Sleeping Beauty

Hello... today was a very sleepy day... when Kat and I got to the worksite today, we saw the benches that I discovered yesterday and we couldn't resist. We laid down on those comfortable, soft, lovely stones and fell asleep all day! Here is a picture of it... (her leg is in the corner)
Well, not really! I went and laid down on them trying to simulate what it would have been like to be a woman in the Byzantine time, but I couldn't imagine it! Apparently they put plaster over these jagged stones to make them smooth, so it wasn't exactly so bumpy!!

Today was a great day at the site, but it went a little slower than yesterday. Besides the fact that we did not ask for a crazy challenge today, it was slower because the floor had so much plaster and mud on it! Today Linda, Kat, and I were working on the rest of the floor to clean up all of the dirt. As we started cleaning, we quickly discovered that it would not be an easy quick task that we thought it might be. Although the space was considerable smaller than what we cleared yesterday, underneath all of the dirt and rocks right on the floor was plaster and mud stuck to the plaster floor. We had to VERY CAREFULLY pick the plaster off and do so in just a way to not damage the plaster floor right underneath. We worked on this all day and we almost finished! We have a little bit more to clean tomorrow and then we will brush the walls and floor really good to get the extra dirt off.

Another exciting thing that we did today was take a field trip! We went to visit the church that the Israeli team is working on. It was a bit of a walk, as it is on the other side of Hippos. When we got there Dr. Seagel, the head excavator gave a us quick overview and tour of the church. Although they just started working on the church this season, there were some neat things there! My two favorite things were the mosaic floor and the chancel screen. The mosaic floor in the right front was very nicely intact and looked beautiful. They were working on cleaning it as we were there, but even so we could tell that it was going to be beautiful when they finished. The chancel screen was also incredible! A chancel screen is a stone slab that boxes in the alter area and has designs carved into it. Although most of it was taken down and put somewhere safely to avoid more damage, the part that was still there was evidence that it was absolutely beautiful when it was all there. That was a wonderful field trip for us because we got a chance to see another church under excavation!!

Well, I must go and analyze pottery now!! We are cleaning pottery at 5:23 today, eating dinner at 6:30, we have a lecture at 7:30, and then I am going to bed! I will be tired by then!! Have a great day!

...Peace...