With this entry, I can catch up with all my blogging for the week. I would still like to put my ideas down about Jerusalem and Bethlehem, but I just haven't had the time. Last night, our group took a boat ride on the Sea of Galilee, thanks to a few churches that donated money for us to go. While we were out there, we heard an excellent devotion and got to watch the sunset (I've included a picture for you all.) But we didn't get back until after nine, and with at most 4 hours of sleep the night before, I could hardly keep my eyes open, let alone write a blog.
But digging Thursday was good. We started a new square, because we finished the other one the day before. In this square (ZZ4,) we are following the back wall of the room we just finished along, parallel to the back of the church. This wall should run into another wall that comes out of the back of the church, completing the room in which we're working.
We started digging down, running into a lot of rocks along the way. I started out picking, mainly. So when I got into the swing of things, and a rock was just below the surface, it would just be a hard hit. However, if you hit it just right, sparks will fly. I had several of those hits, which, apparently, were seen from across the work site. It was a bit of fun.
Anyway, we thought we had a reference point for the corner on the far side of the square, but it turns out, it is just a door jamb, that for some reason, was sitting on top of our square. Possibly a door nearby? We're focusing on the inside of the room for the time being. That way, it will be easier to haul buckets out of when we get deeper down. But for now, we're just trying to find the back wall. The wall coming from the back of the church runs directly into our square, so we've been following that. But after a day of digging, we still haven't gotten down to the other wall. This isn't really surprising, though, as the wall is further down in the ground. We should hit it sometime Sunday or Monday, though.
It was a slow day today, as we worked our way through the tractor fill, down to a little softer, yet rockier soil. We're slowly peeling back the layers of dirt that will give us insight into what this room might have been used for. Right now, that's still up in the air, from what I understand. It will be really cool to see what turns up as we keep digging. Hopefully soon, we'll start getting some good finds. But we'll see.
There is a lot of work left to do. And with almost half the team leaving (the Irvine group plus a few,) we will be short-handed for the rest of the season. But being able to see what there squares have uncovered is really encouraging to me. They have found some good stuff: lot of coins, a gold tessera, a cross pendant, etc. If I had pictures, I'd show you. But I think there are some pictures on the "Dig It!" blog off of the virtual dig website, if you're interested. It's good to have a few days off of digging, though. I actually go a full nights rest last night. Good stuff.
But digging Thursday was good. We started a new square, because we finished the other one the day before. In this square (ZZ4,) we are following the back wall of the room we just finished along, parallel to the back of the church. This wall should run into another wall that comes out of the back of the church, completing the room in which we're working.
We started digging down, running into a lot of rocks along the way. I started out picking, mainly. So when I got into the swing of things, and a rock was just below the surface, it would just be a hard hit. However, if you hit it just right, sparks will fly. I had several of those hits, which, apparently, were seen from across the work site. It was a bit of fun.
Anyway, we thought we had a reference point for the corner on the far side of the square, but it turns out, it is just a door jamb, that for some reason, was sitting on top of our square. Possibly a door nearby? We're focusing on the inside of the room for the time being. That way, it will be easier to haul buckets out of when we get deeper down. But for now, we're just trying to find the back wall. The wall coming from the back of the church runs directly into our square, so we've been following that. But after a day of digging, we still haven't gotten down to the other wall. This isn't really surprising, though, as the wall is further down in the ground. We should hit it sometime Sunday or Monday, though.
It was a slow day today, as we worked our way through the tractor fill, down to a little softer, yet rockier soil. We're slowly peeling back the layers of dirt that will give us insight into what this room might have been used for. Right now, that's still up in the air, from what I understand. It will be really cool to see what turns up as we keep digging. Hopefully soon, we'll start getting some good finds. But we'll see.
There is a lot of work left to do. And with almost half the team leaving (the Irvine group plus a few,) we will be short-handed for the rest of the season. But being able to see what there squares have uncovered is really encouraging to me. They have found some good stuff: lot of coins, a gold tessera, a cross pendant, etc. If I had pictures, I'd show you. But I think there are some pictures on the "Dig It!" blog off of the virtual dig website, if you're interested. It's good to have a few days off of digging, though. I actually go a full nights rest last night. Good stuff.
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