Wrapping Up

Thursday was a very fun day. In the morning, Helen, Dean, Adam and I washed the inside and outside of all three rental vans and got them ready to be returned. Others in the grouped washed pottery or labeled MC's ( material culture). Final touches on the report had to be made and all the equipment had to be gathered. Adam and I also started packing. Later on that day we had a speaker from Khierbet Quialfya ( butchered spelling). It was a great lecture.
The next morning 8 of us woke up early and headed up towards Haifa. We dropped three off at Caeserea Maritima, while the rest of us went to Tel Dor. Tel Dor is on the Med and is an ancient port city. We tried to swim but there were literally tons of jelly fish. We explored some pools and cool rocks before walking up the Tel. The ancient harbor was beautiful and many of the original stones still line the bottom. We found lots of neat pottery and on the way out we saw a mosaic floor in the middle of the path that looks like it needs to be excavated properly. We headed back for pottery reading that started at noon. Sam, Steve and Gary came to help read our pottery from the season and decide which pieces the IAA would want and which we could toss. Its very interesting to watch pottery reading and looks like a poker game. People are trading pieces back and forth and studying what they hold. Finally, they call out what period they believe that piece came from and decide whether its worth keeping. You would be surprised at how much they discard ( which is fine for us because we grab it and bring it home for either Adams study collection or for me to use in ceramics class). Pottery reading lasted a little into the afternoon and after that I did some recreation drawings of broken pottery ( i can show them to you if you want to see them but can't post them online) then Adam and I packed a little more before dinner. After dinner we had an impromptu ice cream party in the Zan's room and had a really good talk with old friends :)
Saturday we woke up early and decided to spend our last day touring. We went to Timnah first, which is where Sampson a) tore a young lion apart with his bare hands, b) met his first wife and c) acted as a judge. Adam found a coin there and we can't wait to get it restored. Next we went to Zora, which is Sampson's birthplace. Both Zora and Timnah are small small villages and there is not much to see.
Next we headed to Sukko, a small city in between Azeka and Bethlehem. Sukko probably served as the Israelite camp as Goliath boasted for 40 days in the Valley of Elah before David killed him. There had been a fire there about three weeks before which made it an awesome hunting ground for neat pottery shards that would have normally been hidden by the brush. There were several deep cistern at Sukko as well. Next we ate lunch at yet another gas station. Adam and I split a snitzel sandwich and then treated ourselves to some ice cream.
From there we headed to Lakhish, which is most famously known for being attacked by the Assyrians under Sanaccehrib. This siege is depicted on ceramic somewhere in Syria. You can still see the siege ramp today and walk through the remains of a temple and palace there. At the entrance to the Tel is a "room of the letters" where several letters were found during excavation.
From Lakhish we went to Tel Es Safi, or as know it as biblical Gath, Goliath's hometown. This was a very neat and large Tel. On top you can look out and see the siege ramp that was dug around the city during an attack. Tel Es Safi is still being excavated so we weren't allowed to walk certain places but you could definitely see some remains started to come up. The excavations aren't allowed in most places on the Tel since its an Arab graveyard. A paid protector greeted us on the Tel and pointed out things to us but wouldn't respond to me when I said "Jerusalem" and pointed in the distant. Only after one of our friends said it in Arab would he acknowledge the city. We went down the pottery dump from the excavation and found some neat philistine glaze ware on our way out.
When we got back to Neve Shalom, Adam and I took showers and finished packing. Everyone went to Latrun, another gas station connected to a restaurant-kinda, close by. Adam and I got grilled spring chicken, chips ( french fries) and some spicy spicy sauce. Then we headed to the airport to catch our flight.
GUESS WHO WAS ON OUR FLIGHT HOME? JARED MORGAN- an old friend from Auburn...we were sooo excited. He and his wife had been in Israel seeing some friends and he was returning early to go back to work.
Our flight was much better going back. hardly any turbulence and I was able to sleep some. We had much better seats and my tv thingy worked.
We got to Atlanta around 4:30 and it took us a good hour to get through passport control and customs. They didn't check anything this year!! Last year they thoroughly checked everything!!
We got on our plane to Pensacola around 7:30 and landed around 8:30. My dad was there to greet us and now we are back home at my parents. Adam can't wake up...he is in a coma. Can't blame him though since I used him as my pillow and stole his blanket on the ride back. I am drifting in and out of naps ( so sorry if there are large typos or if none of this makes sense). Tomorrow we will drive back to Fort Worth with my brother in tow!! He is going to stay the week with us and then my parents will come out to spend the 4th with us and he will go back with them.
Hope you all enjoyed the blog this year. I still have lots of pictures to post so I will put those links up ASAP!!!!