The Final Countdown

A fragment of a ring that I found

More finds from the display

Week six has come and gone.  As I sit on my bed, procrastinating instead of packing, I thought I should write my penultimate blog post about my final week in Ashkelon.  Week six began with a big, formal dinner called the "Finds Display."  All of the most significant artifacts from this season were displayed on tables for the entire dig to see.  Because every grid is working in a different time period, it was really interesting to see what was found.  It was also pretty amazing to see my own finds on display, like a fragment of a ring that I found in my pit.  It was funny to see everyone dressed up.  After spending six weeks seeing everyone at their dirtiest, it was almost shocking to imagine what these people might look like in real life.  After dinner, everyone sat around the pool, drinking and laughing while shenanigans ensued (on the dig's tab), knowing full well that we would all have to be awake at 4:30 the next morning. 

The bearded boys looking snazzy

The remainder  of this week was spent sweeping, trimming balks (artificial walls), sweeping, articulating stones, sweeping, the tiniest bit of digging, and, oh yes, some more sweeping.  Sweeping dirt off of more dirt is no easy feat.  We had to sweep and resweep areas until footprints, brush strokes and any speck of loose dirt was eliminated.  Tomorrow, a special camera will take aerial photographs of the grid, so it had to be spotless.  I think I might be developing the black lung from all of the dust I've inhaled over the past week.  Sweeping can also drive people a little crazy.  Today, our grid supervisor decided to film Emma, Caroline and me singing "Hero" by Enrique Iglesias into our brushes on a Flip video camera that is uploaded to an archeological server that contains information about our site.  Basically, I'll never be taken seriously in the archeological world ever again. 
    When we weren't in the grid sweeping, we were in the pottery compound doing inventory, pottery marking and other miscellaneous tasks that essentially amounts to secretarial slave labor.  It was not the most exciting week, work-wise. 
    We spent most of the week reminiscing about our time in Ashkelon.  The trials and tribulations, laughter and inside jokes, scandals and secrets (which never lasted more than a few seconds) that made our time here so unique, also made us feel like we never want to leave.  Last night we had a final party for all of the dig members.  One of the boys, Alabama John, made a toast that summed up our feelings about each other and the dig  perfectly.  He said that we are all a family and can rely on each other for anything.  We've been through hell but laughed all the way through.  Nothing and nobody can take away the experience we had here.

     This dig was my back up plan for this summer.  I am so grateful nothing else worked out.  This has been, hands down, the best summer of my life.  The friends I have made here will last a lifetime and the experience as a whole is unforgettable.  I don't want to get on that plane tonight and leave my dig family.   I love all of you guys so much.  Ashkelon 2011, forever.

Week Five Delirium

The remnants of my wall destruction

    There are few things more satisfying in life than taking out a large, stone wall with a pick axe.  I had that pleasure this week as we rushed to finish digging so we could spend most of next week cleaning.  From the first swing of the pick axe, to the initial wiggle, to the final thud as the stone hits the ground, the sense of accomplishment is comparable to reaching a mountaintop or winning a big game.  Or maybe that's just because I was singing "Eye of the Tiger" while I was picking. 
    This week was exhausting.  We spent six full days digging (instead of the usual five, plus a day at the pottery compound).  My square completely changed.  We took down the central street to the next surface (probably around 50cm in total).  We found a wall and a wall collapse.  Finding collapse is really interesting because it's a small snapshot of the society we're digging through.  My grid supervisor was telling us she could imagine the afternoon when they actually knocked the wall down.  The stones jutted out of the dirt at odd angles.  It was almost as if a child had forgotten his toys in the sandbox.  We also found an unbelievable amount of pottery just lying in the street- discarded without a second thought.
    Somehow, I ended up as the bitch of my square this week.  As Ben picked and Stephanie shoveled up the dirt, I carried bucket after bucket out of the grid and to the dump.  I probably lugged a couple hundred buckets, brimming with dirt and rocks, this week.  I think I'll have guns as big as my mom's by the end of the trip.  Who would've thought that I would ever prefer pick axing to any other task?

Unloading our tools at the beginning of the day

    Sleep deprivation and general exhaustion has really caught up with us this week.  Not only do we start digging when the moon is still out (it's started getting lighter later), but injuries and various illnesses have taken their toll on the group as a whole.  We've started laughing at pretty much anything and getting overly upset when someone steals a tool.  Thievery is rampant on the grid.  We have to guard our tools with our lives.  The best brushes, patiches, and  picks are "ninja-ed," as we like to call it, without a second thought.  Sometimes it gets pretty funny- like when I was asked to guard the most coveted pick, dubbed "Big Red" for it's reddish handle, while one of my squaremates went to the bathroom. 
     This week, the VIPs have been visiting the dig.  The VIPs fund our dig (they're donating a few million for the next 5 years of digging), so we have to be on our best behavior around them.  This certainly put a damper on man-thigh Monday (yes, the boys here enjoy rolling up their shorts to show off their pasty, white man-thighs).  We've also had to cut down on cursing, dirty jokes and most other shenanigans we so thoroughly enjoy.   The VIPs work in the grids, but don't really do anything.  One of them destroyed an entirely in-tact juglet the other day and I thought my supervisor was going to have a heart attack.  Mostly we try to stay out of their way so that the dig can continue to receive funding.
     We've also had a group from Hebrew University digging with us this week.  They came here to dig the Islamic-Crusader era ramparts, but ended up stumbling upon a Philistine rampart instead.  The Philistines were in Ashkelon roughly 1500 years before the Islamic-Crusader era.  Whoops. 
    This week has been one of insanity, exhaustion, but mostly fun.  I'm really sad that we only have one week left.  I'm going to miss digging much more than I ever thought I would.  I'm staying in Ashkelon this weekend to catch up on sleep and do some, much needed, relaxing.  With only seven more days in Ashkelon, I want to make the most of my time here.

From Sea to Shining Sea

At the bottom of the Snake Path

This weekend, the dig organized a trip to Masada, the Dead Sea and Qumron.  We woke up late (6:30a.m.!) on Friday morning and traveled to Masada.  On the two hour bus ride, I played with Lucy- the adorable 4 year-old daughter of our dig leader.  She liked to inform me that I had red hair.  We got to Masada at 9a.m. and by 9:30 we were on the Snake Trail up to the top.   As soon as I took out my camera, I found out that the battery was mysteriously dead (I charged it recently, I promise), so all photos are borrowed.  For those who don't know, Masada is an ancient fortress originally built by the Greek king of Judea, Herod the Great.  It was conquered by the Jews in 66CE who held it until the Romans conquered them around 72CE.  Masada is situated on top of a giant plateau in the middle of the Judean desert.  Hiking to the top at 9:30 on July 1 was a horrible idea.  It was so hot and so steep, the .5km hike took almost 45 minutes.  Finally making it to the top felt like such an accomplishment that it made the whole thing worth it.  After wandering around for an hour and a half (and catching our breath), we decided it would be a much better idea to take the cable car down. 

Delphine and Caroline at the top of the Snake Path

     Next, we went to the Dead Sea near Ein Gedi.  After hiking in the desert, one might think that a dip in the sea would be an excellent and refreshing idea.  Unfortunately, everyone on the dig is so thoroughly covered in cuts and mosquito bites that the Dead Sea mostly just burned.  At least, as one of my friends pointed out, it cauterized our wounds.  One of my friends got water in his eye and had to be led back to the shore by other dig members.  
    Thoroughly exhausted by this point, nobody was too excited to visit Qumron, where the Dead Sea Scrolls were found.  The two supervisors who were leading the trip gave us a whirlwind tour of the site.  It was interesting to see the finished product of an archeological dig.  It helped me feel that what I'm doing here in Ashkelon is actually important. 
    After we had visited Qumron, the bus dropped six friends and I off in Jerusalem, where we caught a sheirut (bus/taxi) to Tel Aviv.  When we got to Tel Aviv, we split into different groups- the girls all went to Kate's apartment (thanks again for letting us stay!) to shower and get ready for a night out.  We decided to meet everyone on the boardwalk to have dinner.  After some miscommunications and general tardiness, we eventually all found each other and had dinner near the marina.   Soon after, we met up with Kate and a couple of her friends and hung out at a bar on the beach.  It was a beautiful night and we all had a lot of fun.  We stayed out pretty late and crashed once we got back to Kate's apartment.  The next morning we woke up (I had two huge blisters on my feet, that I hadn't noticed the night before) and went to Benedict's for breakfast.  It was the most delicious meal.  I had eggplant and feta shakshuka and we all had mimosas to celebrate our friend Emma's birthday (and my mom's too).  We were on a sheirut back to Ashkelon by 1p.m. on Saturday and spent the rest of the day resting and relaxing.  It was a great weekend.
    Today we returned to digging.  I was working in, what I like to call, the hamster cage.  It's a Hellenistic bin about the size of a filing cabinet with the drawers pulled out.  I have scrapes all over my arms and legs from hitting the rock walls every time I tried to swing my pick axe.  I missed the luxuries of Tel Aviv.