Day 1: Shephelah
It seems like many of the places and memories that I have of the
Field Studies are almost being mixed together.
I have been trying to remember where we have been and what we have seen
so far. Today we went to Beth Shemesh,
Azekah, Lachish, Ashkelon, and a site where we hiked partially into the Sorek
wadi system. We also had a small stop on
the side of the road where some Roman pillars and a milestone marker had been
found when digging up the ground to clear a path for the modern road that
connected Jerusalem to Gaza.
Being at Beth Shemesh and going over the story of Samson was so
interesting. It really brought a new
dimension to my understanding of the story.
The added dimension wasn’t just seeing the land and having a backdrop in
mind for the events, although that was very helpful. The most illuminating part about standing at
Beth Shemesh and seeing the land and hearing the story was having an
understanding of the geographical function of the land and understanding the
cultural tension between the Philistines and the Israelites. I had heard that the Shephelah was an
important point in the land, one filled with conflict, but I never really
understood why until studying here at JUC.
Hearing that concept illustrated with Samson was perfect!
Another great illustration of how vital the Shephelah is was the
story David and Goliath. It certainly
wasn’t a new story for me, but, again, there were aspects that I hadn’t been
aware of before that really gave me a bigger idea of what was really going
on. It felt so surreal to be standing at
Azekah and looking out over the field and general vicinity where these events
took place. I remember telling this
story in Sunday School when I was helping out with the youth group back home. I drew stick figures standing on two very
simple hills. It was all two
dimensional, but now I have this very robust imagery and understanding of the
Shephelah and the diagonal road that intersects and divides it into the lower
coastal region to the west, and the inner region that begins to show more of
the hilly topography to the east.
Seeing Lachish was both very exciting, but also a little bit
disappointing. I have seen pictures and
models of what Lachish would have looked like before it was destroyed, but I
didn’t really know how much of it would be left in the ruins and archaeological
remains. I was expecting there to be
more remains. I understand that Lachish
was conquered by the Assyrians and later destroyed by Babylon, but I always
hear about how that kind of devastation actually preserves a ton of material
artifacts for archaeologists. I suppose
the expectations sabotaged my experience a little bit. I am sure if I knew more about the site and
the finds I would be overwhelmed with all that was found. I remember reading one of the Lachish letters
in a class and thinking that it was so haunting. The letter mentioned something about the
signal fires at Azekah having gone out.
The implication may have been that the Assyrians or the Babylonians, I
can’t remember which, had reached Azekah and destroyed the city. Being at Lachish and remembering this was
quite an experience and connection with history.
Ashkelon was so huge! I was waiting all day to see what it would be
like and I was blown away! I feel so
blessed to have been given the opportunity to participate in such a great dig
at such a great site this coming summer!
Day 2: Negev
The field study today consisted of visiting Arad, Beer Sheba, Wadi
Zin, Avdat, and Maktesh Rimon. I have
really been enjoying the multiple day field study, but I am sure it will still
feel nice to be back at JUC, which pretty much feels like home now. There was a lot of driving today. I enjoyed it because I used the down time to
reflect on past field studies and try to sort through the data in relevant
ways. I really want to digest the
information and experiences I have had here and keep them in my memory.
On our first stop at Arad, I was looking forward to seeing the Judean
Temple. I had already read about it and
thought about the implications, I just thought it would be really interesting
to see it and get an impression of what the site was like in reality. I remember being quite perplexed when I first
read about the plurality of deity worship at this sort of secondary Judean
temple. It was also very interesting to
see the Early Bronze Age remains, which were probably connected with the first
Pharaoh in Egypt. While we were at Arad
we ran into another group. I was a happily
surprised to run into several friends from my home church in Wheaton!
Beer Sheba was
quite large in comparison to what I thought it might be. I didn’t know too much about the
archaeological remains at the site to be honest, but it was nice to be able to
see so many four roomed houses. There
just seems to be a lot more here than at any other site that we have been to –
at least the houses were more obvious and clearly visible.
The hike through
wadi Zin was also a great experience.
There were so many people there that it was hard to feel like I could
get lost. I think if I were wandering through that area alone, even if it was
clear where I was supposed to go, I could have easily been able to feel the
overwhelmingly vast and confusing nature of the desert wilderness. Still, this was such an exciting and
adventurous experience. I wish the hike
could have been longer!
Avdat was a very
interesting site. I don’t know a whole
lot about the Nabateans. When I hear or
read about them it is usually in conjunction with Petra or Herod the Great. I find it quite interesting that they
eventually became Christians, something I had never heard before today! It is quite amazing to think that they could
navigate the desert and take advantage of its difficult terrain in a way that
they could run and maintain the spice trade route without having to form a large
military. It makes sense after thinking
about it, but it is just so brilliant.
On the site I got to see most of the ruins in passing, but I actually
had a lot of fun exploring the still buried remains in the caves. Alyssa and I found a substantially large
system of caves with mostly buried Nabatean ruins inside. It was nice to get outside of the area that
has already been excavated and made accessible via paths, and climb down some
steep paths and crawl through tight spaces to find some of the more adventurous
spots that are less seen.
Our last stop of
the day was at Maktesh Rimon, a huge crater in the desert. Standing on top of the Superbowl, a great
nickname for the site, and looking out at the wild expanse was inspiring. It was a great place to ponder the
magnificence of God.
Day 3: Dead Sea
Today we traveled to Masada, En Gedi, Qumran, and a militarized zone. There was a lot of free time to wander and
reflect. It really set this day apart
from some of the other field study days in that I was able to really take in
the information, absorb it, analyze it, and begin to make sense of it on
site. I often feel that I need to focus
on taking notes, taking pictures, and retaining the brief impression that I
have of any one particular site. The
analyzing and making sense of the data doesn’t usually begin until I have some
time during the middle of the week to look back on the experience and the
notes, as well as the pictures.
Masada was massive! The walk
up the side of the complex was nice. I
really enjoy walking with Ben even though we take our time and fall behind
everyone else. I know it is difficult
for him to do the climbs, but it is a good time to really take in all that is
going on and get a few good pictures. It
has also been a good time to just hang out.
I often have to explain to my wife Elise that guys are action oriented;
we can’t just spend time together, we have to be doing something. Really, it could be anything, we just need to
be doing something like watching sports or fixing cars or climbing up the side
of Masada. It was also nice that we were
able to catch the details about the site without missing much. Yigal Yadin was brilliant for running the
archaeological dig on a volunteer basis, and the contribution of the
reconstruction line is also quite helpful.
It is nice to see authentic ruins or remains of ancient cultures, but
the partial reconstruction and the ability to see where the two meet is
extremely helpful for understanding the larger structures.
At En Gedi we had
two stops: the first stop was on the edge of the Dead Sea. I was a little bit concerned that the water
would be too cold, although I would have still gone in, I simply couldn’t pass
it up. The water, however, was just
fine. It was such a strange sensation to
float so effortlessly! At one point I
got some water in my eyes and it felt like my eyes were on fire. Afterwards we ate lunch. It was quite nice to have a mini BBQ by the
Dead Sea. The second stop was relatively
close at the En Gedi spring. I really
enjoyed seeing the Ibex so close. One of
them came right up to me. It is strange to
think that this spring with living water flowing so abundantly exists in the
middle of the desert wilderness.
Our next stop was
Qumran. My first impression wasn’t what
I thought it was going to be. It was
surreal to see the caves at Qumran, though we could really only see them from
far away. The community living space was
a little bit smaller than I thought it would be, but there were so many
mikvaot! When we arrived at the Scribes
room I remembered hearing how the people in the community would spend a third
of the night studying or writing or something.
It really evoked a sense of discipline, which, I suppose, is quite
fitting in relation to some of the community aspects. I also got to climb way up into a cave at
Qumran – not one of the caves that contained scroll fragments, but a cave
nonetheless!
Our last stop of
the day was an out of the way militarized zone that used to be a
restaurant. It seemed like an odd spot
to stop at. In the past it seems like we
have always stopped somewhere really nice and epic in the scope its
history/scenery/importance. After
hearing about what it used to be and how that tied in with the current
political situation, the scene was well set for the imagery of the Dead Sea,
used in Ezekiel to convey the hope of a new creation.
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