Samaritans want peace above all else. There were many artifacts to look at, and a replica was displayed of the most treasured item in their possession: a beautiful Torah scroll. He also mentioned the community needed more girls to continue their lineage. I think he was offering to our female students a chance to come be a part of them! None of our girls took him up on his offer. But one of the girls said she would keep it in mind if nothing panned out for her in the states!

After this, we had lunch at a cafe/market right down the street from the museum, and also had a devotional from one of the group. This member of the group was overcome with the burden for the Samaritan people and talked about their religious practices and long history of being a people of God. But it is the appearance of salvation without knowing the One Who is our true salvation - Jesus the Christ. They believe He lived and was a good example, but He is not the Messiah. Our group member's heart was burdened for them and for all people who don't know Him as the Messiah. We are surrounded by such people in Israel. One other member of the group shared about her father who had had a stroke almost two years ago. At that time, she was crying out to God, so sorrowful that the dad she had known all her life was not the man he is now. The Lord showed her that the yearning she felt for her father and the feeling of loss she was experiencing was the same yearning the Lord has for us. He wants so much to have fellowship and closeness to each of us; to be our Abba in the truest sense of the word! We bowed our heads in prayer. A few others led out in prayer and we sang "As the deer panteth for the water." It was a God moment; a divine appointment for many of us that blessed us tremendously. God is so good!

We then went on to Shiloh where Dr. Mullins pointed out where the place of worship probably would have stood and where Samuel might have had his dwelling. I picked up a few pottery sherds along the way and Dr. Mullins identified them as Middle Bronze Age (age of the patriarchs) and Late Bronze Age (Canaanite rule in the area and Moses and the Exodus). Amazing! The timeframes on all that we are looking at and studying is mind-boggling!

After Shiloh, we were headed back to Jerusalem. About 20 of us had not yet gone to the Holocaust Museum (Yad VaShem). So, the bus dropped us off at the museam and we took a city bus back to JUC afterwards. The museum was very troubling and thought-provoking. We have all seen pictures of the Holocaust, but this was much more detailed. The one place that made me gasp was the Children's Memorial. You walk in the building and everything is dark. There are a few lighted pictures on the wall of children in the concentration camps. You round a corner in the dark and there, before you, are thousands of points of light in the darkness, with a voice naming these points of light; children who never had a chance to live. As I stood there, the voice named a boy, stating he was 12 years old. That's about the age of my oldest grandchild. It makes you weep.

Last night we had a time of worship in the garden behind the buildings on campus at JUC. Just as the sun was setting and the breeze was blowing we started singing. Our voices wafted over the Hinnom Valley, just as the music from the wedding I wrote about earlier had done. Students read scripture and others prayed. It was a sweet time and one I will never forget.

We are coming to the end of our time at JUC. It's been a remarkable experience and the facts and figures I've learned will, hopefully, stay with me. But, what I will miss the most are the people I've met. They are wonderful people. If you don't know already, our APU students are amazing! I love every one of them!

I'm not sure if I will have internet access at the kibbutz we're going to for the archaeological dig. This starts on Sunday. Hopefully, I will be able to continue to send out blogs. But, if there is not a handy computer, I'll need to borrow one of the students' laptops. So, my blogs may be more sporadic.

Until next time...

Bev