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.