NOBTS Gezer team locates large cave at the end of ancient water system

By Gary D. Myers

KARME YOSEF, Israel  -- Though New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary’s June 12 find will never be seen on display in a museum, it is just as significant as the archaeological discoveries from the Holy Land that fill the finest antiquity halls around the world. And it is much, much larger.

The team, under the direction of the NOBTS Center for Archaeological Research and the Israel Parks and Nature Authority, located a large open section in the cave at the eastern end of the ancient water system at Tel Gezer. The discovery marks a major milestone in the seminary’s three-year exploration at Gezer and sets the stage for future research. The team still plans to locate the water source for the system and explore the entire cave seeking a possible rear exit and pottery evidence to help date its construction in future digs.

The dig leaders believe that the rock-hewn water tunnel was cut by the Canaanite occupants of Gezer between 2000 and 1800 B.C. – around the time of Abraham. Other scholars date the system to the time of the Divided Kingdom after Solomon. The site is mentioned numerous times in the Bible including in 1 Kings 9 when the city was given to Solomon by the Egyptian pharaoh. Solomon rebuilt and fortified the city with a massive wall and unique gate system.

“Opening the cave is something we have been working toward for three summers wondering if it even existed,” said Dan Warner, associate professor of archaeology and Old Testament at NOBTS and director of the Gezer Water System Expedition. “It gave me a rush. Once inside it gave us a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, but we are not done by a long shot.”

A small dig team broke into the cavern at about 8 a.m. on June 12. What they found was a large, wedge shaped open area of the cave measuring 26 feet wide by 30 feet long and reaches a height of close to seven feet at its highest point down to only a few inches at its lowest. The surface inside is covered with a thin layer of cracked mud similar to what one would find in a dry pond or lake bed. The chamber also contains large boulders of chalk that have broken free from the cave roof. The roof, which slopes up at a 45 degree angle, seems relatively sound.

Though the cave was briefly opened by Irish archaeologist R.A.S. Macalister in 1908, he was unable to take a photograph due to condensation on his camera lens and poor lighting. The NOBTS team also encountered condensation on the camera lens at first, but after ventilating the area with a large fan the team was able to obtain the first photographs and videos of the interior of the cave.

Macalister and French archaeologist Peré Vincent both looked at the cave, and believed it was natural. The cave was only open a short time during the Macalister excavation  before a torrential rain caused a retaining wall to collapse sending all of Macalister’s excavated dirt back down into the water system, where it  blocked the cave. The NOBTS team was the first to see the cavern in over 100 years – only a few people have ever seen the cavern in the past 3,800 years.

“This find verifies Macalister,” Warner said. “Macalister was right. There is a cavern at the end of the water system.”

Once inside Warner and the other team leaders, Jim Parker from NOBTS and Tsvika Tsuk, chief archaeologist for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority, were able to confirm that the cave is indeed natural.

“It’s a cave – not a carved space – it’s a natural cave,” said Parker, associate professor of biblical interpretation at NOBTS and the dig engineer.

Parker said the space is larger than Macalister described. Some of the differences in the dimensions may be attributed to the various roof collapses since Macalister explored the cave. The roof collapses have also opened more of the cave.

“We’re able to see a part of the cave that Macalister never saw,” Parker said. “This leaves the possibility that there is another entrance [to the cave] from another location off the tel.”

“We did some sound tests to see if we could hear inside the cavern from outside on the tel,” Parker said. “The sound was very clear which leads us to believe that it leads to some sort of opening or fissure in the rock that in ancient days the water may have traveled outside the tel.”

At the start of this dig season the team intended to open the entire mouth of the cave. However, the left side of the mouth was blocked with boulders and the rest of the cave was filled with silt and dirt. So the team simply continued a probe along the southern wall that the team began in 2011. About 26 feet into the probe Warner and Parker made a crucial decision. With time running out on this year’s dig, Warner and Parker wanted to expose more of the interior of the cave.

Instead of continuing along the southern wall of the cave, the team made a 20 degree left turn toward the middle of the cave. On June 10, the team cleared out 22 feet of dirt in the new angled probe. Parker ran new calculations and speculated that the team was near the northern wall of the cave. The dig team took another left turn at a 70 degree angle and began digging in an effort to locate the wall. Less than an hour later they hit the northern side wall of the cave. From that point the team began excavating along the northern wall of the cave and ultimately entered the open space.

Important visitors
The discovery came just two days after visits by several high-ranking Israeli authorities. Reuven Pinsky, head of the Heritage Division in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Shuka Dorfman, Director-General of the Israeli Antiquities Authority, each toured the water system on June 10. Dorfman, IAA Deputy Director Uzi Dahari, and other IAA staffers toured the water system with Parker and Warner early June 10. Later the same day Pinsky visited the tunnel and cave. After hearing about the cave breakthrough, Dahari scheduled another tour for June 14.

-30-

For more information about the NOBTS Center for Archaeological Research, visit http://www.nobts.edu/ArchaeologyCenter or www.nobtsarchaeology.blogspot.com. A video about the discovering is available at http://youtu.be/-hGEJSfXlAM.

Gezer Dig 2012 – June 13, 2012

Dr. Dennis Cole and Dr. Dan Warner explore the cavern

By Dr. Dennis Cole

The recent breakthrough into the cavern of the Gezer water system is the lagniappe to the overall goals of the Center for Archaeological Research (CAR) at NOBTS. These goals, as stated in the CAR web site, include the development of students, faculty, and laypersons in the endeavor to understand the Bible more fully in the depth and breadth of scholarship. The Tel Gezer Project began with NOBTS sponsorship in 2006 to explore this pivotal site in the history of Israel and Canaan, beginning with the exposure of the fortifications believed to be dated to the time of King Solomon. That project has continued under the leadership of SWBTS, and NOBTS branched off in the Gezer Water System Project to explore the water resource technology utilized by ancient peoples of the land. Students from more than a dozen colleges, seminaries, and universities have learned various aspects of the archaeological methodology necessary to give them the foundation for future biblical and archaeological research.

As water resource management issues are a vital part of the ongoing need in modern Israel, Palestine, and the region of the Southern Levant, so the peoples of the Bronze and Iron Ages were intensive in their development of those limited resources that were at their disposal. The Old Testament mentions several periods of drought through its history, from the Age of the Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to the time Elijah and the conflict with Ahab and Jezebel over the matter of true religion. God's promises of  full provision for the needs of his people were directly tied to their faithfulness to and worship of him as the One True God. 

So our goals as we continue to explore this vital ancient resource are to better understand how the ancient peoples determined how to access the resources from within their cities, to better comprehend the technology utilized to access the resource, and to explore the nature of the resource itself.

--

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.

Big breakthrough at the Gezer dig

On Tuesday, June 12 at approximately 8 a.m. the Gezer Dig team discovered a large open area in the natural cavern. The open area is approximately 26 feet wide and 30 feet long and more than 6 feet high at its highest point. Upon inspection of the opening, Dr. Dan Warner, Dr. Jim Parker and Dr. Tsvika Tsuk were able to determine that the cavern is natural rather than man-made.

The find was a major milestone in the three-year dig. This is a great day for New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and for the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.

--

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.

Gezer Dig 2012 – June 10 and 11 Update

Shuka Dorfman (Center)

By Gary D. Myers

Everyone wants to see and tour the Gezer Water System. I’m sure if you are faithful follower of the “Can You Dig It? blog, you would love the opportunity to tour the water system. Each summer, dig weeks two and three bring many visitors to the site.

Rueven Pinsky (Second for Right)

These aren’t just any visitors. The water system is still closed to most people. Those who tour are archaeologist, geologists, students and other who have a special invitation to tour.

For the past three work days we have had many important guests, but none were more important than two of our Sunday visitors – Rueven Pinsky and Shuka Dorfman. Pinsky is the head of the heritage division in the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Dorfman is the director-general of the Israeli Antiquities Authority. Dorfman, IAA deputy director Uzi Dahari, and other IAA staffers toured the water system with Dr. Dan Warner and Dr. Jim Parker early Sunday morning. Pinsky toured the site just before lunch. It was a great honor for the NOBTS team to host such esteemed guests.

Most of the other guests are fellow archaeologists who are interested in seeing inside the Gezer Water System which, with the exception of a brief time in the early 1900s, has filled with dirt and debris for thousands of years. These archaeologists included Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University; Shimon Gibson, a senior associate fellow at the W.F. Albright Institute of Archaeological Research in Jerusalem; and Steve Ortiz from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Two Left Turns
We have been operating under the assumption that our team is digging close to the southern wall of the cave. The team leaders decided that the team should make a 20 degree left turn at the eight meter mark from the cave opening to explore the interior of the cave. On June 10, the team cleared out seven meters of dirt. Dr. Jim Parker ran some calculations and determined the point the team reached before lunch on June 11 could be very close to the northern wall of the cave. So, after lunch the team took another left turn at a 70 degree angle (90 degrees from the southern wall) and began digging in effort to locate the northern wall. Less than an hour into the afternoon they hit the northern side wall of the cave. Now the team will work parallel to the northern wall.

How did the cave fill with dirt?
How the cave filled so thoroughly with slit, dirt and mud has always been a mystery. The Macalister backfill would not be pushed through the tunnel and back so deep in the cave. Dr. Parker and Dr. Warner believe that the fill material could be coming from somewhere else. They developed a theory that a fissure or fissures somewhere in the cave roof could have caused the cave to fill. The geologist who visited the site Sunday confirmed that theory.

Washing, Washing, Washing
The team stays busy and wet at the screens, shifting and washing for pottery shards. This is a wet, time consuming job but it is fun looking for jar handles, rims and painted ware. The team is turning up a number of painted items including a shard of Philistine pottery that was found today (June 11).

Healthy, But Very Tried
The dig will wrap up in a few short days. Wednesday afternoon and Thursday will be spent cleaning up the site and storing the tools for next year. All this time we have been free of sickness unlike last year. We are thankful for a healthy dig team. Even though we have not experience sickness, energy is running low from all the hard work. Please pray for strength and continued health these last few days.

Random Facts

• At lunch and at the end of the day the team members working at the bottom face a 15-story climb out of the tunnel to the top of the tel.
• A name has been given to the tent at the top of the tel where we eat our lunch - “Bet Samich,” which is translated “house of sandwich.”
• On June 8, 1902 (110 years ago), Irish archaeologist R.A.S. Macalister step up camp at Gezer to begin his excavations.

--

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.

Gezer Week Two Video Update in Three Parts

--

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.

Gezer Dig 2012 – June 6 and 7 Update

Screening

By Gary D. Myers

Let the real archaeology begin. Brute force has given way to a more scientific approach. Gone are the day of removing 70, 80 or 90 bags of debris per day. A few days ago the work revolved around picks, shovels and strong backs. Now screens, water hoses and keen eyes are the most important tools on the tel.

MORE PHOTOS

Layer on Layer on Layer
The dirt inside the cave deposited in three easily distinguished layers. Archaeologists love layers. On June 6, Dr. Warner decided to begin collecting the three different layers separately for screening (when you see the word “screening,” think washing mud on a screen). The team is screening random samples from the bags of dirt taken from the top two layers. These top two layers make up approximately half of the height of the cave and are probably contaminated with material from Macalister’s dig.

The team is screening the whole bags of debris taken from the bottom layer, which makes up the other half of the cave height (maybe three feet thick). This work is very time consuming considering each bag contains about 300 pounds of dirt. This area is especially thick and muddy making it difficult to sift.

Macalister's Causeway

What is it? Part Three
On June 6, three team members focused on two areas near the mouth of the cave in the presumed water source location. They first attempted the find the northern edge of the soft limestone surface discovered earlier in the week. The surface is still a mystery, but they did find the northern edge – it stops about five-six feet from the north side of the cave. While working in that area, they found what must be Macalister’s “causeway” of stones. After these finds, the team focused on the area between the “causeway” and the tunnel wall. They dug a test probe down until they hit rock (or a rock) about four feet below the “causeway” and the surface. At this point, the dig team believes that the water source must be/have been in this area. In his reports, Macalister recorded that he drew 200 gallons of water from the tunnel in the early 1900s. The NOBTS team has not encountered water. Muddy, mucky slop, but no water.

Slow and steady
The work has slowed considerably in effort to carefully obtain samples of the pottery found in the cave. This slower pace came at the right time. Four of our volunteers worked their last day on June 6. We lose another team member tonight. The new tasks are better suited for a smaller team than the earlier work.

Washing, Washing, Washing
On the morning of June 7 the team split into two groups. One group washed and washed and washed and washed and washed large quantities of dirt looking for pottery shards. Most of this dirt was from the thick layer in the bottom of the cave. There must have been five full bags of the stuff. We sifted through it inch by inch. The group was muddy and soaked to the bone by lunch time. The other group careful dug and bags dirt from the individual layers in the cave and set the bags aside to be pulled up with the winch and crane in the afternoon.

So far the screenings have turned up a limited amount of diagnostic pottery (pottery that can be identified and dated). The samples have been fairly consistent at this point – Middle and Late Bronze Age – well within Macalister’s proposed date for the tunnel’s construction. However, much more of the cave will need to be excavated to make any definite conclusions. According to Warner, the team needs to collect samples from other parts of the cave, especially the center.

So the work continues. Questions often lead to more questions. But this group believes that the answers are out there. Tomorrow, they will head out to Tel Gezer again to continue the quest.


--

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.

Gezer Water System Expedition's photostream

Gezer Water System Expedition's photostream on Flickr.

Photos from June 6-7. Whole Lotta Screening.


--

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.

Gezer Dig 2012 – June 5 Update

Sorting Pottery Shards

By Gary D. Myers

Today was a great day at the Tel Gezer water system. The team removed 84 bags of material today – the highest bag total of this year. The workflow seemed smoother today than some other days and by lunch the team had removed 46 bags. Given the length of time it takes for the winch hook to travel up and down the tunnel that is no small feat. It is doubtful the team could remove much more than that in a single day.

CLICK HERE FOR TODAY'S PHOTOS

The sifting and washing of pottery shards is now in full swing. Before dumping each bag, samples are taken, washed/screened and pottery is collected in tagged buckets to be sorted by Dan Warner and Tsvika Tsuk. And the screening is producing a number of pot shards. Near the end of the day Tsuk and Warner collected three large bags of material to be screened – not just samples but whole bags. Screening these three bags will be the first item on the agenda when the team reaches Gezer June 6.

The small group digging inside the cave removed another two meters deeper into the cave. We are appreciate of their hard work in this tight, confined area.

Something Old
Questions remain about the surface the team encountered two days ago. Is this part of the floor or something else? Only time will tell.

After recalculating the presumed distance to the bottom step of the tunnel that search was abandoned. Uncovering the bottom step would be helpful, but based on these calculation doing so might weaken the remaining dirt that covers the floor all the way up the tunnel. The directors decided the risk was not worth the reward and move on to another program.

Something New
Early in the dig the team had encountered larger, chalky rocks near the mouth of the cave on the north side of the tunnel. The directors decided to attack that area today. As the team dug, they discovered that this area does not have the soft limestone surface encounter on the other side of the tunnel. They were about to dig down much deeper. Could this side hold the water source? More questions. But the team is comfortable with questions and will work hard again tomorrow seeking to understand more about this amazing water system.


--

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.

Gezer Water System Expedition's photostream

Gezer Water System Expedition's photostream on Flickr.

Another busy day at the tel.


--

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.