Digs 2001: Get Your Hands Dirty

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Sure, reading about the ancient world is fascinating, but let’s face it: There’s just no substitute for holding history in your hands. That’s something hundreds of BAR readers have already discovered, and it’s something you can find out for yourself by volunteering for a dig this year. Volunteers are an indispensable part of archaeological discovery. Every excavation season, people of all descriptions—students and teachers, professionals and pilgrims, young adventurers and seasoned retirees—uncover the buried treasures of the past by wielding pickax and trowel under the appreciative direction of professional archaeologists.

In the pages that follow, you’ll find plenty of information on 28 excavations where volunteers are invited to come get their hands dirty. So if you’ve ever wanted to get a better grip on ancient history, why not consider joining one of these digs in 2001? Soap and water will take care of the dirt, but the memories will stick with you for a lifetime.

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El-Ahwat

Discovered in 1992 during a survey of the hill country of Manasseh, El-Ahwat is located about 9 miles east of Caesarea. The site was probably settled by the Shardana, one of the Sea Peoples (among whom numbered the Philistines), toward the end of the 13th century B.C. Excavations there have revealed a heavily fortified Iron Age I village with architectural features that connect El-Ahwat with the Nuragic culture of Sardinia. Dig director Adam Zertal (Univ. of Haifa) plans to continue exploration of the fortification system in 2001. The site is open to visitors by appointment during the excavation season.

El-‘Ajjul

Excavated in the 1930s by Sir William Flinders Petrie, Tell el-‘Ajjul produced scores of Hyksos scarabs and became well known for its impressive hoards of gold jewelry. The city was situated in a crucial position between Egypt and Palestine and had a harbor that gave small vessels access to the city. Renewed excavations in 1999 clearly demonstrated the cosmopolitan nature of the city during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages: Excavators uncovered pottery imported from Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, the Jordan Valley and possibly the northern Levant. Other finds from previous excavations include a plaque with an image of Hathor (the Egyptian goddess of love, music and women) and significant domestic and administrative architecture. In 2001 dig director Peter M. Fischer (Chalmers Univ. of Technology) plans to extend excavations at this promising site, which lies near the Mediterranean coast about 6 miles southwest of modern Gaza. Tell el-‘Ajjul is open to visitors during the dig season, and guided tours are available by appointment.

Ashkelon

A major Canaanite and Philistine seaport, the city of Ashkelon plays a prominent role in the Hebrew Bible. According to Judges 14:19, Samson killed 30 men there, and King David, when he learned that the Philistines had slain Saul and Jonathan, lamented, “Proclaim it not in the bazaars of Ashkelon” (2 Samuel 1:20). The prophet Jeremiah also mentions Ashkelon, in his oracle against the Philistines (Jeremiah 47:5–7).

Previous excavations at Ashkelon, which lies about 45 minutes south of Tel Aviv, have uncovered bronze figurines and vessels from Egypt, beautiful pottery imported from Greece and Cyprus, and a tiny calf fashioned 050from bronze and silver (featured on the cover of the March/April 1991 BAR). Other impressive discoveries include a Canaanite “city of the dead”—a large underground complex of rock-cut chambers that has so far yielded more than 180 human skeletons and 1,200 whole pottery vessels. Recent excavations have recovered the remains of two Philistine babies buried in storage jars and an exceedingly rare silver tetradrachma bearing a portrait of Cleopatra. In the upcoming season, Harvard University’s Lawrence Stager plans to continue excavating the early Philistine settlement, as well as Canaanite houses and the site’s Hellenistic and Roman cities. Ashkelon may be visited daily by appointment, and guided tours are available.

BAR articles: Patricia Smith and Lawrence E. Stager, “DNA Analysis Sheds New Light on Oldest Profession at Ashkelon,” BAR 23:04; Frank Moore Cross, “A Philistine Ostracon from Ashkelon,” BAR 22:01; Stager, “The Fury of Babylon: Ashkelon and the Archaeology of Destruction,” BAR 22:01, “Eroticism and Infanticide at Ashkelon,” BAR 17:04, “Why Were Hundreds of Dogs Buried at Ashkelon?” BAR 17:03, “When Canaanites and Philistines Ruled Ashkelon,” BAR 17:02.

Assawir

This is an opportunity to become involved with a dig at the very beginning. Located 8 miles east of Caesarea, Tel Assawir is situated on what was once the important Wadi ‘Ara road, which passed through the Carmel Mountains. A preliminary survey of the site recovered figurines, pottery and stone objects. According to dig director Adam Zertal (Univ. of Haifa), these objects are strong indications of Tel Assawir’s archaeological promise. Zertal’s main goals for the first season are to establish the site’s chronology and to find its fortification system. Visits and guided tours are available by appointment.

Ba’ja

The Ba’ja excavation project investigates a village dating to the Early Neolithic period (seventh millennium B.C.). Offering evidence of the earliest sedentary societies in the Near East, the site is located in a dramatically sloping landscape about eight miles north of Petra, in southern Jordan. The slopes are densely occupied by terraced housing, once inhabited by people who began to develop social stratification. Previous excavations have revealed a Neolithic burial chamber and an associated fresco. During the upcoming 051season, project director Hans Georg Gebel (Free Univ. of Berlin) will explore evidence of early religious rituals and magic practices at the site. Guided tours are available during the dig season by appointment.

Banias (Caesarea Philippi)

Located at the foot of Mt. Hermon near the source of the Jordan River, Banias—known as Caesarea Philippi in the Gospels—is associated with the Galilean ministry of Jesus (Matthew 16:13; Mark 8:27). Excavators have unearthed an important early Roman city at Banias, with a large palace and arched storerooms. Not far from the city, a stream flows from the Cave of Pan, a shrine established in the third century B.C. and mentioned by many ancient writers. This year volunteers working under the direction of Vassilios Tzaferis (Israel Antiquities Authority) will continue to expose more of the first-century A.D. palace. The site is open to tourists year-round; no appointment is necessary.

BAR articles: John F. Wilson and Vassilios Tzaferis, “Banias Dig Reveals King’s Palace,” BAR 24:01.

Bethsaida

Located on the eastern bank of the Jordan River, just north of the Sea of Galilee, Bethsaida was the birthplace of the apostles Peter, Andrew and Philip. It was also the town where Jesus restored a blind man’s sight (Mark 8:22–26) and fed the multitude (Luke 9:10–17). Bethsaida, which means “House of the Fisherman,” is mentioned in the Gospels more often than any other town except Jerusalem and Capernaum.

Destroyed by the Romans during the First Jewish Revolt (66–70 A.D.), Bethsaida was lost to the modern world until 1987, when excavations began to uncover the ancient city. Archaeological finds include a decorated stela, Roman houses, an incense shovel, an unusual statue of the Egyptian god Pataekos (featured on the cover of the Jan./Feb. 1995 BAR) and a fortified city dating to Iron Age II. In 2001 codirectors Rami Arav (Univ. of Nebraska at Omaha) and Richard Freund (Univ. of Hartford) plan to expose more of the Iron Age city gate. The site is open to the public every day, and guided tours are available by appointment.

BAR articles: Rami Arav, Richard A. Freund and John F. Shroder, Jr., “Bethsaida Rediscovered,” BAR 26:01; Arav and Freund, “The Bull from the Sea: Geshur’s Chief Deity?” BAR 24:01, “An Incense Shovel from Bethsaida,” BAR 23:01; Arav, “An Iron Age Amulet from the Galilee,” BAR 21:01.

Caesarea Maritima

It was in Caesarea Maritima that the apostle Peter first converted gentiles to Christianity (Acts 10). Here also, according to Acts 23–26, the apostle Paul was imprisoned. Herod built the city between 22 and 10 B.C., on the site of a Phoenician and Hellenistic trading station known as Strato’s Tower. Named in honor of Herod’s patron, Caesar Augustus, the city became a major port, thanks to the artificial all-weather harbor Herod constructed. Underwater excavations have uncovered this harbor, which was capable of holding the entire Roman fleet and was hailed in antiquity as an extraordinary engineering feat.

Excavations on land at Caesarea Maritima have yielded many impressive finds, including an aqueduct system, a theater, a circus, baths, a waterfront warehouse complex and an early Christian church that was built over the ruins of Herod’s temple to Roma and Augustus. Other finds include the remains of an early synagogue, numerous inscriptions, bronze figurines, coins, mosaics and splendid Crusader fortifications. In the harbor this year, dig directors Avner Raban (Univ. of Haifa) and Edward Reinhardt (McMaster Univ.) will continue to study underwater remains, in particular the construction of Herod’s harbor; on land, excavators are taking a year off to study their finds and will resume digging in 2002. Located on the Mediterranean coast between Tel Aviv and Haifa, Caesarea Maritima is a national park, open to visitors year-round.

BAR articles: “Caesarea Maritima Yields More Treasures,” BAR 20:01; Barbara Burrell, Kathryn Gleason and Ehud Netzer, “Uncovering Herod’s Seaside Palace,” BAR 19:03; Kenneth G. Holum, “From the Director’s Chair: Starting a New Dig,” BAR 17:01; Lindley Vann, “Herod’s Harbor Construction Recovered Underwater,” BAR 09:03; Robert L. Hohlfelder, “Caesarea Beneath the Sea,” BAR 08:03, and Robert J. Bull, “Caesarea Maritima—The Search for Herod’s City,” BAR 08:03.

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Ein Gedi

Described by Eusebius (fourth century A.D.) as a “large village of Jews,” the Roman-Byzantine settlement of Ein Gedi lies on the western shore of the Dead Sea between Jerusalem and Masada. Excavations in and around the village have uncovered a mikveh (a Jewish ritual bath) and a synagogue, as well as two flour mills, water installations, streets, shops and a Roman bathhouse. Investigators have also discovered a large public installation for the production of balsam, a highly valued aromatic oil, which the Talmud identifies as the balm of Gilead (Jeremiah 8:22). Not far from the village, at the highest point of the Ein Gedi oasis, excavations have brought to light what may have been a first- or second-century A.D. Essene settlement. Excavator Yizhar Hirschfeld (Hebrew Univ.) will concentrate on uncovering more of the village next season. Ein Gedi is open to visitors throughout the year.

BAR article: “The Balm of Gilead,” BAR 22:05.

Halif

The seven-acre site of Tell Halif lies near Kibbutz Lahav, at the northern edge of the Negev Desert. Occupied from the Chalcolithic period to modern times, the site has yielded significant remains from an Early Bronze Age settlement, as well as from the Late Bronze Age (when the site was largely under Egyptian influence), the Israelite period of Iron Age II and the late Roman and Byzantine periods, when the region was the scene of Jewish and Christian resettlement after the Roman destruction of Jerusalem. The site has been variously identified with biblical Ziklag, Hormath and Rimmon.

Excavations are focused on the social, political and economic life of southern Judah between the ninth and seventh centuries B.C. Dig directors Oded Borowski (Emory Univ.) and James W. Hardin (Cobb Institute of Archaeology) plan to study daily life in the Israelite period by excavating buildings in the site’s domestic quarter. Tell Halif is open to visitors by appointment during the dig season. Guided tours are available by appointment.

Halutza

The central city of southern Palestine in the Roman and Byzantine periods, Halutza was founded as a way station for Nabatean traders traveling between Petra and Gaza. The site is located about 12 miles southwest of Beer-Sheva and has so far yielded a kiln, an early Christian cathedral and the only theater ever found in the Negev Desert. Dig directors Haim Goldfus and Benny Arubas (both of Ben-Gurion Univ.) plan to expose more of the cathedral complex, and they also hope to uncover evidence of a Nabatean temple. Visits and guided tours are available by arrangement.

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Har Karkom

Dig director Emmanuel Anati (Centro Camuno di Studi Preistorici, Brescia, Italy) believes that this mountain in the heart of the Negev Desert may be the site of Biblical Mt. Sinai. Whether he is right or not, past excavations at Har Karkom have turned up ample evidence that the mountain was an important Bronze Age “high place.” A Paleolithic shrine (30,000 B.C.) indicates that the mountain was sacred from earliest times, and archaeologists have identified numerous altars and ceremonial sites that point to ongoing ancient cultic activity at Har Karkom. Bronze Age geoglyphs (large pebble drawings) on the mountain appear to depict offerings to an entity in the sky.

Massive amounts of data have emerged from the years of excavation at and around Har Karkom. The 75-square-mile area around the mountain boasts 40,000 petroglyphs—the largest concentration of rock art in the Negev—and almost 900 individual archaeological sites. This year’s expedition will dig at selected sites, continue the archaeological survey of the area and record the rock art. The team camps at the foot of the mountain and conditions can be harsh: Daily necessities, including water, must be brought in by desert vehicle from Eilat, more than 60 miles away. The site is open to visitors during the dig season; guided tours are available on request.

BAR articles: Emmanuel Anati, “30,000-Year-Old Sanctuary Found at Har Karkom,” BAR 19:01; Israel Finkelstein, “Raider of the Lost Mountain,” BAR 14:04; Anati, “Has Mt. Sinai Been Found?” BAR 11:04.

Hazor

Located about 20 miles north of the Sea of Galilee, Hazor played an important role in Joshua’s conquest of Canaan. The king of Hazor, Jabin, organized a league of kingdoms into a vast host to oppose the Israelites. After the Israelites slew all of their opponents, Joshua burnt Hazor (Joshua 11:1–13). Jabin also appears in the story of the battle between Deborah and Sisera (Judges 4). Solomon apparently rebuilt the city (1 Kings 9:15), which finally disappears from the Biblical record after its conquest by the Assyrians in 732 B.C. (2 Kings 15:29).

Hazor is also mentioned in extra-Biblical sources. The Egyptian Execration Texts (c. 19th–18th centuries B.C.) curse Hazor as an enemy of Egypt, and an 18th-century B.C. Babylonian tablet notes that Hammurabi had ambassadors residing in Hazor. Past 054excavations have uncovered a Bronze Age Canaanite palace and cultic area, and Canaanite and Israelite fortifications, clay tablets, sculptures and jewelry. Dig director Amnon Ben-Tor (Hebrew Univ.) hopes to complete the excavation of both the palace and the fortifications this season. The site is a national park, open to visitors daily. Guided tours are available by arrangement.

BAR articles: Amnon Ben-Tor, “Excavating Hazor, Part 1, ” BAR 25:02, “Excavating Hazor, Part 2, ” BAR 25:03 (with Maria Teresa Rubiato); Ben-Tor, “Big Game Hunting: The Lion of Hazor,” BAR 24:01; Bonnie Rochman, “The Pride of Hazor: Lion Statue Regains Its Long-Lost Mate,” BAR 23:06; Hershel Shanks, “Archaeological Hot Spots,” BAR 22:06, “Ben-Tor, Long Married, Will Return to Hazor,” BAR 16:01, “BAR Interviews Yigael Yadin,” BAR 09:01; Dan P. Cole, “How Water Tunnels Worked,” BAR 06:02; Yigael Yadin, “Hazor and the Battle of Joshua—Is Joshua 11 Wrong?” BAR 02:01; Yohanan Aharoni, “Hazor and the Battle of Deborah—Is Judges 4 Wrong?” BAR 01:04.

Hippos (Sussita)

Founded by the Seleucids during the Hellenistic period, Hippos (Sussita in Aramaic) was one of the cities of the Decapolis—a federation of cities in eastern Palestine (Matthew 4:25; Mark 5:20, 7:31). Located on the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee, Hippos was first excavated in the 1950s, when several Byzantine churches, including an impressive cathedral, were uncovered. Archaeologists also laid bare the city’s colonnaded main street, a nymphaeum (fountain) and numerous architectural remains that indicate the importance of Hippos during Roman times. Director Arthur Segal (Univ. of Haifa) plans to explore the city’s forum and a church in the northwestern quarter of the site. Hippos is open to visitors year-round, but guided tours are not available.

BAR article: Vassilios Tzaferis, “Sussita Awaits the Spade,” BAR 16:05.

Hisban (Heshbon)

Hisban (Biblical Heshbon) is located in Jordan, on the edge of a highland plateau overlooking the northern tip of the Dead Sea. On a clear day the Biblical towns of Madaba, Nebo, Jericho and Jerusalem can be seen from the summit of the site. Heshbon was the capital of the Amorite king Sihon (Numbers 21:21–32), and excavations there have uncovered pottery associated with the Biblical tribe of Reuben. Other finds include a temple acropolis area dating to the time of Jesus, a tomb closed with a rolling stone, three sixth-century A.D. Christian churches with beautiful mosaics 055and a huge reservoir believed by many to be referred to in the Song of Songs (7:4). This year director Øystein LaBianca (Andrews Univ.) plans to continue research into cyclic patterns of sedentarization and nomadization in the region around this important Biblical site. Hisban is open to visitors and guided tours are available.

BAR articles: Larry G. Herr, “The Search for Biblical Heshbon,” BAR 19:06, and “What Ever Happened to the Ammonites?” BAR 19:06.

Jaffa (Yaffo)

In the Hebrew Bible, Jaffa (there called Joppa; Yaffo in modern Hebrew) is mentioned as a border city of the original territory of Dan (Joshua 19:46; the tribe later moved north). The city served as a port for shipping timber from Lebanon to Jerusalem to construct the Temple (2 Chronicles 2:16); Joppa was also the port where Jonah hired a ship to avoid going to Nineveh (Jonah 1:3). Located in southwestern Tel Aviv, the archaeological mound of ancient Jaffa was first excavated from the 1950s through the 1970s, when archaeologists discovered remains dating to the Bronze Age, the Iron Age and the Persian and Hellenistic periods. More recent excavations have revealed brick walls from Egyptian fortifications, a royal scarab of Amenhotep III and an administrative structure dating to the Late Bronze Age. In the upcoming season, dig director Ze’ev Herzog (Tel Aviv Univ.) will expand the excavation of the Egyptian remains. The site is open to the public, but there are no guided tours.

Kedesh

Identified in the Bible as a “city of refuge” for those who accidentally cause the death of another (Joshua 20:7), Tel Kedesh is located south of the Lebanese border, about 22 miles north of Tiberias. The site was first occupied during the Bronze and Iron Ages, then again in the Hellenistic and Roman periods. According to 1 Maccabees 11:73, Kedesh was the site of a siege during the rise of the Hasmoneans. Josephus also writes about the town in Antiquities of the Jews and The Jewish War. Among the finds unearthed at the site is a cache of nearly 2,000 bullae found in the corner of an enormous building, likely a Hellenistic administrative archive. Codirectors Sharon Herbert (Univ. of Michigan) and Andrea Berlin (Univ. of Minnesota) plan to continue to explore this administrative center and its outbuildings. Tel Kedesh is open to visitors during the excavation season, but guided tours are not available.

BAR articles: Hershel Shanks, “Restore the Roman Temple at Kedesh,” BAR 26:05; “Woollae Bullae,” BAR 26:03.

Khirbat al-Mudayna

Excavations at the Iron Age tell of Khirbat al-Mudayna (about 11 miles from Madaba, Jordan) have exposed a casemate wall system, a six-chambered gate and a small temple. These finds are associated with the Moabites, frequently mentioned in the Hebrew Bible. Similar in style to gates at Megiddo and Hazor, the walls of the gate at Mudayna are preserved to a height of over 6 feet. Iron Age finds from the temple include female and zoomorphic figurines and limestone altars with painted designs. Moabite inscriptions on pottery sherds have also been discovered at the site. Dig director Michèle Daviau’s (Wilfrid Laurier Univ.) goal for 2001 is to complete the excavation of the temple and of a road leading to the gate. The site is open to visitors during the dig season, and guided tours are available by appointment.

Kursi

According to Christian tradition, Kursi is identified with the country of the Gerasenes, where Jesus healed a demoniac by casting his “unclean spirit” into a herd of swine (Matthew 8:28–34; Mark 5; Luke 8:26–39). Located just east of the Sea of Galilee, the site has yielded the remains of the largest known Byzantine monastery in the Holy Land. Excavations have also revealed a fifth-century A.D. chapel paved with three separate layers of mosaics. This year volunteers working under directors Vassilios Tzaferis (Israel Antiquities Authority) and Charles Page (Jerusalem Center for Biblical Studies) will explore some recently exposed underground rooms and hallways at the site. Part of Israel’s national parks system, Kursi is open to visitors year-round. Guided tours are available.

BAR article: Vassilios Tzaferis, “A Pilgrimage to the Site of the Swine Miracle,” BAR 15:02.

Petra

Located in Jordan, about 50 miles south of the Dead Sea, Petra is one of the most dramatic ancient sites in the Near East. Approached through a narrow ravine, the entire city is carved out of living sandstone. Though it was occupied from the Iron Age to the 20th century, Petra is best known as the capital of the Nabateans, who settled here during the Hellenistic period. The site is also associated with the Biblical Sela, in the land of the Edomites (Judges 1:36; 2 Kings 14:7).

Discoveries at Petra include the “Treasury of Pharaoh” (a spectacular edifice carved into a cliff wall), a Roman-style theater 056and a necropolis. Dig directors Philip C. Hammond (Arizona State Univ.) and David J. Johnson (Brigham Young Univ.) will once more focus on the Temple of the Winged Lions, the most important Nabatean temple yet discovered. Guided tours of Petra are available, and the site is open to visitors all year.

BAR articles: Hershel Shanks, “The Petra Scrolls,” BAR 23:01, “The New Barbarians,” BAR 22:05; Avraham Negev, “Understanding the Nabateans,” BAR 14:06; Philip C. Hammond, “New Light on the Nabateans,” BAR 07:02, and Judith W. Shanks, “A Plea for the Bedoul Bedouin of Petra,” BAR 07:02.

Rehov

The Canaanite city of Rehov is mentioned in Egyptian sources dating to the New Kingdom (15th–12th centuries B.C.). Occupied from the Middle Bronze Age to the Iron Age, Rehov may shed light on the political and social situation in Israel during the time of the United Monarchy. Excavations have revealed the remains of a well-planned Iron Age city (destroyed by the Assyrians in the eighth century B.C.), as well as large, well-preserved buildings, clay figurines and a tenth-century B.C. pottery cult stand. In the upcoming season dig director Amihai Mazar (Hebrew Univ.) will continue excavating the Iron Age II city. Located two miles south of Beth-Shean in northern Israel, Tel Rehov is open year-round to visitors. Guided tours are not available.

BAR article: Amihai Mazar and John Camp, “Will Tel Rehov Save the United Monarchy?” BAR 26:02.

Es-Safi (Gath)

Continuously occupied from the Chalcolithic period until modern times, Tell es-Safi has been identified as the city of Gath—one of the five royal cities of the Philistines and the home of the giant Goliath. Previous excavations at the site, which lies roughly halfway between Jerusalem and Ashkelon, have unearthed a unique Iron Age siege moat, the remains of siege activities and an exceptionally well-preserved Iron Age II destruction level with many intact pottery vessels. Dig directors Aren Maeir (Bar-Ilan Univ.) and Carl Ehrlich (York Univ.) will excavate remains at the moat and continue exploring the site’s Late Bronze Age and Iron Age levels. Tell es-Safi is open to visitors year-round, and guided tours are available during the dig season.

Sepphoris

Traditionally identified as the birthplace of Mary, Sepphoris is located a mere 4 miles northwest of Nazareth, the hometown of Jesus. Josephus called the Roman period city “the ornament of all Galilee.” In the first century A.D., Sepphoris served briefly as the capital of the district of Galilee; it later became the seat of the Sanhedrin and the home of the revered Rabbi Judah ha Nasi (Judah the Prince), who compiled the Mishnah around 200 A.D.

The site has been excavated by numerous teams. Among the most important finds are beautiful mosaics, including the “Mona Lisa of the Galilee” mosaic, a Roman villa, a large theater, a monumental public building, an aqueduct, synagogues, private residences and a row of shops along one of the city’s colonnaded streets. In 2001 Zeev Weiss (Hebrew Univ.) hopes to complete the excavation of several public and private buildings in lower Sepphoris. The site is a national park, open to visitors year-round.

BAR articles: Zeev Weiss, “The Sepphoris Synagogue Mosaic,” BAR 26:05; Mark Chancey and Eric Meyers, “How Jewish Was Sepphoris in Jesus’ Time?” BAR 26:04, Tsvika Tsuk, “Bringing Water to Sepphoris,” BAR 26:04, Hanan Eshel and Eric Meyers, “The Pools of Sepphoris—Ritual Baths or Bathtubs?” BAR 26:04; Ehud Netzer and Weiss, “New Mosaic Art from Sepphoris,” BAR 18:06; Richard A. Batey, “Sepphoris—An Urban Portrait of Jesus,” BAR 18:03; “Mosaic Masterpiece Dazzles Sepphoris Volunteers,” BAR 14:01.

Sha‘ar ha-Golan

Sha‘ar ha-Golan’s excavators have called the site, located a mile south of the Sea of Galilee, a “prehistoric art center” because of the abundance of figurines produced there by a Neolithic people belonging to the Yarmukian culture. Among the finds are anthropomorphic figures made out of river cobbles and clay figurines, including a very large female figure, possibly a goddess (featured in WorldWide, BAR 25:03). Excavators have also uncovered monumental courtyard houses, the earliest street in Israel, decorated pottery vessels, stone bowls and numerous lithics. This season’s dig will be directed by Yosef Garfinkel (Hebrew Univ.) and Michele Miller (Boston Univ.), who hope to uncover more monumental architecture. Not far from the site is Kibbutz Sha‘ar ha-Golan, which has a museum largely devoted to finds from past digs. The museum is open to visitors daily between 9 a.m. and noon. Guided tours of the site are not available.

BAR article: Yonathan Mizrachi, “Mystery Circles,” BAR 18:04.

Tamar

Situated about 30 miles south of the Dead Sea, the city of Tamar was the southernmost Israelite border city built by King Solomon (1 Kings 9:18). Parts of the city, which was destroyed several times and rebuilt by the Nabateans and the Romans, were previously excavated by Israeli archaeologists Rudolph Cohen and Yigal Yisrael. Their digs uncovered pottery, coins, gate foundations of Jewish design, Roman baths and a ritual altar. Yisrael, this year’s dig director, plans to expand the excavation of the tell and to open new excavations on outlying ruins. The site is open to visitors by appointment during the dig season.

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Ya’amun

Archaeologists have already recorded 155 tombs in the various necropoli at Ya’amun, in north Jordan. Pottery indicates continued occupation at the site from the Bronze Age to the Islamic period. From the early Byzantine period, excavators have uncovered an intact mosaic floor inside a sixth-century A.D. church. Codirectors Jerome C. Rose (Univ. of Arkansas) and Mahmoud El-Najjar (Yarmouk Univ.) plan to continue excavating both the church and the tombs at Ya’amun; they also hope to expose more of the site’s Middle Bronze Age walls. Visits and guided tours are available by appointment during the dig season.

Yavneh-Yam

Yavneh-Yam (Biblical Jamnia) played an important role in the second-century B.C. Maccabean Revolt, when the Jews struggled to free themselves from their Greek rulers. The Jewish leader Judah Maccabee pursued the army of Gorgias to the plain of Jamnia (1 Maccabees 4:15) and later burned Jamnia’s harbor and the fleet that was in it (2 Maccabees 12:8–9). The Book of Judith (2:28) mentions the city as one of several terrorized by Nebuchadnezzar’s general Holofernes.

Located 12 miles south of Tel Aviv, Yavneh-Yam was occupied from the Bronze Age through the Middle Ages. Excavations have revealed Iron Age buildings, a Hasmonean destruction layer, Christian pilgrimage remains, sherds of Greek red-figure pottery and a Hellenistic statuette of a girl playing a stringed instrument. Under the direction of expedition leader Moshe Fischer (Tel Aviv Univ.), volunteers will investigate the Iron Age level and expand the excavation of the Hasmonean destruction layer. The site is open to visitors year-round, and guided tours are available.

Zayit

Located 30 miles southwest of Jerusalem, Zayit was occupied from the Middle Bronze Age to the Ottoman period. During the two seasons of excavations at Tel Zayit, volunteers have studied destruction levels dating to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age II. This year, dig director Ron E. Tappy (Pittsburgh Theological Seminary) will continue to explore these destruction levels; he also hopes to clarify the dimensions of a late Roman fortress at the site. Tel Zayit is open to visitors by appointment and guided tours are available.

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Travel Advisory

Over the past few months, as we have been preparing our annual list of digs in Israel and Jordan with volunteer opportunities, we have been bombarded with news reports of violence in Israel. The troubling reports have, of course, raised fears about travel to Israel.

On October 24, 2000, the U.S. State Department issued an advisory recommending that U.S. citizens defer travel to Israel, the West Bank and Gaza. The advisory states that Americans in these areas should maintain a low profile and avoid shopping areas, malls, public buses, bus stops and other crowded areas or demonstrations.

At the same time, we have talked to numerous dig directors. All are determined to return to the field this summer. The violence, they contend, has been confined to isolated areas. They feel safe working at their sites and they hope that volunteers from around the world will join them in the field this summer.

This is also an interesting time to visit the area, although caution is the byword as to where you go. But you are likely to get a different perspective from what you see on television and read in the news.

As you decide whether to join a dig this summer, we recommend that you keep abreast of the State Department advisories and that you talk with the dig representatives. Be sure to check our Web site (www.bib-arch.org) for travel advisories and statements from dig directors.

Sure, reading about the ancient world is fascinating, but let’s face it: There’s just no substitute for holding history in your hands. That’s something hundreds of BAR readers have already discovered, and it’s something you can find out for yourself by volunteering for a dig this year. Volunteers are an indispensable part of archaeological discovery. Every excavation season, people of all descriptions—students and teachers, professionals and pilgrims, young adventurers and seasoned retirees—uncover the buried treasures of the past by wielding pickax and trowel under the appreciative direction of professional archaeologists. In the pages that follow, you’ll find plenty of […]