Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Join us in Gezer for the 2012 dig

2012 Gezer Water System Expedition
 May 27 – June 15, 2012 Tel Gezer, Israel

Sponsored by the Center for Archaeological Research at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary in conjunction with Israel Nature and Parks Authority

The Project: Participate in the excavation of an ancient Canaanite water system which could date to the time of Abraham.

Dates: May 27 - June 15, 2012. Volunteers should plan to arrive no later than May 26.

Cost: $1500 for the 3-week season, or $500 per week + airfare. Costs cover room, board and weekend travel. Participants are responsible for their own flights to and from Israel. The dig will arrange airport pickup. 

Weekend Travel: The expedition will arrange several field trips covering key areas of Israel.

Accommodations: Volunteers will be housed in air-conditioned rooms at the Neve Shalom Guest House, with three to four persons per room.

Academic Credit: Undergraduate or graduate course credit for up to 6 semester hours is available. Additional tuition fees apply.

FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:  Dr. Dan Warner (dwarner@nobts.edu) or Dr. Dennis Cole (rdcole@nobts.edu)


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Digital Dead Sea Scrolls

Digital Dead Sea Scrolls

Google and the Israel Museum have digitized five of the Dead Sea Scrolls using advanced technology. It is well worth your time to visit the site.

The scrolls were written between the third and first centuries B.C. and are the oldest know biblical manuscripts. The scrolls were hidden in caves near the Dead Sea to protect them from the Romans. A Bedouin shepherd discovered the scrolls in 1947. Many of the Dead Sea Scrolls are on display at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

NOBTS - NOBTS archaeological dig reaches important milestone

NOBTS - NOBTS archaeological dig reaches important milestone


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Macalister's 'Excavation of Gezer'


BorderStone Press recently republished R.A.S. Macalister's "Excavation of Gezer." This hefty volume is filled with maps, pictures and descriptions of thousands of artifacts, and Macalister's account of the history and excavation of the ancient city of Gezer, located between Jerusalem and the modern city of Tel-Aviv. This book is of special interest to New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary due to the ongoing excavation of the large Canaanite water system at Gezer. This is a tremendous reference source for background information on Biblical times, providing a unique window into a distant culture.

Visit the BorderStone Press website for more information.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Gezer Dig 2011 Video

Video by Art Beaulieu

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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Gezer Dig 2011 Report – Part Two

By Jim Parker, Ph.D.

The last few days of digging in the Gezer Water System were exceedingly difficult this year.  In the previous post you saw, in a photograph, the size and the number of stones that went down the tunnel in the retaining wall collapse in 1908.  It was these stones that we were excavating and pulling out of the tunnel the last days of this year’s dig.  We had dug some rock all the way down the tunnel, but when we encountered these, we knew we were close to the bottom.  This excitement did not relieve the burden of removing the rocks. Also, the deeper we got, the wetter the soil got.  We knew we were getting closer and closer to the water table as we descended.  The part of the debris that was not rock became sticky mud.  It would suck you into it and you could barely get your feet out.  This added to the rigors of the digging too. We kept consoling ourselves with the fact that we were only cleaning the dirt out of the tunnel; what would it have been like to have been the people that used flint tools to cut the rock originally?  We were most grateful when the cave opening finally presented itself to us on June 7. 

Macalister had discussed the condition of the roof of the cave in the 16th Report.  He mentioned how fearful he was that there would be a collapse and that someone would be killed.  He, it seems, was relieved when the upper works collapsed without injuring anyone, but that collapse prevented him from having to return to the cave.  I must say that reading his words some 100 years later did concern me.  He described the roof of the cave as “rotten.”  Although not a technical term, one immediately recognizes this as a term for a roof that will need a lot of support.  What would we find?  Would we be able to enter into the cave?  There was great relief when we finally got to the cave opening.  We had only advanced a few feet when a large section of the cave roof did collapse.  Everyone was out of the way, so there was no damage, but this gave us an opportunity to study the nature of the roof.  When this area of rock formed (Noah’s flood?), along with the harder, structurally stronger Eocene chalk that makes up the tunnel and cave roof, a layer of softer chalk about 18 inches or 2 feet thick formed to the underside of the roof.  Perhaps the cave was initially an air bubble. It is this rock that has collapsed in places and we did find some blocking our way into the cave.  This is good news.  First, this rock can be easily knocked loose with a long bar and caused to fall without endangering anyone.  Secondly, this is reasonably soft chalk; if we have to quarry any of it to remove it from the cave, it will not be so difficult.  We have advanced 17 feet into the cave through a 3 feet wide trench and so far the silt goes all the way to the roof.  This will be much to our advantage as we continue work in the cave as we can use the silt to support the roof, creating rooms and pillars in the beginning if need be.

Photo from Macalister's Dig in 1908
This is a view looking up the tunnel.  Dirt was initially left on the left side with steps cut into it so that the team passing the baskets up and out would have a place to work.  This was eventually removed after the cave was reached. Note the wear on the rock steps just to the left and above the man.  Macalister supposed that this wear was caused by about 400-500 years of use.  Based on the latest pottery he found in the tunnel dating to around 1450 BC, he surmised that the tunnel had originally been cut around 2000 BC.


Photo from Macalister's Dig in 1908


Again, note the wear on the steps.  These had been totally encapsulated for 3,350 years when Macalister uncovered them.   As we began, there was anywhere from 4 feet to 20 feet of material above the steps. 

Since the roof of the tunnel is substantially half of a circle, when we began to dig, we took about two-thirds of the tunnel, about 8-9 feet wide and began our desent.  In the following scaled drawing that I made after the 2011 dig ended, you can see that from where the tunnel turns down, there is about 3 feet of dirt over the steps down to the first arch (the vertical blue lines).  At the level of the bottom of the arch, the tunnel was level full.  Our probe is the open space at the roof of the tunnel that leads down to the cave. 

In 2010, we removed approximately 1,040 cubic feet (39 cubic yards – 29 cubic meters) of debris (approximately 50 percent rock and 50 percent dirt) which equated to 336 bags.  Some are interested in the weight of the material.  Using 130 pounds per cubic foot for this type of material, in 2010 we removed about 68 tons of debris averaging about 400 pounds per bag.  

In 2011 we removed approximately 3,560 cubic feet (132 cubic yards- 101 cubic meters) which equated to 1,372 bags or 231 tons, about 337 pounds per bag. 

Eventually the Israel Parks Authority will likely remove all of the debris from the tunnel and hopefully open the water tunnel as a tourist site like they have done at Meggido and Hazor.  There is approximately 13,306 cubic feet (493 cubic yards – 377 cubic meters) or 4,685 bags of debris left to remove.  [An average bag of material based on the 2010 and 2011 digs is approximately 2.85 cubic feet (.08 cubic meters) per “big bag.”]

Drawing by Jim Parker

Before leaving Israel, Dan Warner, Dennis Cole, and myself met with Tsvika Tsuk and  the Israel Nature and Parks Authority team to plan for the 2012 dig season.  The dates from May 27 through June 15, 2012 were chosen. The dig plan will include removing the hump of debris just underneath the mantle (also called the second arch), face up the cave entrance and widen the 3 foot wide entrance to the full tunnel width at the entrance and then proceed into the cave, and also to probe the “water source”, which on the above drawing is the flat area from the cave entrance back to the the bottom step. 

Perhaps you will join us as we continue this wonderful adventure back in time to the era of Abraham and the patriarchs of Israel.  What might we find?  Come see!

Jim Parker, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Biblical Interpretation and Associate Vice President of Facilities at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.



Thursday, July 7, 2011

Gezer Dig 2011 Report - Part One


By Jim Parker, Ph.D.

The 2011 Gezer dig officially ended on June 10 with much celebration.  As has been reported previously, we were able to get to the cave and even a little beyond.  Getting to the cave turned out to be quite a feat and was a great challenge to us all.  Although I will say more in this report about the statistics related to the dig, we took out 1,372 bags (one cubic meter bags designed for lifting sand, etc) in 17 days of work.  Although our low day was 32 bags, we also had a day when we removed 129 bags.  All in all, we averaged about 80 bags per day.  Of course each bag was far less than one cubic meter, as the crane would not have been able to lift them.

One of the great challenges we have faced as we have dug at Gezer in 2010 and 2011 is to interpret the data of the two archaeologists that preceded us.  Although both were erudite men, well accomplished in their discipline for the era in which they worked, both have left us with information that sometimes is difficult, if not impossible, to discern.  I thought as we considered the dig for this year, it would be good to go back to the beginning and discuss the contributions that Robert Alexander Stewart Macalister and Fr. Hugues Pere Vincent (pronounced “Vinsant” in French) made to the Gezer Water tunnel and also to discuss the complex issues we have inherited from them. This will hopefully help in understanding this magnificent, ancient edifice presumably left to us by the Canaanites from the days of the biblical Patriarchs.

R.A.S. Macalister (Macalister) was an Irish archaeologist who studied at Cambridge and arrived in Palestine around 1898 at the age of 28 years old.  He worked with Frederick J. Bliss using the stratigraphic methods of Sir Flinders Petrie. These methods were far advanced to the techniques previously used.  He and Bliss also used pottery that they unearthed to develop a chronology for Palestine, especially the Shephelah.

Macalister came to the ancient Canaanite city of Tel Gezer in 1902 and labored there until 1909. He worked under the auspices of the Palestinian Exploration Fund and made quarterly reports of his work at Gezer, which were published in the Palestinian Exploration Quarterly (PEQ).  It is these reports that have been most helpful to us in our work.  I used dimensions from them in 2008 to construct a drawing for us to work from as we formulated our plan. Macalister also published a drawing of the Water Tunnel in these reports.  As a general note, although far superior to the “cut and slash” archaeological methods earlier employed, Macalister has been roundly criticized in modern times for the poor quality of excavations and his less than adequate record keeping. Some of this may have been due to his age (32-39 years old while at Gezer) and his lack of help.  At Gezer, Macalister was the only archaeologist on the dig.  In fact, Macalister, by his own reporting was the only person other than the cook and the Arab excavators.  Apparently the budget for the excavation was very tight and the Arab excavators worked for “bakhshish”, the practice of paying them for their finds.  This likely led to a “treasure hunt” mentality rather than a slow and deliberate excavation methodology. 

Macalister first mentioned the Water Tunnel in the 16th Quarterly Report of the PEQ.  The report is for the work done between Aug. 11 and Nov. 9, 1907.  He describes in great detail how he happened to find the water system and the work that went on to clear it.  It is assumed that his find coincides with the earlier date, probably in the late summer or early fall of 1907.  In the 16th Report, he tells how his team cleared the tunnel little by little, uncovering the immense 12’-6” wide by 23’-10 tall arched tunnel that plunges down at an amazing 38 degree angle 150 feet to a natural cave (at least Macalister thought it was natural).  There are 80 steps, carved from the Eocene chalk rock in the tunnel. At the end of the steps, Macalister described what is likely the spring; an area that is as wide as the tunnel and approximately 30 feet long that leads into the cave.  It is still uncertain whether this water source extends partially or fully into the cave.  Macalister also described how that he cut a trench around the outer edges of the cave and then one down the middle to try and ascertain the nature of the cave and whether there was an exit.  Macalister said that he did not find an exit, however, Vincent, who published a drawing of the tunnel in 1912, shows what could be an exit, an area at the rear of the tunnel that has been blocked up with stones.

Macalister provided this photograph showing the upper entrance to the tunnel.  Steps led down approximately 25 feet below the top of the bedrock and then one would turn left underground and down into the tunnel.  Note the solid wall of dirt (balk) on the right and the rock retaining walls that
have been constructed to hold back this wall of dirt and to keep anything out of the tunnel.  In the 17th Quarterly report that covered the work from November 11, 1907 until February 10, 1908, Macalister reported that much of this wall of dirt and a large portion of the retaining walls collapsed during a powerful storm on January 20, 1908 substantially refilling the tunnel.  Due to financial considerations, he decided to suspend work on the tunnel and moved on.  He would complete the balance of the work on Tel Gezer within the year.

I mentioned Fr. Vincent earlier.  An article written by him is included in the 18th Quarterly Report for the period Feb. 11 through May 9, 1908. Apparently Vincent visited the site prior to the above mentioned collapse.  The reason that I feel so sure of this is that Vincent gives details on his drawing, (dated in 1912, four years after the collapse)  which in reference to the cave is substantially different from Macalister’s drawing.  He also gives details that Macalister does not.  For instance, Vincent limits the water source to the area between the bottom step and the cave entrance.  He also shows on his drawing that the cave is 20 meters long (66 feet), however, he shows large rocks at the back as if it has been blocked up.  Macalister shows the cave at 25 meters (80 feet), but shows the walls to be solid with no exit.  Vincent also shows the cave entrance turning dramatically left, Macalister shows his going straight. 

What does one make of all of this?  Well this is the reason for our excavation, to try and find answers to these and a myriad of questions that we have and that will present themselves as we progress.  Some of these types of issues with Macalister’s and Vincent’s narratives and drawings are part of the challenges that we have encountered.  For instance, based on information that both gave, we would have expected to hit the entrance to the cave approximately 15 feet before we did.  This was significant because we were digging an area 11 feet wide by 7 feet high.  Every foot required 30 more bags that we had to dig and pull up and out in order for us to move down the tunnel.  This added a total of 450 bags or about six days of work beyond what we anticipated. 

Jim Parker, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Biblical Interpretation and Associate Vice President of Facilities at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Thursday, June 9, 2011

June 9 Gezer Update

By Dr. Dan Warner

Well today was our last day of digging and for the first few hours we were able to penetrate the cavern another foot. So we are into the cavern about 17 ft. from its entrance. As mentioned the cavern is filled to the roof with silt. But the roofline is continuing upward which is great to see and the roof looks very solid. This of course was one of our big concerns that once we entered the cavern we would find the ceiling of the cavern collapsed that we could not precede, this of course was not the case.  As we moved ahead with the probe we did find a large amount of boulders on the southern side which seems to match well the description of what Macalister saw as he explored the cavern. These boulders were not fully exposed but they appear to rest on the interior southern wall.

Since the beginning of our dig this summer we have dug down 66 ft. moving over 1,100 bags of debris (each one averaging 3-400 pounds of dirt and stone), and we are thankful that no one was seriously hurt this season and all will return home healthy.  So next summer our task will be to widen the entrance and clear out the cavern and it explore it fully while at the same time look for the source of the water. Our deepest appreciation goes out to all who helped make this dig possible from the diggers to those who helped financially. This truly will go down in the history books as a tremendous accomplishment.  We have already had the dig mentioned in the Israeli news and different radio shows so we trust some of you will join us next summer in this project.


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

June 8 Gezer Update


By Dr. Dan Warner

Today we continued our probe (only opening a small probe of about 3 ft. square to save time since the dig is coming to a close) into the entrance of the cave. We did find the ceiling of the cavern and followed it backward into the cavern for about 16 ft.  The roofline is moving upward as we had hoped it would so we are for sure were in the cavern. The only problem we see is that it is filled to the roof with silt. As mentioned our probe is about 3 ft. square and according to Macalister the cavern is about 14 ft. wide and 80 ft. deep, so we have a way to go.


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

June 7 Gezer Update

By Dr. Dan Warner

Today was an interesting day, after removing about 49 bags of debris it is the day we believe to have broken through into the entrance of the water source. We were not exactly sure what we were looking for since Macalister never fully described what the entrance would look like but after digging through very tough debris filled with large stones and boulders we reach a very sharp curved ceiling and it leveled off after entering it. So we believed we have penetrated the passageway which according to Macalister is only 4 ft. high and although it width or depth we do not know since he never gave its dimensions he did give the length to it as being 55 ft. from the second mantel which we found last year and we are approximate 63 ft. passed the mantel so we have come to the conclusion we are there. 

After digging a small trench in front of the entrance we entered the passage way for about 4 ft. in and soon encountered large slabs of what we believe to be roof collapse from the ceiling of the cavern. These large slabs soft limestone prohibited us from going further today so tomorrow we hope to break through them and enter the cavern and determine the feasibility of exploring the cavern to return next year.


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Monday, June 6, 2011

June 6 Gezer Update

By Gary D. Myers

If I were to write a fictional story called “The Dig at Gezer,” I’d write in a day like today. Every story needs a crisis point. I felt that crisis today. We entered the tunnel with hopes running high. We believed that this would be the day – we thought that both Friday and Sunday. Based on the information left by Macalister and Vincent, who excavated here, we knew we had to be very close to the cavern. From the first swing of the pickax when we entered the tunnel around 6:30 a.m., we knew this would be a difficult day. Nothing came easy. The ground was very rocky and filled with larger boulders. Progress was slow … very slow. The end of the dig is coming soon and that is adding pressure to the crisis.

We only were excavating half of the tunnel’s width today to save time and that was a big help. We did clear about 6 feet of rocks. We are nearing 56 feet from our measuring point, close to 140 feet from the mouth of the cave. But today’s bag count was only 64, though many of those were filled with heavy rocks.

But you know what comes after crisis in the story – resolution. That’s what we are hoping for tomorrow. As a writer, I might chose to keep the crisis going another day … inching ever closer to the deadline. But as a participant: Come resolution, come. We are very hopeful that tomorrow will be the day. I can’t wait to hear the shouts of jubilation ring up through that massive tunnel.

Digging rock by rock
The process for digging today was to hit a rock with the pick, grab the loosened rock with your hand and toss it in a bag. Each time you hit a rock, the shock rings in your hands, wrists, elbows, biceps and shoulders. At supper this evening, all of us who worked “down in the hole” were complaining about joint pain. We are hoping for better digging tomorrow


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

June 5 Gezer Update

By Gary D. Myers

The good news is that whole team was well enough to go Tel Gezer today. The lingering sickness was beginning to slow our work. The health team members were wearing down from the increased work load. It was a blessing to have a healthy crew.

With a healthy crew and another innovation – pulling two bags at once with the wench – the team removed 127 bags of dirt and debris. We were elated with total because early on the digging was quite difficult. And during the afternoon, large rocks hampered our digging.

Just after 4 p.m. we called it a day. We had reached 50 feet from our measuring point. Because of the long wait time (5 minutes) for the wench to travel down the tunnel and pull a bag, someone decided to hook one bag and tether another with a heavy-duty strap. The plan worked like a charm and helped us reach our largest bag total in over a week.

The bad news is that we have yet to reach the cave/cavern opening.

We must be close
Dr. Dan Warner and Dr. Parker are confident that the end of the tunnel is near. They believe we will reach the cavern before this year’s dig is over in less than a week. In fact, they are hopeful that tomorrow will be the day. With hopes running high, Warner and Parker are employing a new strategy – cutting a probe. Thus far the team has been clearing out the entire 9-feet width of the cave to about 7-8 feet deep. Rather than clearing the entire width, tomorrow we will only clear a portion of the width in order to speed our progress toward the cave entrance. There will be much rejoicing when we reach the end!


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Saturday, June 4, 2011

Week Two Update (May 29-June 3)

By Dr. Dan Warner
Even though this was a challenging week between many still being sick and other various activities (like giving tours to several groups at the site i.e. archaeologists from Hebrew University and special invited guests from the Israel National Parks and the Israel Antiquities Authority) we still managed to average going down over a meter (3ft) per day. Even though we went down over 15 ft. we still have not located the entrance to the cavern which is the source for the water tunnel. Several reasons account for this one being the measurements of the original excavator Macalister, whose plans we have been following are off. We have come to realize that his calculations do not exactly fit our revised measurements and some of his own measurements do line up. So we are not exactly sure of the depth of this cavern from the surface, it could be off as much as 10 ft.  Our projections right now put us somewhere between 4-10 ft. to the entrance of the cavern with one more week to go to reach it before the season shuts down.

But we have learned some things as we continue to penetrate the tunnel, one being that the limestone is softer as we go down, which may account for the large amount of ribbing like features in the roof of the tunnel. Another word’s,  as one looks up in the ceiling one notices a series of cuts that continually go down creating a reverse set of steps but up in the roof, hence one could theoretically hit their head on them if they did not duck. These ribbings looked like steps on Macalister’s plans (since he did not give us a clear isometric view) but we now know they are in the ceiling and not a part of the floor. As well they have no structural significance since the limestone is softer, the original tunnel makers, as they chipped their way down, chunks of this soft limestone fell from the ceiling creating these series of ribs and we believe the tunnelers just continued on down to the next level.    
In addition we are not at this time uncovering the entire system down to the steps (which are about 3-4 ft. below our feet).  This is because we are still conducting a probe to make sure that once we reach the cavern opening  it has not totally collapsed so that we cannot enter the cave. We believe that this will not be the case and that next week which is our final week, we can reach it. One of the favorite quotes in archaeology is “the best finds always come on the last day”, we hope this is not the case this year.


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Friday, June 3, 2011

June 2 Gezer Update

By Gary D. Myers

Thursday was low attendance day at the Gezer Water System …a lingering sickness continues to thin our ranks. Three were taken to a clinic nearby. Two other team members had meetings to attend. Only nine team members made it to the tel. Even with low numbers we made great progress – 85 bags of dirt and debris were removed and we moved another 6 feet deeper into the tunnel. That is 43 feet from our measuring point – well over 100 feet from the mouth of the water system. However, we still did not reach the cave at the end of the tunnel. Maybe tomorrow.

Special thanks to Jason and Luke
A team from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary has been conducting archaeological surveys around the tel. Two of their team members – Jason and Luke – heard that our numbers were down and volunteered to help in the afternoon. They worked hard digging and bagging dirt and allowed our healthy team members get some much-needed rest. Thank you Jason and Luke! You guys are top notch.

A feast at Asi’s
We could not excavate the Gezer Water System without Asi (spelling?), the crane operator. He is a great worker and a great guy. Asi invited us all to his home for dinner June 2. It was quite a spread that Asi and his family (his wife and two daughters) shared with us. It was a great, festive evening. We were humbled by their hospitality and their generosity. As always, Asi and Tsvika kept us entertained with their humor. It was a great evening after such a hard day of digging.


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

June 1 Gezer Update

By Gary D. Myers

Another day and another 4 feet deeper in the cave and we feel that the end is near. Based on the Dr. Jim Parker’s calculations, this year the team would need to dig down 42 feet to reach the end. We are currently at 37 feet. Because the drawings left by R.A.F. Macalister are not to scale, Parker’s estimates have a margin of error of plus or minus 5 feet. Perhaps we will reach the end Thursday afternoon or Friday morning.

A number of team members are still sick. They have fever, body aches, fatigue, coughs and runny noses. Please pray for a speedy recovery.

Is this the end?
May 31 the team encountered a nicely carved rib or mantle in the roof of the cave, one of about 12 we have uncovered to date. The one we found that day was the most pronounce one since those found near the mouth of the tunnel – until yesterday.

About 2:30 in the afternoon we noticed what seemed like the end of the tunnel. The adrenaline kicked. However, after about 15-20 minutes of digging we were able to determine that this was only another mantle. This mantle dropped down much further than the previous ones – around 2.5 feet. Until we worked our way underneath it looked like a solid wall.

An Experiment?
Strange thoughts cross ones mind down in the hole. A day or so ago I thought: “What if this was a big psychological experiment to see how people would respond? How long would the team continue to dig before quitting?

Words of wisdom by Tsvika Tsuk
Yesterday Tsvika was out most of the day and arrived shortly after we had uncovered what looked like the end of the tunnel, but was yet another mantle. Tsvika said something like – “You can’t be an optimist or a pessimist in a dig like this, only a realist and keep digging.” Good word. And that is what we will do today – keep digging.


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.

Tuesday, May 31, 2011

May 31 Gezer Update

Latest Photos

By Gary D. Myers

Even though several team members were out today due to illness, volunteers removed 100 bags of material (each bag contains approximately 400 lbs of debris). The team dug about 3 feet deeper in to the cave. Imagine clearing a cube of mud and dirt 8 feet tall and 3 feet deep and you’ll get the picture of how much debris was removed.

Each day it becomes harder to reach the 100 bag count because the winch has to go down further each day. It now takes 4 minutes to send the winch hook to the bottom and lift one bag.

With an average of 3 feet of debris removed per day, Dr. Dan Warner and Dr. Jim Parker are hopeful that the team will reach the cave by the end of the week.

A Million Little Pieces of History
With every shovel of dig many broken pottery shards are uncovered. The most common pieces are broken terra cotta handles. Chances are that if you have a broken handle on your terra cotta vase or jar, we have uncoverd a piece that would fit. Like the broken handles, most of the pieces are of no value – the pieces are small and out of context. However, the dig has collected a few Iron and Bronze Age shards.

The team has also uncovered a large grinding stone and many flint tools.

The Muck and Mire
The deeper the tunnel gets, the muddier it gets. It could be because the team is currently over the water source, but it could be seepage from rain water, no one is sure. Quitting time reminded us of Psalm 40:

 1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
   he turned to me and heard my cry.
2 He lifted me out of the slimy pit,
   out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
   and gave me a firm place to stand.
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
   a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
   and put their trust in him.  

Powered by Hummus, Olives and Turkish Coffee
Hummus and olives are staples of our evening meals along with tomatoes. We also eat hummus at lunch along with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches or sandwiches made with cold cuts. Tsvika Tsuk, director of the Department of Archaeology and Heritage at the Israel Nature and National Parks Protection Authority, loves Turkish coffee. After lunch each day, one of the Israelis working with our team, usually Tsvika or the crane operator, makes coffee for the team. Some days, Tsvika will bring coffee to the workers down in the tunnel – that’s a nice treat for the weary diggers.

Soon we will have news about the cave at the end of the tunnel ... we hope.


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The Gezer Water System project is co-sponsored by the Israel Nature and Parks Authority and New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary under the direction of Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist at INPA, and Dan Warner, co-director of the Center for Archaeological Research at NOBTS.