Home Stretch . . .

 

It is panic stations around a dig on the last days . . .finishing the last excavation . . . cleaning, photographing, documenting . . . protecting what has been uncovered . . . storing supplies . . .saying good bye.

Only five of us will climb Hippos tomorrow.  Three leave during the day.  We have a bit more conservation work to do, and then the final protection of the floors.

I am already thinking about what is ahead . . . returning to my wife and home, returning to my classes, thinking about next year.  I have so many more questions than answers. I thought I understood our little church, now I am not so sure.

Archaeology part 2 begins on Monday, digging through journals, books, ancient writings.  I think more archaeology is done in the library than in the field.  It is all part of our quest to understand . . . the church, the people, their faith.  For even as I study them, I am their heir.

Now I see . . .

 

Today is Sukkoth, a harvest festival in Israel, a holiday.  Many were out late last night.  I turned in and rose early.  I went up to Hippos with a few members of the team.  But it was not a typical trip.  There was no bus to get us most of the way there.  Instead we hiked up a rough gravel road, climbing Hippos from the west, carrying our gear.  We passed the gate of the city and ruins of walls that long ago defended her.  We walked on Roman pavers, parts of the street that led to the city.  Eventually we arrived the the forum.  Today no one was working.  The silence of the centuries enveloped us.  The ruins surrounded us.  Hippos is a moving place, especially when you are there alone.

But we climbed the mountain with a purpose. We came to take photographs and to take measurements.  The end of the season is at hand.

After the teams members helped with the work of the day, I stayed behind to the Northeast Church . . . to look . . . to think . . . to try and understand these ruins we are uncovering.  I've spent so much time among them, always digging, always working.  I've had so little time to absorb them.

I was making some sketches of the atrium, thinking about what work we would try to complete before we leave, when I saw it.  Better would be to say, "when I recognized it."  For it had been there all along.  What I had been calling the north wall of the church was NOT the north wall at all, but an interior wall, separating the main hall of the church from some northern rooms.  I had thought those rooms were additions, but in fact they are integral to the church.  The church is four meters wider than I thought!

You may be thinking, "So what's the big deal?"  The big deal is . . . in the quiet of the looking at the church alone, I could finally see it more clearly.  I'm glad I spent the day climbing Hippos.

For all the Saints . . .

 

It has been a bit odd the last few days.  When I return to my one-room apartment at the kibbutz, there they are. . . my guests . . . all three of them it turns out . . . venerated saints of old . . . faithful ones awaiting the resurrection through faith in Jesus Christ.  No "robes arrayed in white."  Just six cardboard boxes holding the bones of the faithful.

According to early Christian writers, the faithful who have died are said to be "asleep."  When I go to sleep at night, I am sleeping with them in a way . . . trusting in Christ . . . commending my body and soul and all things to Christ . . . awaiting the resurrection even as they.

I wonder who they are.  An anthropologist will give the final word about age, sex, height, perhaps even cause of death.  From some of the bones it seems at least one was male and one was female . . . a family perhaps?  One had a big jaw . . . a strong voice for the gospel?  Another's bones are smaller . . . someone who cared for those in need?

I don't know them, but I know their faith . . . it was passed on through the centuries to me.  In a way, I am a Christian because of them.

Dear sainted three, rest in peace.  Take hope in Christ.  One day I will join you, and together our songs will praise the Lamb on the throne forever.  In the meantime, its nice to have you around.

Time for a rest

We've been digging for eight days now.  We have lots of new data and even more new questions.  During the Jewish holidays, we are taking a break and going to Jordan.

I'm looking forward to the rest.  I'm looking forward to the time to think.  I'm looking forward to looking for parallels in other Decapolis cities.  Then I'll be ready to keep on digging.

When rocks fly . . .

The Northeast Church has been buried for some 1400 years. It and its tombs were forotten for centuries. Now we are uncovering it.

Some work has gone slowly . . . the picking away for the dirt around the burial inthe cost tomb. SOme work has gone quickly . . . the removal of the destruction debris from the rest of the tomb. This team is so effiicient that work I expected to take two weeks is already done. It is almost as if the rocks are flying out of the ground.

But that success creates its own challenges. We have to keep up with the data recording. We have to try and interpret and re-interpret what we are finding. And when rocks fly, it can be hard t keep up.

Next week the work will slow. We are approaching the floor and must be quite careful. We will sift the soil for coins and small finds. And we only work for theee days.

Who knows what we will find?

Hot work . . .good start . . .

We climbed Hippos this morning in the dark by the light of an obscured moon. The first day is one of getting organized, pulling weeds, and starting to remove destruction fill. The team impressed me. They worked hard in the heat. We got a good start of C1 and have cleared the fill from the cist tomb in C2. These people on the team were so hard working, that we are going to open C2 tomorrow to spead out the work.

The exciting aspect of tomorrow will be the re-opening of the cist tomb. Remains we protected will be re-exposed and the tedious task of removing the dirt around the bones will begin. We'll shoot some video and then start the slow and hard work of exhumation.

The science of the exhumation excites me. Who is this person? Why was (s)he buried in the NEC? But I am also ambivalent. To distrub the rest of a hero of my faith . . . I pray (s)he is forgiving. I want to know more. I want to show proper reverence. I am ambivalent.

Ready to start

It's 4:30am here in Israel. In a half hour the team leaves for our first day of work. Back in the USA,you are enjoying a holiday. We (or at least I) am very excited to get started. (Maybe that is why sleep was hard in coming last night.) We don't expect much the first day...just cleaning the site and getting organized for the year...but one never knows!

The adventure begins!

One week and counting

The team is assembled . . . schools are online (1000 kids) . . . in six days we leave. This morning I am working with the Virtual Dig team practicing the process of uploading daily materials. They are great folks and I am very confident. The unknown is what we will find. The adventure begins!

Virtual Dig growing

With more schools coming on board and with a grant from Thrivent Financial, the Hippos virtual dig is looking promising. Much to do this summer to get ready, and I must not forget to focus on excavation preparation. But overall, it should be a great fall. See more at http://virtualdig.org.

Welcome

Just getting started . . . Welcome to the blog for the Northeast Church Project at the Hippos excavations. This blog will support our daily reports from the field starting 5 September 2004. Let the adventure begin!!