Continuing with the third and fourth weeks of the month-long excavating season at Tel es-Safi (see the first post HERE), we returned to Neve Shalom Sunday afternoon and settled into our rooms. My friends Ben and Shani, both from Bar Ilan University’s archaeological program, would be joining us for the week and I knew it’d be a good time. I came loaded with extra beers this week, even some bottles of recent Arx Meles productions (Stoutus III and Belgica Triplus) that Ben and I brewed some months prior. The following morning, at 5am, we boarded the bus for the tel to continue our digging in Area J.

Philistine cities around the region

We had taken down a fair amount of dirt and yet there wasn’t anything of substance in square 100A. Itamar’s square, 100C, had a bunch of rough stone architecture which earned Itamar a fun nickname – the “Stone Whisperer,” due to his quiet demeanor and knack of revealing buried walls. He and Avraham were joined by Shani, whereas Moshe, Rebecca and I gained Ben, with Dr Jill Katz overseeing us all.

Avraham excavating expertly (photo Rebecca Zami)

Once again, the humourous chemistry in our square was infectious and every day saw us doubled over repeatedly with laughter. We even invented an odd game of “Shave, Lick or Massage” (a variation of “Kiss, Marry or Kill”) with the various things that we pulled out of the ground. Related to the game, licking freshly hewn Safi chalk is quite amusing and many powdery pieces were passed around.

Ben laughing while pickaxing (photo Rebecca Zami)

When we weren’t out on the tel digging, laughing and having a good time, we were back at Neve Shalom doing a whole selection of chores. The pottery that’s brought in from the field is first washed outside with brushes, then laid out to dry. Once dry, the pottery gets “read” by various professors in the presence of area staff, and sorted and/or discarded in accordance to its value. We rather enjoyed pottery reading, and looked forward to seeing what interesting potsherds we pulled out of the ground. Once sorted, some of the pottery would be bagged and taken indoors for pottery writing, recording the reference number on the potsherds themselves with a special permanent marker. Later, back at Bar Ilan, some of the pottery gets reconstructed into the vessels that they once were. With a bunch of other tasks to perform each and every day, we never lacked for things to do.

Pottery reading outside

During the third week we were joined by nearly thirty volunteers from Yeshiva University in New York City. It was a bit of a struggle placing so many people in just two squares without having them puncture each other’s back with their pickaxes, but we figured it out. A few of them were sent some metres downhill to clear out a carven vat for pressing grapes, which can be seen here:

Uncovered grape vat (photo Jill Katz)

It was great having so many volunteers to chip in, and we really capitalised on the ability to move a lot of dirt quickly. That day went by especially fast, and the next day greeted us with squares that looked quite different than before. We worked on clearing the dirt down to a uniform level on the western side, and then defining the stone architecture that was becoming apparent on the eastern side of 100A, lining up with the excavated walls in 100C.

Shani scraping skillfully (photo Rebecca Zami)

The third week also saw a short afternoon trip to Tel Burna, another Late Bronze and Iron Age site being excavated some eight kilometres to the southeast. This trip, and the one to the Stalactite Cave near Bet Shemesh, will be covered in the next blog post. At the end of the week we, the “J Crew,” had an evening tasting of the Arx Meles brews, neither of which came out to my liking (or the crew’s liking, for that matter).

Pottery basket from 100A (photo Jill Katz)

With the week coming to an end we were sad to be losing Ben and Shani, who fit in so nicely with our group dynamics. But then, on Friday morning, while out on the tel, we decided that we’d prolong our bonding time with the two of them.

Third week group photo

We decided that we’d all have Shabbat together in Givat Shmuel, and quick phone calls were made. Although it was hastily arranged, Shabbat was a great success and we had a great time eating and bonding together. After Shabbat, while the night was still young, we walked over to Jem’s brewery in neighbouring Petach Tikva and had a few beers with some oily treats. Quite a lovely outing it was, ushering in the fourth, and final, week of the Tel es-Safi dig.

Sheep and goats waiting for breakfast

Down to just six members in total, Area J was ready to be wrapped up. We needed to clean all the stones, make sure the floor surface and baulks were nice and straight, and, last but not least, clear up the surrounding area a tad in preparation for the aerial photography later in the week.

Preparing Area J

We swapped pickaxes and hoes for brooms and dustpans and set ourselves to the tasks at hand. Sweeping and cleaning, but still heavily engaging in hearty laughter, we worked Area J’s final days away. The sunshade was taken down and we saw, for the very first time, the work that we had done in direct sunlight.

Area J from above (photo Aren Maeir)

With the oppressive heat and the endless amount of dirt in the air, we toiled away until picture day. That morning we were driven, as usual, to the tel but this time we gathered at the parking area down below beside Area D and got into formation for the annual group photo, done in a unique thematic design. Last year’s was in the shape of a donkey, due to the discovery of buried donkey skeletons over in Area E, but this year’s was a beast of a different nature: a Sea People warrior. Perhaps you can spot me and my digmates in the photo.

Tel es-Safi group photo for 2017 (photo Aren Maeir)

With the drone crew moving over to the excavation areas for aerial shots, we took the hill path over to our beloved Area J to have one last look at our work before covering it with geotech cloth to preserve it. Along the way, after walking through the plentiful cactus groves, we stopped to take a selfie:

Last day on the tel

With the aerial shot done and the squares covered over nicely, we returned to Neve Shalom to put the finishing touches on our archaeological expedition. The New York members of our crew took late night flights that Thursday night after the many parties, and the farewells were sad but somewhat hopeful – some of us plan on meeting again for the 2018 season. We had grown to be quite fond of one another over the month that we spent, and it was strange going back to regular life. Friday morning it was just Itamar and I remaining, and we went our separate ways, but to meet again shortly thereafter at yet another archaeological dig…

More information about Tel es-Safi can be found at Prof Aren Maeir’s blog, found HERE.