Eudora's Temple

People and especially archaeologist fall in love with Petra!

Field Supervisor Eudora Struble pointing to the 

Temple of the Winged Lions

Eudora the field supervisor for the 2002 Temple of the Winged Lions dig was no different. It was her third season digging at this site and she love it so much she referred to it as "Her Temple."

This picture was taken on the first day of the dig when she led us on a hike through Petra and here we stopped an she pointed out the site where we would be working for the next six weeks. By the end of those six weeks we all thought of it as our temple. The place gets into your blood and it owns you. I love it and I long to go back again and again.

Digging Small Bones

In this picture I am excavating the bones of an infant who died in the363 earthquake that leveled the temple.
The bones were very delicate so may main tools reflected their condition. I am holding a small paint brush and by the small blue container there is a wood pick. The TP in the goofa was used to wrap the small bones for transport to our lab..

This is how they looked after I moved some more dirt and rocks. The tools on the right are a dental pick and a very small trowel designed for this kind of work. The bones once belonged to a six month old girl.

I love digging in the dirt in the Holy Land.

Remembering Brian Hesse

The gentleman in this picture is Brian Hesse 1944-2011. He was the professor of Jewish studies, anthropology and ancient Mediterranean studies at Pennsylvania State University. In the July/August issue of Biblical Archaeology Review was the report of  his death.

Professor Hesse headed the "Fauna Crew" on my Ashkelon dig in 1999 and I learned a lot from him. He was an expert in zooarchaeology of the Lavant. He taught us about the animal bones we found on the dig site. He was very friendly and easy to talk with. May he rest in peace.

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.