Excavation Opportunities 1984
070
You can dig at Tell el-‘Umeiri in Jordan, a tell that has never been dug. You can explore David’s Jerusalem, where several bullae or letter seals bearing names of First Temple period Jerusalem residents have been discovered. You can don scuba gear and descend to the first Roman shipwreck discovered off the coast of Israel. Or you can choose one of many other digs that need volunteers, and as you excavate, you’ll be discovering “What it was like when … ”
Digging at any excavation will give you a sense of the past; many sites also have links to the Bible that enrich the experience of seeing history revealed. In deciding where to dig, consider what happened historically and what is happening archaeologically at a site and consider other questions as well. Do you mind living in a tent, or is a kibbutz guest house more to your liking? Do you need academic credit? Do you want to swim every day? Remember that digging is hard work, and 071wake-up call is before dawn. Know what to expect.
This year’s BAR roundup of volunteer opportunities at digs will help you narrow your choices. Descriptions of excavations include addresses you can write to for additional information—write to several. The listings are not complete because some digs were not yet ready with information when this issue went to press. In the March/April and May/June issues of BAR, BARlines will probably give additional listings. You may also write to the Israel Department of Antiquities and Museums, P.O. Box 586, Jerusalem, Israel, and request Archaeological Excavations 1984, a free summary of dig opportunities in Israel prepared each year by Marta Rettig.
Volunteers from all over the world will dig this summer in the lands of the Bible. If you decide to join them, you will be one of those who discovers firsthand the excitement of Biblical archaeology.
072
Aphek/Antipatris
Before the Israelites conquered Canaan, Aphek was an important Canaanite city, located on the ancient highway known as the Via Maris (Way of the Sea). Joshua slew the king of Aphek (Joshua 12) and centuries later, the Philistines mustered at Aphek to prepare for battle with the Israelites (1 Samuel 4, 1 Samuel 29). In 9 B.C., Herod built a city named Antipatris on the site. About 60 years later, when the Apostle Paul’s life was threatened in Jerusalem, Roman soldiers saved Paul by bringing him to Antipatris in the middle of the night (Acts 23).
Today, Aphek is not far from Tel Aviv. Excavations during past seasons have revealed inscriptions dating to the eve of the Israelite conquest of Canaan. During the 1984 excavation season, from June 17 to July 27, the excavation team will uncover more of the palaces of the Canaanite kings of Aphek, and a Roman theater and town forum.
Volunteers will live in the Petah Tikvah School for Gardening and Landscaping. Room and board (meals are served Sunday afternoons through Friday afternoons) will cost $100 per week or $350 for four weeks plus $75 per week after four weeks. Meals will be served in an air-conditioned dining room.
Volunteers should be at least 18 years old and must stay at least two weeks. Full medical and accident insurance is required. Optional academic credit courses are offered; tuition is extra. Groups as well as individuals are encouraged to volunteer. The expedition will give special consideration to universities that join the consortium of sponsoring schools.
For more information, write to Moshe Kochavi, Aphek/Antipatris Expedition, Institute of Archaeology, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978, Israel.
Caesarea Harbor
The wreck of a first-century B.C. Roman merchant ship, the first ancient shipwreck discovered off the coast of Israel, was explored in 1983 by scuba divers from CAHEP, the Caesarea Ancient Harbor Excavation Project. In previous seasons, divers have examined the now-submerged massive breakwaters of Caesarea’s ancient harbor and have raised 2,000-year-old stone anchors from a nearby bay. (See “Caesarea Maritima—The Search for Herod’s City Caesarea Beneath the Sea,” BAR 08:03, and “Herod’s Harbor Construction Recovered Underwater,” BAR 09:03).
Excavating and mapping the northern and southern harbor breakwaters, drawing the shipwreck uncovered in 1983, and digging trenches on land to explore what once was Herod’s inner harbor and an earlier Phoenician settlement known as Stearn’s Tower are the goals of the 1984 excavation season.
Herod built the city and harbor of Caesarea in the first century B.C. on an inhospitable section of Israel’s coast 32 miles north of Jaffa. The harbor, as large as Piraeus, the port of Athens, and the first artificial harbor ever constructed, was formed by two stone breakwaters resting on concrete foundations that extended as much as 1,500 feet into the Mediterranean Sea.
Experienced, certified divers may apply to excavate at Caesarea for either or both of two three-week sessions—from May 18 to June 8 or from June 8 to June 29. Room and board for five days a week, diving expenses and diving insurance are covered by costs of $900 for three weeks or $1,650 for six weeks. Volunteers must provide their own diving equipment and medical insurance.
Three undergraduate or graduate credits may be obtained from one of the institutions sponsoring the underwater excavations at Caesarea—the University of Haifa, the University of Colorado, the University of Maryland, and the University of Victoria. Tuition costs are extra. Volunteers will stay in dormitories at the Marine Center of Kibbutz Sdot Yam, where the clubroom, for CAHEP use only, has a well-stocked bar, television, and ample room for dancing. Daily lectures and discussions on topics such as geophysical features of the Israeli coast, the history of Caesarea Maritima, and underwater photography and archaeology, will be followed by cocktails in the clubroom and dinner at Herod’s Citadel restaurant.
To verify this schedule and request an application, write to Professor Robert L. Hohlfelder, Department of History, Box 234, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado 80309. Phone: (303) 492–8431.
Emeq Hefer
The Emeq Hefer Archaeological Research Project excavates at Tel el Efshar, where Canaanite, Israelite and Byzantine remains have been found, and at Michmoret, a port at the mouth of the Alexander River. Both sites are on the coast a few miles south of Caesarea. Private dwellings at Efshar have yielded pottery from Egypt and from countries north of Israel. In the 1984 dig season, which runs from June 29 to August 10, one goal will be to complete the excavation of a group of over 50 pottery vessels dating to the Late Bronze I period (1550–1400 B.C.).
At Michmoret, a survey team from the Center for Maritime Studies at the University of Haifa last year began to prepare a map of the underwater remains of the harbor. In 1984, excavators will clear more of a Persian period (586–332 B.C.) building that covers an area of 500 square meters. The team will also continue to examine two late Persian period tombs built in the Phoenician style of the late fifth and early fourth centuries B.C.
A $700 fee covers touring and room and board in a high school for the full season. Volunteers may stay less than the full season at a rate not exceeding $100 per week. For further information, including credit options and minimum length of stay, write to Dr. Samuel M. Paley, Department of Egyptian Art, The Brooklyn Museum, 188 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, New York 11238, or to Dr. Robert R. Stieglitz, c/o Department of Hebraic Studies, Rutgers University, 175 University Avenue, Newark, New Jersey 07102.
Tel Batash (Timnah)
“Out of the eater came something to eat. Out of the strong came something sweet.” With this riddle, Samson perplexed the Philistines, until the wife he had taken from the Philistine city of Timnah revealed the answer to her countrymen. (For the answer to the riddle, see Judges 14.)
Ancient Timnah, now called Tel Batash, was located in the Sorek River Valley, an important pathway from the Philistine cities on Israel’s coastal plain to the hilly region near 073Jerusalem. The site was occupied from the Middle Bronze Age (2200–1550 B.C.) through the Persian period (586–332 B.C.). During the 1984 season, from June 11 to July 14, excavators will explore three major Late Bronze Age destruction levels, investigate the stratification of the city’s gates, and study industrial complexes and the economic structure of the Iron Age city (1200–586 B.C.). Excavations at Tinmah provide an excellent opportunity to study the impact of military incursions and intercity rivalries on urban life in the Shephelah.
From June 2 through June 10 volunteers may tour Greece and Israel with the expedition. Field trips and a lecture series are included in the excavation program. Volunteers may arrange graduate or undergraduate credit—up to six hours—through Southwestern Baptist Seminary, at a tuition cost of only $100. Minimum stay is two weeks.
The expedition is based at the Shoresh Hotel, a first-class hotel located seven miles northwest of Jerusalem in the cool Judean hills.
Excavations at Tel Barash are sponsored by Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in cooperation with the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. The expedition director is George L. Kelm of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary; the archaeological field director is Amihai Mazar of Hebrew University. For a brochure and an application, write to Dr. George L. Kelm, Expedition Director, Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Box 22417, Fort Worth, Texas 76122. Phone: (817) 923–1921.
Tel Dan
Tel Dan, of the famous Biblical phrase “from Dan to Beer-Sheva,” nestles at the foot of Mt. Hermon at a source of the Jordan River. Before it was settled by the tribe of Dan, the city was called Laish and under that name is also mentioned in the Bible, the Mari texts, and the Egyptian Execration texts. Dan was one of two cities in which Jeroboam set up golden calves after Solomon’s death.
Excavations directed by Avraham Biran have revealed massive Canaanite ramparts of the second millennium B.C., a tomb with weapons and pottery vessels, a Late Bronze Age Tomb with Mycenaean imports, an Israelite city gate and wall, a high place or open-air sanctuary with masonry from the period of the Israelite monarchy, a Roman fountain house, and an inscription in Greek and Aramaic reading “to the God who is in Dan.”
One of the most outstanding monuments of antiquity is at Dan—an intact mudbrick Canaanite gate of the 19th to 18th centuries B.C. with three complete arches (see
Other goals will be to continue excavating the Israelite temenos (sacred enclosure) and its surrounding area, to establish the stratigraphy of the site, and to excavate the Iron Age upper gate.
The 1984 excavation season at Dan will be from June 23 to August 3. Volunteers will stay in a youth hostel at nearby Tel Hai. The cost of $950 covers registration fees, room, meals five days a week, and tuition for six graduate or undergraduate credits from Hebrew Union College in New York. Course work is optional, but no discount is offered if course credit is not taken. Volunteers can arrange to fly to Israel with a group from Hebrew Union College. Those who wish may dig for as little as three weeks’ time; costs will be prorated. Tel Dan offers volunteers the only site in Israel with ice-cold running water from the Jordan River.
For further information, write to Dr. Paul M. Steinberg, Dan Volunteer Program, One West Fourth Street, New York, New York 10012. Phone: (212) 674–5300.
Tel Miqne
Over 3,000 years ago, five famous Philistine cities—Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Gath and Ekron—dotted Israel’s coastal plain. Tel Miqne, the largest Iron Age site in Israel, has been identified as Ekron. Ekron was the northernmost of the cities of the Philistine “pentapolis” and controlled territory allotted to the tribe of Dan (see “What We Know About the Philistines,” BAR 08:04). To the east of Ekron were Israelite settlements in the Shephelah and the hill country. After David killed Goliath in the Valley of Elah, the Israelites pursued the Philistines “to the gates of Ekron” (1 Samuel 17:52).
Tel Miqne is near Kibbutz Revadim, about a 50-minute drive from Jerusalem. Ceramic finds indicate that the site was occupied during the Early, Middle and Late Bronze Ages, as well as during the Iron Age. Impressive architectural finds show that around 1200 B.C. the Philistines founded the first urban 076settlement on the site. The last fortified city on the site was probably destroyed by the Assyrian king Sennacherib during his campaign against Judah in 701 B.C. The dimensions and the state of preservation of the cities at Tel Miqne offer a unique opportunity for environmental and demographic studies as well as for traditional archaeological and historical research.
The third excavation season at Tel Miqne will run from July 8 through August 17, 1984. Six hours of academic credit are available through the Hebrew University of Jerusalem for a program that often lectures on the development of the archaeology of ancient Israel and training in excavation techniques, recording and artifact analysis. Staff and volunteers will live at a campsite in Kibbutz Revadim. Application fee is $25; registration fee, $75; contribution, including room, board and instruction, is $900.
The excavations at Tel Miqne are directed by Trade Dothan of the Institute of Archaeology at Hebrew University in Jerusalem and by Seymour Gitin, director of the Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem, in affiliation with the American Schools of Oriental Research. For further details and application, write to Dr. Ernest S. Frerichs, Co-Director, Program in Judaic Studies, Box 1826, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island 02912. Phone: (401) 863–9300.
Shiloh
When the Land of Canaan was subdued before the sons of Israel, the whole congregation assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. Joshua sent three men from each tribe that had not claimed its inheritance to walk through the Land and to write a description of it. Then he cast lots for them before the Lord to determine the inheritance of each tribe (Joshua 18). Eventually, a temple was built at Shiloh to house the Ark of the Covenant. Eli the priest and Samuel the prophet served in the temple there (1 Samuel 4).
Excavations at Shiloh thus far have revealed huge Middle Bronze Age fortifications Late Bronx Age temple deposits and Iron Age pillared buildings that may have been connected with the Israelite temple complex.
Shiloh is 25 miles north of Jerusalem. Volunteers participating in the 1984 season, from July 8 to August 10, may stay in a village adjacent to the site or in a nearby youth hostel. The excavation director is Israel Finkelstein of Bar-Ilan University and the Institute for Advanced Studies at Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
For more details, write to Robert Kaufman, 9 Hamlin Road, Edison, New Jersey 08817. Phone: (201) 572–1590.
Ein Yael
Reconstructing an ancient village and making it a place where modern visitors can participate in the daily activities of the village—where they can shoot a bow and arrow, study early methods of astronomy, and taste bread and cakes baked in stone ovens—is part of the vision of Gershon Edelstein, who directs excavations at three neighboring rural sites in the Rephaim Valley near Jerusalem. Edelstein and Shimon Gibson reported on their archaeological explorations of terraced farms outside Jerusalem in “Ancient Jerusalem’s Rural Food Basket,” BAR 08:04.
During June, July and August 1984, excavations will be carried out at Ein Yael (Ein Yalu), a Roman-Byzantine farm, at Khirbet er-Ras, a first Temple period farm, and at a Canaanite site. Volunteers have a choice of accommodations, including the excavation camp near the dig sites, nearby youth hostels or kibbutzim, or three-star hotels in Jerusalem. (Volunteers who do not stay in the excavation camp must arrange their own accommodations.) Meals cost $30 per week.
Lectures will be offered on topics such as ancient agriculture, food preparation, and building technology. The team will take weekly trips to various sites in Jerusalem, including archaeological excavations and museums. Minimum stay is one week. For more information, write to Gershon Edelstein, Department of Antiquities, P. O. Box 586, Jerusalem 91004, Israel.
City of David
Many visitors to Jerusalem are surprised to learn that the City of David, the oldest inhabited area of ancient Jerusalem, was located on a small ridge outside and south of the Old City wall. Although explorations have been carried out in Jerusalem since 1838, little was known about the Jerusalem of David and Solomon or the Jerusalem of the Jebusites until Dame Kathleen Kenyon’s excavations in the 1960s. Even after these excavations were completed in 1967, much remained to be done. In 1977, the City of David Society for the Excavation, Preservation and Restoration of the City of David was formed, with Yigal Shiloh as excavation director.
Since Shiloh began digging at the City of David in 1978, finds have included an eighth-or seventh-century B.C. Hebrew inscription and other artifacts dating from the Iron Age through the Roman period. Warren’s shaft, a part of the ancient city’s underground water system, has also been opened. Joab, David’s general, may have climbed through this shaft to help David conquer the Jebusite city of Jerusalem. Volunteers in past seasons have exposed a 50-foot-high monumental stepped-structure. (For further information, see the following BAR articles: “Digging in the City of David,” BAR 05:04; “Jerusalem’s Water Supply During Siege—The Rediscovery of Warren’s Shaft,” BAR 07:04, and
The City of David excavation team will be in the field from July 2 through August 3, 1984. Volunteers must stay at least three or four weeks, preferably four. Academic credit is available from Hebrew University’s Overseas Students Program. A $15 application and registration fee is the only charge for digging in the City of David. (Tuition is extra.) Volunteers must arrange their own accommodations 077in Jerusalem. For further information, write to Dr. Yigal Shiloh, Director, The Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
Yoqne‘am
Today, the Jezreel Valley is the agricultural heartland of Israel—an area of wheat, cotton and corn fields, fish ponds and agricultural settlements. In the past, the Jezreel was the battlefield where Barak routed the chariots of Jabin, King of Hazor (Judges 4), where Gideon defeated the Midianites (Judges 7), and where Pharaoh Necho massed his army at Megiddo against the forces of King Josiah of Judah (2 Kings 23).
The Jezreel Valley is bordered by the hills of the Galilee on the north, the Samarian hills on the south and Mt. Carmel on the west. To the east, it drops off sharply into the deep gorge of the Jordan River. Today, the western portion of this historic valley is the focus of a regional archaeological study, the Yoqne‘am Regional Project (see “The Regional Study—A New Approach to Archaeological Investigation,” BAR 06:02).
Excavations will be carried out in two sessions, from July 1 to July 13, 1984, and from July 15 to July 27, 1984, at two sites in the Jezreel Valley—Tel Yoqne‘am and Tel Qashish. Tel Yoqne‘am was a large city that was occupied continuously from about 3000 B.C. to the 14th century A.D. An unusual Iron Age (ninth–eighth century B.C.) double fortification wall has been found at Yoqne‘am.
Objectives of the 1984 dig season are to complete the exploration of the site’s Iron Age water system, to study early Iron Age strata, and to dig a trench that will reveal the stratigraphy of the Bronze Age levels.
Tel Qashish was a small village near Tel Yoqne‘am. Excavations at Tel Qashish will focus on the study of transitional periods—Middle Bronze, Late Bronze, and Iron Age levels—and on the unearthing of the Early Bronze village.
Volunteers will stay at the Hadassim school near Yoqne‘am and can swim at a nearby pool when not digging, attending lectures, or joining a field trip. Registration fee for the dig is $25; room and board cost $50 per week. Minimum stay is two weeks. Students who make credit and tuition arrangements with their own institutions can earn two academic credits.
For more information, write to the director, Dr. Amnon Ben-Tor, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel.
Tel Yarmuth
When the Israelites came to Canaan, the king of Yarmuth (also spelled Jarmuch) joined with other Amorite kings to fight against the Israelites at Gibeon. There, the sun stood still, and Joshua and Israel’s men of war defeated the Amorites (Joshua 10). Before the coming of the Israelites, Tel Yarmuth, usually identified with Biblical Yarmuth, was one of the largest urban settlements in Israel, extending over an area of nearly 40 acres in the Shephelah about 15 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
Excavations carried out since 1980 have revealed spectacular remains of a third-millennium B.C. (Early Bronze Age) occupation. A monumental city gate, a massive fortification system, a large building tentatively identified as a temple and several private houses have been discovered.
Excavators at Tel Yarmuth in 1984 will clear the structures previously uncovered and search for an industrial area and the city’s necropolis. Three two-week sessions, beginning July 1, July 15 and July 29, are open to volunteers who are at least 18 years old. Minimum stay is one session. Volunteers will experience every phase of field and lab work and hear lectures by staff members. The excavations at Tel Yarmuth are co-sponsored by the French Research Center of Jerusalem and the Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Volunteers will live in tents in a park surrounding the French Center’s “House of Emmaus,” about 12 ½ miles from both Jerusalem and Tel Yarmuth. Costs will be in the range of $100 per week.
For further information and application forms, write to Dr. Pierre de Miroschedji, Director, Tel Yarmuth Archaeological Expedition, French Research Center of Jerusalem, 4 Abraham Lincoln Street, P.O. Box 547, Jerusalem 91004, Israel.
Tell El-‘Umeiri
Jordan’s Madaba Plains, east of the northern end of the Dead Sea, have been the focus of excavations and surveys carried out by 078Andrews University since 1968. In 1984, excavators will shift their attention from Tell Hesban (Biblical Heshbon) to Tell el-‘Umeiri (west), a site about eight miles south of Amman. Tell el-‘Umeiri may be Biblical Abelkeramim, a city mentioned in the account of Jephthah’s campaign against the Ammonites (Judges 11).
Volunteers who dig at Tell el-‘Umeiri in 1984 (the dig is tentatively scheduled for June 12 to August 7) will have the opportunity to work at a never-before-excavated site. Surveys have revealed considerable evidence of architecture on the tell and a huge quantity of pottery sherds, dating from the Chalcolithic to the Byzantine periods, on the surface. The tell is on a natural hill, spread over approximately 16 acres.
All volunteers must stay for the full eight-week season. Room and board, guided weekend travel within Jordan, air transportation to and from the United States, and 12 quarter hours of graduate or undergraduate credit (through Andrews University) are covered by the $2,500 charge for participation in the excavation. Discounts are not given to those who do not take college credit. Volunteers will live in a schoolhouse on the outskirts of Amman. Buses will run to the dig site.
For more information, write to Dr. Lawrence T. Geraty, Institute of Archaeology, Andrews University, Berrien Springs, Michigan 49104. Phone: (616) 471–3609.
Tel Dor
The fifth season of excavations at Tel Dor will take place July 4 to August 15, 1984. Work will continue in Hellenistic, Persian and Iron Age levels, and new areas will be opened in order to obtain a broader view of the occupation of the site.
About 18 mites south of Haifa, on the Mediterranean coast, Dor was first built in the 17th century B.C. and was occupied through the Byzantine period. The Bible relates that although the king of Dor joined an alliance with the kings of Hazor and several other Canaanite cities, Joshua defeated them all in battle by the waters of Merom (Joshua 11).
During the 1983 excavation season, a major portion of a ninth-century B.C., four-chambered city gate was uncovered. Other finds included a well-preserved oven and a beautifully carved ninth-century seal depicting two goats looking back over their shoulders.
Volunteer housing in the dormitories of an agricultural college in nearby Pardess Hanna is a short bus ride from the site (and the expedition provides the buses!). Minimum stay at Dor is two weeks.
Dig director Ephraim Stern of Hebrew University and senior staff members will offer lectures, instruction in archaeological methods and Sunday tours to various sites. Academic credit (two to eight semester hours) is available.
Volunteers who would like academic credit should write to Professor Lawrence Schiffman, New York University, Washington Square, New York, New York 10012, or to Professor Howard P. Goldfried, California State University, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, California 95819. Volunteers who do not want academic credit and those who want credit through Hebrew University should write to RICHDOR, Dr. Neil Richardson, Executive Director, 168 Mt. Vernon Street, Newtonville, Massachusetts 02160. European residents should write to Professor Ephraim Stern, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University Jerusalem, Israel.
Horvat ‘Uza
At least two Judean kings, Jotham and Jehoshaphat, built fortresses to strengthen the borders of their kingdoms (2 Chronicles 17, 2 Chronicles 27). A fortress uncovered at Horvat ‘Uza may be one of these. At this site in the eastern Negev about six miles southwest of Arad, excavators have discovered artifacts dating from the Iron Age II (1000–586 B.C.) and from the Hellenistic, Maccabean, and Roman periods. The most exciting finds have been ten Iron Age II ostraca, or pottery sherds, inscribed in Hebrew.
The 1984 excavation season at Horvat ‘Uza will run from June 4 through June 29. Volunteers who are at least 18 years old and are willing to stay at least two weeks will stay 079at the Nof-Arad Hotel in Arad (cost $150 per week to cover room and board for five days each week). Three or six semester hours of academic credit are available through Baylor University. Tuition is extra. Volunteers should make arrangements for academic credit in advance. Trips to sites in the Negev and lectures will be offered.
Itzhaq Beit-Arieh of Tel Aviv University and Bruce Cresson of Baylor University will lead the expedition to Horvat ‘Uza. For more information, write to Dr. Bruce D. Cresson, Director, Institute of Archaeology, Baylor University, Waco, Texas 76799.
Tell Qasile
“The only excavation with a street address,” Tell Qasile is located on the grounds of the Haaretz Museum in northern Tel Aviv. The only known Philistine temple was discovered at Tell Qasile. Finds inside the temple included two pomegranate-shaped pottery vessels.
During the tenth century B.C. (the time of David and Solomon), the Israelites settled Tell Qasile. Two ostraca (inscribed potsherds) dating to the late Iron Age were discovered on the surface of the site before excavations began.
From April 29, 1984, to June 1, 1984, Amihai Mazar and Sariel Shalev will direct excavations that will focus on buildings dated to the tenth century B.C. No fee is charged for this dig; no minimum stay is required. Volunteers are asked to find their own accommodations in Tel Aviv. The Tel Aviv Youth Hostel is one mile from Tell Qasile. No academic credit is offered to volunteers, but breakfast is provided.
To apply to dig at Tell Qasile, write to Tell Qasile Excavations, Museum Haaretz, Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Tel Yin‘am
The oldest iron smelter discovered in Israel was unearthed at Tel Yin‘am in 1976. The smelter, which dates to the 13th century B.C., apparently was used for only a short time; the would-be ironworkers abandoned their experiment, probably became underdeveloped technology and low-grade ore prevented them from smelting significant quantities of iron.
The excavation at Yin‘am has continued investigating the area of the smelter as well as other areas that include occupation layers from the Neolithic period to the Byzantine period. Strata from the end of the Canaanite period (1300 B.C.) to the end of the period of the Judges (1000 B.C.) are particularly important. In 1983, two rare examples of Mycenaean pottery were found: a stirrup-piriform jar and a Mycenaean IIIC sherd.
During 1984, Tel Yin‘am, which is in the Galilee about six miles south of Tiberias, will be excavated from July 3 to August 10. Volunteers will stay in the farming village of Yavneel, which is only minutes away from the tel. The cost for food, lodging and weekly touring to nearby archaeological sites is $95 per week. A minimum stay of two weeks is required. The University of Texas, sponsor of the dig, offers course credit through its field school; volunteers do not have to participate in the academic program. The excavation director is Harold Liebowitz of the University of Texas at Austin. For more information and an application, write to Carla Higgins, Department of Oriental and African Languages, University of Texas, 2601 University Avenue, Austin, Texas 78712.
You can dig at Tell el-‘Umeiri in Jordan, a tell that has never been dug. You can explore David’s Jerusalem, where several bullae or letter seals bearing names of First Temple period Jerusalem residents have been discovered. You can don scuba gear and descend to the first Roman shipwreck discovered off the coast of Israel. Or you can choose one of many other digs that need volunteers, and as you excavate, you’ll be discovering “What it was like when … ” Digging at any excavation will give you a sense of the past; many sites also have links to […]
You have already read your free article for this month. Please join the BAS Library or become an All Access member of BAS to gain full access to this article and so much more.
Already a library member? Log in here.
Institution user? Log in with your IP address or Username