Zincirli stone

This picture taken by my good friend Eudora Struble ABD was found on her dig at Zincirli Turkey. I just saw another picture of the eighth century BC funerary stone of Kuttamuwa, in the July/August copy of Bibical Archaeology Review. It has a well preserved thirteen line inscription stating that his soul would live forever in that stone monument.

Aaron's Tomb

Aaron's Tomb from a distance

Aaron was the brother of Moses and tradition tells us that the people of Israel camped here on the way to the Holy Land. The tradition of the Jews, Christians and Islam states that Aaron the first High Priest of Israel died here in the place that was later to be called Petra. He was buried on the highest peak and people from all three religions make the long climb to the top to visit the tomb. I did that in 1999 on my first visit. Perhaps you can make out the little white dot on the top of that mountain.

Aaron's Tomb up close

So you have an eye strain finding it. Here is my up close picture from 1999.

The Oil Lamp

Typical unadorned Oil Lamp

We find all kinds of things when we dig in the dirt. A very common find is an oil lamp as they made thousands of them. Well they were like our light bulbs and you know what happens to them. The large hole received the oil and the small hole is where the wick was placed. These lamps could be carried in your hand like this or sit on a table or wall sconce.  Most had one wick others had two, three or even four. Some were unadorned like this one while others were formed in molds with fancy art work.

This kind of lamp is what Jesus talked about in Matthew 25 parable of the ten virgins five wise who took extra oil and five foolish who did not.

Scrape away the dirt and?

When you scrape away a bit of dirt and rock and you reveal a bone. What is it? Human or animal? What kind of bone is it?

Well the answer to those questions requires some more digging and an anthropologist to examine the find.In this case it was the rib of camel. It was killed in the earth quake 363 AD and more of the beast was discovered underneath.

It is the excitement and wonder of it all that keeps me digging.