It shows up again and again in the accounts of those who have worked on an excavation: the incomparable thrill of touching the past. Whether they are unearthing the remains of homes and burial sites or examining the tools, pottery and jewelry used by the ancients, sooner or later dig veterans and novices alike feel a jolt of connection to the vanished civilizations of the Bible lands. As an example, John Raab, a 2002 BAS dig scholarship recipient, writes poignantly about realizing, as he was carefully dismantling a wall of a house at Tall al-‘Umayri, that more than […]
