Temple Mount West Wall

This was my first view of the "Wailing Wall" the western wall of Mount Moria or Temple Mount.

Actually Mt. Moria is mostly hidden under a lot of dirt. The wall you see here was built as a retaining wall by King Herod the Great when he enlarged the Temple Mount to build a bigger temple. This wall was not actually part of the Temple itself. It is however awesome!

Caesarea Aqueduct

King Herod the Great built this aqueduct and two others to supply water to Ceasarea. He built Ceasarea as a place for the Romans to live in Israel.

The Jesus Boat

In 1999 We visited Caperenaum by the sea of Galilee and this site where archaeologist were preserving a first century fishing boat that was found during a time when lake levels were low.

Did Jesus sail in this boat?  The time frame for this boat makes it possible that he could have sailed in it. It is also likely that this boat was one of thousands that were around at the time and he did not sail in it. The model below is what the boat would have looked like new.
My three friends from the Ashkelon dig traveled with me to the Sea of Galilee  in a rental car.

Pictured here from left to right are Howard Scott, Carol Jahn and Eudora Bernsen. We all had a great time exploring northern Israel together.

Did Jesus Walk Here?

What you see in this picture is an excavated street in ancient Jerusalem just below the south wall of the temple mount.

When Jerusalem was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD it was covered over with dirt so the actual streets that Jesus walked on are underground. This very narrow street between two rows of homes may be the only street where the public can see where Jesus actually walked.

Before We Dig

This is how Ashkelon Archealogical Park looks before archaeologist start digging.

The fenced area is where we were digging.

The park was divided into 100 grids with only a few grids being excavated to the bottom. Most of the park will be left untouched.

Pottery Cleaning Yard

Here is another view of the Pottery Cleaning Yard. As you can see it was a big operation every day. Students and volunteers would sit in the shade and wash the pottery then set it out in the sun to dray on the wooden pallets. After drying it is moved to the sorting tables.

 It did not take long for the pottery to dry in that hot sun.

Flats

The cardboard boxes we use to bring pottery and bones back from the dig are called "flats" and in this picture we have some flats containg pottery. Attached to each flat is a tag that tells where all the pieces of pottery come from and who excavated it.

This pottery is sitting on the sorting tables so it has been cleaned and is ready for sorting and clarification. Some will go to the Harvard University Lab in Ashkelon for study by PhD. students and some will go to Israeli museums and some will be discarded.