Saturday, January 24, 2009

The Tombs of Ashkelon

















Forty-five feet down from the previous picture is my dig site Canaanite Tombs that were last used for burials around 1500 BC. Tony the site supervisor is sitting at the bottom of the shaftthat  the ancients used to bring their dearly beloved's bodies down to the tombs.

Yes the Canaanite's dug down about 45 feet beneath their homes and hollowed out tombs in the sandstone. In this one there was one large opening and three smaller tombs around the edges. You can see the opening of one of them on the left.

You can also see some of our tools and supplies. The rubber baskets - called "goffa's" are made from recycled truck tires. We filled them with dirt from the tombs and carried them up the 45 feet to the sifting area where we sifted each one to make sure we did not miss any Small artifact.

6 comments:

  1. Very interesting!
    The picture that goes with, helps to put one's understanding a little better, also. :)
    Cool picture!

    That's neat how out of this whole entry, the word "sandstone" spoke to me.

    I grew up next to a woods and a river. Along the banks of the river, was about oh, maybe 30 feet in of *sandstone* !

    It was all pretty colors, shades of pinks, and lavenders and tans, and browns.

    I was around 8 years old and thought I'd become rich famous from the 'diggings' I had found, and made carvings and went pulling my treasures in my red wagon to sell to my neighbors! :)

    Somebody called my parents! It was on a Sunday I was doing that! It's a no no to bother neighbors on a Sunday, back then.

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  2. Thanks for the note on new JS that this has returned. Although I never made it to Petra, I always was interested in it and envy those who DID get there.

    Fin

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  3. What did they bury with their dead?

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  4. burstmode great question I will answer in a post tomorrow.

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  5. Oh snikeys I almost missed this, very nifty shot Pastor Larry. Glad to see you are back with this blog :)

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  6. So they were living upstairs from their deceased ancestors?

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