False Brick

Many of the stone walls of Petra were rough uneven and unsightly. To make them look good the workers put heavy amounts of plaster on the walls and drew in the bricks or stone blocks to make the wall look neat. Some of the walls were so uneven that the plaster in places were almost a foot thick. Workmen still do that to some degree. 


I had some work done and notices some big cracks between joints. Their reply was, "That is why they make painters putty." Sure enough they filled the cracks with putty and painted over the error.

Anytime I am digging in Petra I can look up and be awe struck by the totally awesome views. On the one hand you have the stark desert and then you notice the rainbow of colors in the sandstone.

Viewing the ruins of two past civilizations in Petra both Nabataian and Roman one can stare and contemplate the vast history of a single place. The young man dumping the dirt just stood there holding the handle of the wheelbarrow and stared at the scene. He had to be called back to work.

Yes that happened to me as well.

In A Large Tomb

My friend Eudora and I are in the opening of a very large tomb.
It is huge inside. About the side of a three story house.

In The Heart of Petra

Walking down a Roman road in the heart of Petra we get a glimpse of the grandeur that was that great city. Petra once held over thirty thousand people.

Find A Bone

Scrape away a bit of dirt and rock are reveal a rib bone. What is it? Human or animal?

Well the answer to those questions requires some more digging and an anthropologist to examine the find.

On Mount Vesuvis

This is Herculaneum on Mount Vesuvius in Italy and in 79 AD the mountain erupted and covered this place deep in ash, along with Pompeii and other small towns. Only a very small part of this ancient city has been excavated.

I would love to go there and dig. I believe that because the Christian faith had spread in Italy by 79 AD that there might have been a small Christian Church meeting there when the mountain blew it cork. I can dream that perhaps St. Paul wrote a letter to them that no one know about and it needs to be found. I would really love to be the one to find it.

Blue Chapel

This picture of the Blue Chapel in Petra Jordan is a favorite of mine. Anytime I was on the dig in Petra I would walk up the hill to visit and think about how this building looked when it was new. Even in ruins it is beautiful.