The Gift of the Nile

As promised, we also wanted to update you on our recent 8-day adventure to Egypt! This trip was tied to a class we had this fall, entitled “Ancient Egypt and the Biblical World.” As with most classes at JUC, this one included a field study, at the very end of the semester, of 8 days in Egypt. This field study was a true JUC field study, with at least 12-hour long days, a lot of travel, a lot to see, and minimal food and sleep. We’ve gotten relatively used to this pattern in our time here, so we came prepared with at least snacks.

We left for Egypt at 5:30am on Saturday, December 4th. Most of the first day was simply travel. After 5-6 hours of travel to the Eilat/Taba border, we had a moderately uneventful border crossing, and then hopped on an Egyptian bus for an additional 7 or so hours of travel, to Cairo, via the pilgrim route (straight across the Sinai), crossing under the Suez Canal along the way. We got into Cairo and to our rather nice hotel, in time for dinner around 9pm. The first thing we observed when we arrived in Cairo was the traffic – the lane markings are mere suggestions here. Looking ahead, it was absolutely impossible to make out a straight line in the traffic in front of us (and it was rush hour, so there was plenty of traffic to observe).

Sunday was focused on Old Kingdom remains (ca. 2613-2125 B.C.E.), as well as a bit of recent history, in Old Cairo. We saw our first pyramid, the Red Pyramid, which was the second pyramid built by Sneferu (the first king of Dynasty 4), and which was the first true pyramid. We also saw Sneferu’s first pyramid, which is appropriately named the “Bent Pyramid,” and which looked quite funny. Scholars think that the Red Pyramid was commissioned after the Bent Pyramid, and the structural flaws were corrected. We were able to go inside both the Red Pyramid, as well as Teti I’s pyramid (which now looks like a rubble heap). Both pyramids are accessed by way of a sloping shaft, which only stands about 4 feet high. This means that the visitor must go down the shaft stooped over, with bent knees. The shafts were each at least 30 feet long, descending into the belly of the pyramid. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside, but one of our fellow students did manage a picture, which we have posted in our album. All of the burials in ancient Egypt were on the West side of the Nile River, which was seen as the Land of the Dead (the land of the setting sun). These burials, to protect them from the annual flooding of the Nile, were set at a distance from the bank, out of reach of the flood plains. This plain even today has an incredibly distinct line, separating the green valley from the Sahara Desert beyond.

Not only did we see Old Kingdom remains on Sunday, but we also had a chance to see a bit of “Old Cairo,” its village life (which despite the large city of Cairo, is still alive and well and steeped in ancient methods of technology and transportation), and a few of its religious sites. As we traveled up and down the canals of the Nile that day, we were surprised to see how trashy the water was. The Nile up in the Delta is not well taken care of, and people seem to simply throw their trash in heaps along the banks of the canals (which they also fish) and then burn the trash. It was sadly a very dirty place, with trash piled up behind some of the bridges for 30-40 feet in some places. We also observed many vehicles loaded with produce, right next to mules and carts on the same highway (even some of the freeways), also pulling their own produce. Cairo is a very strange blend of ancient and modern. Many people live by mule-pulled carts and fishing with nets and using cars I have only seen in old movies, but just a few blocks away, we could find Western companies we haven’t seen since we left the states (like Radio Shack and Starbucks), and a modern flare that is difficult to find even in Israel. The city is huge with high-rise buildings, and people live in buildings with at least 20 floors, packed in close together, with no appropriate roof on top, allowing room for future construction, when needed. Even the roads are squeezed into the congestion, with multiple levels of roads right on top of each other, and the highest road running parallel to all of the roofs of the high-rises.

At the end of the day, we ended up at the train station, where we boarded a sleeper train going south to Aswan. The train took 14-15 hours to reach our destination, but with the frequent stops, it was hard to get an accurate picture of the distance we covered. When we lived in the States, it took us that long to get from California to Colorado, but we also didn’t stop nearly as often as this train did. Still, the distance from the north to the south of Egypt is quite a bit longer than it looks on a map, and it was helpful to travel the distance to experience it first-hand. Justin and I had never been on a sleeper train, much less the Orient Express, so it was an interesting journey, to say the least. We slept, but not very well. We’ve posted pics of our berth, in case any one is curious. :0)

We arrived in Aswan and began one of the funnest days of the trip. Aswan is very near the southern border of Egypt and Sudan, and because of this, there has always been a significant Nubian population, which gives Aswan more of an African than a Middle Eastern flair. Many of the homes are built of unfired mudbrick, without keen detail to alignment or level. They simply use the local building materials that are available, and since there is practically no rain here ever, it doesn’t harm their homes. Our tours that day consisted of several Greek (yes, Greek) temples, which copied ancient Egyptian architecture in many ways. It was our first experience with temples here, and we were absolutely astounded with the amount of detail that covered every single towering wall of each temple. Hieroglyphs and pictures told and retold stories on every wall, every column. In addition to the carving, these were all originally painted in rather gaudy colors, and some of the colors are still preserved on these buildings! It was absolutely breathtaking. To get to at least one of these temples, the Philae Temple, we had to get there by way of a boat on the Nile. Throughout the course of the day, we actually had 2 boat rides on the Nile, which is much cleaner and prettier down in the south.

Towards the end of the day, our boat tour took us to a camel ride – Justin’s and my first camel rides ever – and to a Nubian village at night. The Nile down here is rather peaceful, even though the many different currents pushed our boat this way and that. We sat on the roof and enjoyed the stars and the chilly breeze. Our camel ride was oh-so-much-fun, except for the fact that camels have narrower backs than horses, and it was a little difficult to stay comfortably on, especially when your guide wanted to run the poor animal downhill. We survived, though, and got halfway descent pictures as we attempted to capture the moment whilst hanging on for dear life on our respective animals. The Nubian Village (which was used to tourists such as ourselves) was upstream, and when we arrived in the evening, we sat in one of their houses, enjoying the atmosphere and music and dancing with the kids. The house also was the home to two small crocodiles, which they let us hold. All in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our day in Aswan, being around the Nubian population, which was very friendly and had an African flare of warmth and passion.

On Tuesday, we had “Temple Day,” where we worked our way upstream, first seeing a few more Greek temples, and then after lunch, going to the grandeur of Karnak. Each temple we visited became more elaborate, and Karnak held so many of the famous reliefs and documents that Justin and I have studied over and over, especially during our time at JUC. We got to see with our very own eyes the city lists of King Shishak (who according to the Bible attacked King Rehoboam of Judah, and whose list includes the “Rehov” that we have dug at twice now) and Thutmose III (whose most famous battle was against a Canaanite coalition at Megiddo). We also got to see the Hittite Peace Treaty of Ramesses II and the Victory Reliefs of Merneptah, which include depictions of Shasu Bedouin (and whom Anson Rainey thinks may depict the “Israel” that is mentioned in the Merneptah Stele). In the evening, we went to see the Luxor Temple. It was breathtaking to see the temple at night, and it was a nice change, since after awhile, many of these temples start to resemble each other. The statues are so impressive, and one can still see the lane of the sphinxes that connected the Karnak Temple with the Luxor Temple (some of which are still being excavated). The size and grandeur of these temples is so hard to capture, and I appreciated that our guide mentioned that the gigantic columns were intentionally shaped to look like lotus flowers, to make the worshipper who comes to the temple feel very small. They were indeed some of the most imposing columns I’ve ever seen, and the fact that every one of them is absolutely covered with decorations and carvings makes them even more impressive.

On Wednesday, we headed to the West Bank of the Nile once again, this time across from Karnak and Luxor, to the Valley of the Kings. This Valley holds most of the tombs of the New Kingdom Pharaohs, who wanted to hide their burial locations to protect their treasures (which, despite their efforts, were looted soon after their burial). We weren’t allowed to even bring our cameras into the valley, much less into the tombs, so unfortunately, you will have to google images of these locations if you want to see them. Or, plan a trip to Egypt. :0) We got to go inside the Tombs of Ramesses III, Thutmose III (mentioned above) and Tutankhamun (King Tut). I thought the pyramids and temples were impressive; the tombs were even more so! Though they had been looted, the treasure of the tombs are today still preserved on the walls of the caves, which are still intricately detailed with drawings and texts, painted in vibrant color. Each one is so unique, and it is absolutely unbelievable to think of what exists underneath the desert rock. Visiting King Tut’s tomb was surreal, thinking about when Carter first discovered it and opened it. One of Tut’s anthropoid coffins was still inside the tomb, as well as the stone sarcophagus and his actual mummy. The other remains are either today in the Cairo Museum, which we will mention below, or they are scattered around the world, on exhibition.

As part of our class, each student had to prepare a research paper on some aspect of ancient Egypt and then present a portion of it at a site we visited on our field study. Justin’s paper was on magic, and he presented in the Valley of the Kings, just below the tomb of Thutmose III. Magic in ancient times was a mix of medicine and religion and everything in between, and thus it impacted every aspect of life, from everyday activities to burials. I (Mandy) also presented the same day, at Medinet Habu, the temple constructed by Ramesses III. The temple’s entrance is flanked by two granite statues of a lioness, named Sekhmet. My paper was concerned with classical Egyptian warrior deity iconography, and in this paper, I compared the representations of deities in Egypt to those which were contemporary in Palestine at that time. There are very distinct differences, which were especially apparent in the New Kingdom (of which Ramesses III was a part), when the Pharaohs concentrated on outside conquest, and subsequently adopted Syrian and Canaanite deities as part of their own pantheon.

In the evening, we again boarded the clickety-clacking sleeper train (this one much faster and a bit scarier than the first) and headed north, back to Cairo. We got into Cairo around 5am, only an hour delayed this time (we were three hours late on the train heading south). After a very brief rest at the hotel, we left around 7am for the traditional land of Goshen, where the Israelites were said to have lived during their captivity, and Tell el-Yehudiyeh, the “ruin of the Jews.” This tel was the first we had seen in Egypt, and it was a bit like seeing an old friend, since we are so used to tels in Israel. This tel is actually quite famous, since it was excavated by the one and only Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie, the Father of Egyptology, Syro-Palestinian Archaeology, and Pottery Typology. From the top of the tel, we had an interesting view of the Nile Delta region, full of fertile soil, green, and water, which stretched out before us in the foggyness of the morning. It was interesting to think about the Israelites, and the adjustments they must have had to go through… knowing only this region their whole lives, and then adapting to a Bedouin lifestyle first in the Sinai and then in Canaan. The contrast between the two regions is stark and provides perspective to their complaints.

After visiting Yehudiyeh, we headed to one of the most famous historical sites in the world: Giza, the Great Pyramids, and the Sphinx. We began our visit in the Solar Boat Museum, which is at the base of the Great Pyramid of Khufu. When the kings died, they were often carried from the east side of the Nile to the west side by way of a boat constructed solely for the event. This boat was then dismantled and buried along with the king. An entire boat (more than 4,000 years old) was actually excavated from this site, which had been dismantled, but which still had its beams and ropes preserved! After studying archaeology in Israel, it was simply mind-boggling to see this boat, knowing that it was so incredibly old. It is so hard to even comprehend the possibility of the boat surviving this long span of time, when we are used to a land where cloth and wood do not survive this long due to moisture.

The pyramids were impressive, but their size, I think, is difficult to fully comprehend. The triangular shape may be a bit deceptive, for even in person, they don’t seem as big as they really are. We were able to go into the smallest of the three pyramids, which contained a shaft very similar to the other two we entered, described above. After seeing the inside of the Valley of the Kings, it was interesting to once again see the inside of a pyramid, for they are more highly decorated on the outside than the inside, whereas the Valley of the Kings tombs were exactly the opposite.

Our last stop of the day was the Cairo Museum, where we had approximately 2 hours to see some of the most incredible finds the world has ever known… a full day’s visit could not have afforded us the amount of time needed for a sufficient visit. The museum is simply overflowing with important pieces, and I was once again overwhelmed with the notion that these pieces were simply pulled from the ground. Statues and stela we had only seen in pictures were there for us to see in person… we even got to see some of the Amarna letters that the Cairo Museum still possesses. We were able to see the mummies of such famous pharaohs as Thutmose III and Merneptah (mentioned above), Hatshepsut (one of the few female pharaohs), and Ramesses II (whom many link to the Pharaoh of the Exodus). It is simply unbelievable to still be able to see the bodies of these people who have left such significant and long-lasting impacts on history.

In addition to all of this, the museum boasts of many of the treasures of King Tutankhamun’s tomb. King Tut was buried in multiple layers of coffins and shrines, and the amount of elaborate detail and wealth that was put into this was all astounding. In addition to the mummy wraps, which would have been filled with amulets and spices, his body first had a solid gold faceplate… which is the main piece people know. The faceplate has to be one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen, with intricate details of small inlaid pieces of semi-precious stones, and a face fashioned that looks as real as the person himself. His body was then placed into three anthropoid coffins (coffins in the shape of a body), each one slightly larger than the last, and made respectively of solid gold, inlaid semi-precious stones and glass, and gilded wood. These coffins were then placed into a rectangle stone sarcophagus, which was then placed into a series of 4 wooden rectangle shrines, with the largest shrine being almost the size of the tomb itself. The “treasury” of the tomb was then filled with every kind of object one can think of, for the Egyptians believed that whatever you used in life had to be placed inside the tomb in order for it to appear for you in the afterlife. So, think for a moment of every possession you have that you use on a regular basis… every one of those would have had to been placed or replicated and placed in the tomb with you in order for you to have it in the afterlife. Not only this, but the tomb was worked on and filled throughout the owner’s lifetime. King Tutankhamun lived to be only about 18 years… if his tomb contained so many treasures, just think of, say, the tomb of Ramesses II, who reigned for more than 60 years and died an old man! His tomb, had it not been plundered in ancient times, would have held more treasure than multiple museums could hold.

On Friday, we said goodbye to Egypt proper and headed for a day in Sinai. After crossing the Suez Canal again, we drove south along the border of the Sinai on its western side, for an hour or two, where we stopped at a café (filled with men playing some kind of board game or watching a sport on television). From here, we boarded Land Cruisers for the wildest jeep rides of our lives… heading straight into the Sinai desert. It was an incredible experience! Once the vehicles left the main roads, we flew through the desert on the sand, stopping at a Bedouin home for tea. We ended up in the middle of nowhere, about an hour or so into the heart of the Sinai, where we got out of the vehicles and began to hike. We hiked to a place known today as Serabit el-Khadim, which boasted among other things of a turquoise mine used by the Egyptians in antiquity, a temple to the goddess Hathor, and the very first evidence of writing. Our climb back down the mountain was in the dark (a bit scary, for the way was steep with loose rocks), and then we boarded the vehicles for the wild ride back to civilization, stopping at another Bedouin camp along the way for dinner (or, rather, “lunch” at 6pm). Our bus continued on to St. Catherine’s, at the base of Mt. Sinai, and we arrived a little after 10pm. Justin and I skipped “dinner” and went straight to bed, setting our alarm for 1:50am.

Our group left for the long trek up Jebel Musa, the traditional site of Mt. Sinai, at 2:30am, to see the sunrise. It was very cold, but the way was a continual grade, so we got warm in a hurry. We also were hiking with the sustenance of a granola bar prior to leaving, so it felt very much like a pilgrim trek up the mountain. The stars were absolutely brilliant, and we could look up the mountain and trace the line of the trail by the flashlights of others who were going up ahead of us. After 2 hours of hiking, we came to the final leg of the hike: 700 stairs straight up to the top. This took the last hour, with constant turns, steep stairs, and the wind getting stronger and colder. By this time, everyone who was climbing the mountain had come together, and hundreds of us climbed the final stretch of the mountain slowly, in a single-file line.

At the top were vendors (of course…this is the Middle East) and a building (possibly an old monastery?) which everyone crowded around on various levels, all facing east towards the sunrise. We still got up there about 30 minutes before the sunrise, so we huddled together against the wind and the blowing sand, taking pictures and watching, unbelievably, a thunderhead in the distance, which displayed occasional flashes of lightning. The sunrise was absolutely breathtaking, and we also welcomed its new warmth to our frozen appendages. We were on the summit an additional 30 minutes or so, watching the sun come in and out of the clouds and highlighting the rocky slopes beneath us in ever-changing shadows. Our group huddled together and listened to Exodus 19 (the giving of the Law on Sinai to Moses) and Habakkuk 3 (displaying God’s greatness and power), in awe over where we stood.

The descent felt almost as long as the ascent, but we descended with happy hearts. We had successfully climbed Mt. Sinai, which so many only dream of doing. We were on our way back to the hotel to make our tummies happy and to get warm. And, after one of the most incredible trips of our lives, we were turning homeward.

Our reentry into Israel was an eventful experience, as one of the members of our group went back through the border crossing with a round, 5” diameter alabaster ball, which caused the Israeli security to do an emergency shut-down of the border crossing and send in the bomb squad. The weather that day was also incredible, with sand storms in the Sinai and in the Negev so tall that I’ve only seen their equal in movies. The winds also had stirred up the Red Sea in the Gulf of Eilat with waves so large that the water ran into the buildings of the border crossing. After so little sleep, we were just glad to get home, to our own beds and to food at normal meal times. :0)

Our trip to Egypt was one of the most incredible experiences of our lives. Even now, I can’t believe all we saw in those 8 days. It wasn’t an easy trip, and the locals, I have to admit, were not always friendly. It was surprising to us how different the culture was from Israel, though they are not that far apart. We enjoyed the company of the Nubians and the Bedouin of Sinai, and we learned so much about the history and geography of the land. It was an amazing and an exhausting journey, and we hope you have enjoyed our stories as much as we enjoyed living them.

Our field studies, at this point, are mostly done with JUC. In the spring, we have 1 final Archaeology class (Jerusalem in the 2nd Temple Period), and we will be auditing a second class which we will not be attending the field studies for. After that, our goal is simply to complete our theses and our work at JUC, so we can head homeward! We will also have four comprehensive exams that we will begin to work through in the Spring, so we invite your prayers for us to get through those. Please also continue to pray for our staff position and the work we do at JUC, as well as for the time we need to complete our theses.

Justin and I wish each of you a very Merry Christmas, and we pray that God will bless you all in the coming year. We love you, and our hearts look wistfully homeward as we begin the downhill portion of our journey in Israel.

Mandy & Justin

Fall Semester 2010

Hello Friends and Family! After a bit of a roller coaster semester for Justin and I, we are finally getting around to an update! On the one hand, our updates involve fewer field studies now and will therefore have a different flavor… on the other hand, we ended the semester with 8 days in Egypt. So, we will provide you with 2 updates: 1 for the semester in general, and another for Egypt.

As you know, we now hold a staff position at JUC, in addition to being students, and it is a constant challenge for us to balance between the two. In addition to being available for the students, we also hosted weekly and special events for them throughout the semester, which of course involve additional planning. We work in the position with two goals in mind: 1) to be authentic and caring with the students, and 2) to focus on quality over quantity with the events, giving our best to doing a few things really well instead of a lot of things not very well.

For our weekly events, we carried on the tradition of a weekly “cookie night,” which we held every Wednesday, and JUC holds a weekly “vespers service” on Friday nights after Shabbat Dinner. The cookie night has always been a raving success (I have no idea why :0), and this semester, I was particularly excited to see how many students came to help me cook, in addition to enjoying the eating time. It was a special time for me to get to know the students a little better, and we made cookies in the comfort of my own tomby home, using my wonderful toaster oven (which can make 2 dozen cookies at a time!) We also organized the weekly vespers services on Friday night, and Justin worked with the worship teams and with booking a few outside speakers. We also had a Night of Worship once a month, which I think worked really well.

Our special events for the semester included a hike in the Yehudiya Nature Reserve in the Golan, north of the Sea of Galilee; a first-ever JUC Coffeehouse; a Fall Party; a ladies’ tea; and Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The hike was an interesting breaking in, both to our positions and the students to the level of difficulty with the field studies. We had never been to this particular location, but we were told it was a very popular place to go for the fall “Student Activity Day.” The hike not only involved climbing down a cliff and swimming across a pool in order to continue, but it was basically through a steep gorge’s river bed, which consisted more of marked boulders we had to climb through for hours, rather than an actual trail. For me (Mandy), it was beyond my comfort level for a day hike. One of the students also fell about 10 feet and landed on her side on the rocks, but was miraculously not seriously hurt. We did end the day, though, in an emergency room, and I think for next year, Justin and I will plan a different location for the hike. Yehudiya is great for the adventure-seeker, but not ideal for our group.

Our coffeehouse, I think, may have been one of the biggest highlights of the semester! We held it in our student lounge, which looks like something from a Crusader Castle. Justin and I were the baristas, along with the invaluable assistance of one of our students, Betsy, who was a barista back home. We worked with 1 coffeepot for the coffee, a hotplate for special drinks and for scalded milk, a series of spices and toppings, and, oh yeah, one breaker switch for the entire room (which meant that we had to keep alternating what heat-producing items were being used). We even created a full menu for our “Kelley’s Coffee.” We had performances and arranged the room to look like a coffeehouse with small tables. It was a great success, and we will definitely do it again!

Our Fall Party was also a wonderful success! Justin and I love Fall, so it was easy for us to prepare for this event. We had a costume party for all of the students, and we were so surprised at the high level of creativity they all showed with their costumes! We don’t have many resources to buy costumes here, so the students had to get creative. See our pics for some of the results! Dr. Wright gave his annual tour of the Protestant Cemetery, which is adjacent to the school, and once the students returned, they came to our home for a “Movie in the Tomb.” Fall just isn’t complete without Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. :0) The students ended the evening with a campus-wide game of Mafia (google this if you don’t know what it is…very popular with college students).

At the point in the semester when papers and homesickness are together at an all-time high, we ladies decided to have a girly tea at Diane Wright’s apartment. We made finger food, and all of the girls got dressed up for the event. It was a wonderful and relaxing afternoon, and we got to hear from Joyce Helyer, who was here this semester with her husband, Larry, who taught one of our classes. She and her husband came to JUC in the 1970’s as students and were here for a year. In lieu of this, she spoke to our girls concerning, “Seven Things I Wish I had Known as a JUC Student.” It was so good and so appropriate for this point in the semester.

At the end of the semester, several weeks ago, we celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas (early). Everyone pitched in to help with the cooking and cleaning for Thanksgiving, and Justin and I helped Paula and Dan, the lead dinner cooks, with making the turkeys. No pressure. :0) Everything turned out really well, though, and we had a food-filled evening with fun and games. The very next week was finals week, and on Friday, after finals were over, we had our last Shabbat dinner and then walked to St. Anne’s Cathedral in the Old City, to hear our very own JUC choir. Dan and Paula organized the choir, and Justin and I were absolutely amazed at how wonderful it turned out! The choir sounded so amazing, especially with the world-famous acoustics of St. Anne’s. We returned to the school afterwards for desserts and a slideshow and to celebrate the end of the semester.

In between events, Justin and I have also worked on our own studies, which we tried to reserve specific days for, and volunteering at Hebrew University, to continue to work with the Tel Rehov excavations, now in their lab. We really enjoy these days, because it reminds us of the main reason we are even here. We have currently been working on assembling pottery for their “plates” for the Rehov publications. It is a lot of digging through boxes of pottery and matching numbers to get the right piece, and we are loving being up to our elbows in it all.

The semester has been challenging for us in so many ways. Many of you who know us know that the position isn’t quite an ideal fit for us, but we have tried to tackle the tasks on hand with diligence and authenticity, to give as much as we can to it all, for the benefit of the school and the students. It gives us many, many high points, and many, many low points, and we plod ahead through it all, knowing that we are here for a reason.

Now that the semester is over, we are working to try to turn the campus around, to get ready for the short-term programs that will come in January. We will have over a hundred people on campus at that time, and our role will be more of a support role to whatever is needed, be that helping in the kitchen or cleaning bathrooms, not to mention trying in January to also prepare for the Spring Semester, which starts in February. Before that, though, Justin and I are excited that we will be going to England for 2 weeks after Christmas! Not long into the semester, we realized that we really needed a break from the Middle East. It has been a long, hard journey, and we have missed friends and family back home, not to mention western culture, which is simply a part of who we are. We couldn’t afford to go home, but we wrote to some family friends in London, to see if perhaps we could stay with them for a couple of weeks, to rest and get out of Israel. They have welcomed us with open arms, and we are so humbled and grateful for the opportunity to be able to get away.

So, for now, we are enjoying a quieter campus and getting caught up on a million little things (like the blog) which were sorely neglected over the semester. We welcome your continued prayers through our time here, to have endurance to finish. We also welcome your continued prayers for finances, especially the funds to go home for a month next summer. We originally were going to pay for the tickets through the funds we receive from Justin’s online class back home, but we recently found out that he will not be teaching this coming spring. We will still be going home for that time… that isn’t a question… but we need the resources to pay for the tickets. So, we appreciate your prayers for that provision.

We hope you enjoy all of the tidbits from our semester! Our next blog entry will be specifically for our Egypt field study, which we just got back from. It was an intense eight-day journey, which we can’t wait to share with you! So stay tuned… :0)

Justin & Mandy

From a Bomb Shelter to a First Century Tomb

There’s a title we never thought we’d use! Hello, Friends and Family! We wanted to catch you up on the last month of happenings and, most importantly, to share with you pictures of our new apartment! As we mentioned in our previous entries, we moved on campus in June and have been slowly working to move into our oncampus apartment, which boasts of a first–century tomb inside of it. We know that everyone has been eager to see pictures, and after a bit of paint, plaster, calking, scraping, and moving in, our new home is (mostly) complete! We still have a few pictures we want to add to the wall, but we are really pleased with how the renovations turned out. So, we enjoy sharing our pictures with you!

In addition to our renovations, we’ve also been working to get familiar with the students who we will be welcoming on campus, and getting the campus ready for their arrival. They now arrive tomorrow, and we are working diligently to get the final pieces into place! We appreciate your prayers over the next few weeks, for us and for the students. Specifically, we would ask you to pray for:

1. Safe Travels. Please pray for safe travels for the students, and painless trips through Israeli customs.
2. Adjustment and Culture Shock. Traveling to the Middle East is such a challenge, and the students here really “hit the ground running” with their classes. Please pray for smooth adjustments and peace for everyone working through culture shock. Please also pray for us to be sensitive to any needs the students might have.
3. Family, Work, and Personal Space. Justin and I will also be starting classes on Monday. Please pray that we can ease into our positions without too many stresses, and that we can find a good balance between our work and our own personal time.

We appreciate your prayers so much, not only for us, but for the new students and for the new staff who are working diligently to prepare to serve them here. We are both excited and a little anxious, and we know that God will be with us and will use us in our own ways to be a voice and support for the student body. We love each one of you! Until next time…

Mandy & Justin

"...acquaint me with Rehov..."

Hello friends and family.  We have just returned from our five week excavation at Tel Rehov.  It was an amazing and very taxing experience and as you can imagine our feelings at the end were certainly bittersweet – we were relieved to be finished and sad that it was all over at the same time.  Tel Rehov is a very unique site among the other ancient cities in the land that have been excavated.  The architecture is often very unique and complex and many of the finds are not known anywhere else in Israel. 

Tel Rehov, or Tel eṣ-Ṣarem as it was once known to local Arabic speakers, is located seventeen miles south of the Sea of Galilee in the valley named for the ancient (and now modern) city of Beth Shean (Mom and Dad should remember this tel!).  The site is located just to the east of the Gilboa mountain range, near the junction of two main ancient roads and near the Harod spring that drains in the direction of the Jordan River.  This all means that the site had a close water source, arable land, and connection to trade in antiquity.  Given the location of the site then it is no surprise to find that it is well known in our ancient texts, primarily the annals of the kings of Egypt.  Can you think of a place when Rehov is mentioned in the Bible?  There are five instances when a city called Rehov is mentioned, but it is not this particular site.  It is too far north.  Our Rehov is not mentioned in the Bible, which is quite surprising.

The Institute of Archaeology of the Hebrew University has been excavating at Tel Rehov since 1997 under the direction of Dr. Amihai Mazar.  The 2010 season represents the tenth season of excavation at the tel.  Over the course of thirteen years of excavation HU has revealed a number of important things about the ancient cities at Rehov.  It is evident from the presence of an Early Bronze Age (EB) rampart that the site was inhabited sometime between ca. 3300-2000 B.C.E.  Following the EB in the Middle Bronze Age (2000-1550 B.C.E.) most of the sites in the land were made into massive cities with enormous walls – Rehov was not.  There is no evidence of any Middle Bronze occupation at the site.  The Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 B.C.E.) was the main period in which Rehov thrived.  During this period Canaan was under the rule of the Egyptians.  During this time the Egyptian pharaohs ruled the land via a series of local Canaanite governors who were loyal to Egypt.  We know from a text written during the reign of Pharaoh Seti I (1290-1279 B.C.E.) that a city in the vicinity of Beth Shean called Rehob was loyal to Egypt and did not participate in the various rebellions led by some of the Canaanites at this time.  Other Egyptian texts mention the site and point to its importance and prominence during this period. 

Following the Late Bronze Age (LB) many sites in the land suffered some kind of collapse, many sites were abandoned and some places were destroyed.  The cause of this collapse is not clear, but Rehov survived!  There is clear archaeological evidence for the transition between the LB and the Iron Age I (1200-1000 B.C.E.).  Archaeologically the Israelite material culture is well attested in the land in the Iron Age II (1000/980 – 586 B.C.E.).  At Tel Rehov there is clear evidence for a thriving city in the Iron Age IIA (ca. 980-840 B.C.E.), roughly the time of King David to King Ahab, but it was hardly your typical Israelite town! Interestingly the last mention of the city of Rehov in Egyptian records is during the reign of Pharaoh Sheshonq I (943-922 B.C.E.), who the Bible calls Shishak (1 Kgs 11:40; 14:25; 2 Chr 12).  Sheshonq campaigned into Canaan at the close of the united Israelite monarchy.  Sheshonq’s record itself is vague because it is only a list of towns and therefore we do not know the purpose of his campaign.  That he mentions Rehov is important because it means that despite the lack of attestation in the Bible, Rehov was still an active town during the Israelite monarchy.  The nature of the town remains in question however.  Rehov is the only Israelite city that we know of where beekeeping and commercial honey production was known.  The buildings in the Iron Age IIA strata are not like any seen in the many sites that have been excavated over the years.  There are numerous finds, many of which are cultic artifacts like altars or clay model houses, that have no parallels anywhere else in the land or even in Syria, though Egyptian style artifacts are prevalent.

At any rate, Rehov’s Iron Age IIA city was destroyed in a major fire (leaving behind what archaeologists call a “destruction layer” at the site), which was presumably intentional and may stem back to the invasion of the Arameans (1 Kgs 19; 2 Kgs 8-13).  Archaeologists love destruction layers because, when a site is destroyed people usually flee and leave all of their belongings behind, an unfortunate result for them but great for the archaeologists!  After this, the city was resettled to the south on the higher part of the tel in the eighth century (700’s) B.C.E.  This city was destroyed by the Assyrians in the 720s (who also conquered the Northern Israelite capital of Samaria) and was not resettled again for about 1000 years when an Islamic village was established on the upper mound of the tel. 

We have now had the privilege of being a part of two seasons of excavations at this unique site (we dug at Rehov in 2008, our first visit to Israel).  This season we participated in the dig for credit through the Rothberg International School of the Hebrew University.  We spent five weeks excavating, learning how to draw top plans and sections, take heights, record finds, wash, “read,” and mark pottery, and keep an excavation log.  This archaeological “field school” will fulfill our archaeology practicum requirements for our degree at JUC.

This season at Rehov we excavated in Area C, which is on the lower part of the tel and contains the remains from the Iron Age IIA, in a building labeled C-P.  This season we opened up a whole square (a 25 square meter area) and a half-square (12.5 square meters).  Both of these areas revealed a part of the northeastern corner of a very large complex of three rooms/buildings.  The architecture of the large complex is like nothing ever seen in the architecture of the Iron Age and the finds are unique.  What’s almost more amazing than this is that the destruction debris of this building began only about 10 centimeters under topsoil!

In our first square that we opened we worked with two other people (LeAnn and Becky, who are in our photo album :0) and excavated the square down to the floor of the room, which was a little over a meter below the topsoil.  In this area there were a ton of sherds (broken pieces of clay vessels) and many whole containers – storage jars, jugs, and bowls.  The main thing that we were looking for in the square, however, was not the “goodies” but the architecture – and really this is what archaeology is about.  We essentially spent the first 3 1/2 weeks excavating this square and the final week in the second half-square, in which we were attempting to define two walls that would close off the large room that we began working in, in our first square.  We have pictures posted of a few of our finds, but we had to pick the photos judiciously because the material has yet to be published (check out www.rehov.org for more pics to be posted at some point in the future!).          

The past five weeks have been both amazing and grueling at the same time.  If any of our readers have ever been on a dig you know how this works, but for those who have not, I will explain our basic daily routine.  We stayed at a kibbutz (a Jewish community centered around agriculture and in more modern times, housing guests like a hotel) called Beit Alfa, which is about a 15 minute drive from the excavation site.  Every day from Monday through Friday we needed to be on the bus to leave for the tel at 4:45 am, which means getting up around 3:45 so that we could have time to get ready and have a few minutes to eat something before running out the door.  We set foot out of our air-conditioned room and into the mid-80 degree early morning.  Once on the bus we would drive to the tel and arrive around 5:15 (or 5:30 depending on how long the bus driver waited for latecomers).  Work begins right away so that we can get the really heavy stuff out of the way before it gets too hot.  Temperatures in the Beth Shean Valley typically are above 100 degrees (the hottest recorded temperature in the Middle East, 129 degrees, was in fact recorded in the Beth Shean Valley).  We then have our very Israeli breakfast of tuna, bread, cottage cheese, tomatoes, and cucumbers on site about 8:30 am.  Then we work until 11 and take a short break for juice (or popsicles on Fridays!) and finally end the excavation at 12:15 pm.  We then have lunch from 1-2 and have two and a half hours until we wash the pottery that we excavated the day before.  So this is where most people take naps and relax and where the students and excavators do homework.  Pottery washing generally lasts until about 5 and then we “read” and sort the pottery from two days prior, meaning that we decide what pieces to keep and mark and what pieces get thrown away.  This generally lasts until about 6pm.  From 6 to 7 we have an hour of free time unless there was a workshop for the students participating in the dig for credit.  Dinner lasts from 7-8 and then very often there was a lecture at 8:15 that lasted until 9 or 9:30.  Then bed and then do it all over again.  This was basically a VERY intensive five-week archaeology class for us!  And, now that it’s over we have to prepare our top plans, lists of finds, and excavation reports to turn in to Hebrew University as soon as we can. 

Now that our dig is over we are back on Mount Zion at JUC.  The directors of the school just left for their month-long vacation to the States and we are holding down the fort along with two other students.  The current student life directors are getting ready to leave and we are planning on moving in to our little apartment on campus probably sometime next week.  We are attempting to work on Tel Rehov related homework and a few other projects that we have put on hold for the five weeks while we have been digging.  In addition to this we are just trying to relax a little before the fall semester kicks in and we get back to classes and figuring out how to work in our new position as Student Life Directors at JUC. 

We hope that you enjoy seeing the pictures of the dig.  We had a lot of fun at Tel Rehov this season and we are hoping for maybe another season of excavation there before we finish out at JUC.  Blessings to you all! 

Justin & Mandy    

New Photos!

Hey everyone!  Our updated blog post is below!  Also don't forget to check out our three latest photo albums.... we have captured our final field studies of the spring semester, our Easter in Jerusalem, and our visit with my (Mandy's) parents in May, ready for your viewing pleasure.  :0)

Blessings!

Looooooooong Overdue Update!

Hello, Friends and Family! After three months of silence from our blog, we are finally surfacing again to update! Our apologies to everyone who was breathlessly awaiting our next adventure! We have news, news, news! But first, what have we been up to?

We left you in our last entry rambling in the flower-filled fields of the Shephelah. The remainder of our semester included two other field studies, one of which took us back to the Shephelah, to Maresha and Beit Guvrin. In addition to these, we also had a chance to visit a couple of additional sites, including a second temple village complete with tunnels built for the Second Jewish Revolt (132-135 CE) and a caravan sarai located between the Shephelah and Jerusalem. The village site is called Horvat Etrei, and the tunnels were intentionally constructed to prepare for the revolt. The Romans would talk about how the rebels would appear and disappear, and it took them awhile to figure out that they would attack and then disappear into these tunnels. They prepared the tunnels to be hard to find, well-stocked with supplies, and even had some “false turns” so the enemy would be misdirected in the darkness and plummet to his death into some pit. The tunnel we took wasn’t that long, but it was only wide enough for our shoulders, crawling on our hands and knees. After our adventure in the tunnel, we headed back to Jerusalem, stopping at Horvat Hanot, a remarkable caravan sari, on our way. This location had the remains of a Byzantine church, and a beautiful mosaic that covered the entire floor, only visible to visitors who came equipped with brooms (they keep the mosaic covered with dirt to protect it).

Between this field study and our final field study of the semester, we had opportunities to help JUC with cooking! As we mentioned in our previous entry, we have continued to help the breakfast/lunch cooks, Nat and Shirley, when the short-term groups came on campus, and we would cook breakfast/lunch when Nat and Shirley would go on field studies. We especially looked forward to our times to cook for the few students who remained on campus when the remainder went on field studies, because this remnant were comprised mostly of the longer-term students who perhaps missed American cooking a bit more than the semester-only students. We wanted to spoil them just a bit, so we had a ton of fun preparing zucchini bread, oatmeal with cinnamon apples, and a potato “sausage” frittata for breakfast, and Cajun blackened chicken salad, Justin’s special rosemary chicken and homemade mashed potatoes, and tacos (with homemade flour tortillas!) for lunch. We had so much fun preparing the food, and the students, we hope, had fun eating it. :0)

We also had a chance to celebrate Easter here! As with most holidays in Israel, the feel of Easter is much different than it is in the States. For one thing, its tie to Passach (Passover) is keenly felt, as there are large groups here who celebrate both holidays. Many, many people come to Jerusalem during this time for both holidays, so it is very busy with people and traffic. Holy Week offers many events leading up to Easter, with the biggest day actually on Friday and Saturday, including a procession from the Mt. of Olives to the Holy Sepulcher. On Satuday, the “Holy Fire” ceremony is carried out from the Holy Sepulcher, and torches and candles are lit by everyone participating, from the center of the Old City outwards to the gates and beyond. We weren’t able to go this year, but some of our friends went, and they described people running around with candles of fire, lighting everyone else’s candles… it is a bit frantic (and a bit scary) but definitely an interesting event. On Sunday, it is actually rather quiet in the city. Church services go back to their usual schedules, celebrating the resurrection. To celebrate, Justin and I went to the Holy Sepulcher, the most trusted spot of Jesus’ death and resurrection. To be there on Resurrection Sunday was truly moving. Interestingly, we were able to get into a room we had never been to before, which only technically was open to Greek Orthodox… In one of the side offices, the church had an entire room dedicated as a reliquarium, a place that held the relics of the Greek Orthodox martyrs. They had books and bones and other cherished items under glass, and we were able to walk through it, see everything, and see our fellow visitors’ reactions to the items. It was absolutely amazing.

Our final field study of the semester was an overnight trip back to Galilee! With our focus being the Second Temple period, we focused in primarily on sites that addressed the “accommodate or confront” tension of the period (as well as most periods in the country, I might add). Foreign Greek and Roman culture and religion came in from the west, and the Jews in the land had to figure out what was acceptable and what was not acceptable, what they could adopt and what they could not adopt. The line was not clear cut, and in parts of the country, some felt that they could accommodate more than others. So, there is some blend in architecture and art (such as pagan elements on mosaics inside synagogues, or synagogues built according to the plan of a Roman pagan temple), and there are also locations that mark the battles of the first revolt (such as Gamla and Yotopeta), the first confrontation against these new influences. There were those who were able to find a line of compromise to attain peace, and there were others who felt that the purity of their religion was being threatened and thus needed to defend it. And the outstanding question of the field study was, “Who was right? Where should the line be drawn?” The question, I believe, is complicated and difficult to wrestle with. Everyone must wrestle with these issues at one point or another, and in varying degrees… especially in the Middle East, where East and West truly do converge. Ultimately, I think both sides have valid arguments, and those who strain to hear both sides will benefit the most.

A couple of weeks before the end of the semester, just as our focus was turning towards finals and, beyond that, our uncertain fall semester, we met with the director of our school. The school has already helped us with so much, between our scholarships, our work in the kitchen, and the leftovers that Nat and Shirley continually donated to the “gleaners” as they called us and a few other off campus students. Paul informed us that they were beginning to make plans for the fall semester, and to line up their staff. As a result, the school offered us the position of Student Life Directors for the next two years! Our basic financial needs will now be taken care of, and we will live on campus with the students, organizing activities, being there for emergencies, and otherwise doing any odd jobs that needed to be taken care of. We were so overwhelmed by the offer, and so grateful for God’s provision. For those who have been following our journey, you know that we moved to Israel with only about a semester’s worth of funds. It has been the scariest journey, but we have really learned to trust God for our needs. He has taken care of us and has gotten us through this first year….and now, He has made a way not only for our second year of study here, but also for an additional year. We are especially grateful for this, because now we will have a little more time for modern Hebrew study, seeing the country, and, most importantly, finishing our theses. With the funds we have left, we also hope to be able to come home for a visit, maybe next summer! So, stay tuned on that one. :0)

So, with the end of the semester, our thoughts turned to our summer events, which included a visit from my (Mandy’s) Dad and Mom right after our semester ended, our 5 weeks at Tel Rehov digging again, working at JUC, hopeful research towards our theses, and a couple other projects here and there. For not being able to officially work in Israel, we have become surprisingly very busy!

Our visit with my parents was absolutely wonderful! We’ve posted a few pictures from their visit on our album for you to see as well. It was so much fun to take them around to not only the touristy sites of Jerusalem, but also just the fun day-to-day things that we do. They got to see how we do our grocery shopping (we carry the groceries back in backpacks, ¾ of a mile, uphill all the way), as well as how we dry our laundry in our tiny apartment (no balcony, so the laundry gets strung from one side of the apartment to the other). It was fun to watch them experience the cultures of Israel (some friendly, and some not-so-friendly), the lack of personal space (especially at the Central Bus Station!), and little things like working with Shekels and the metric system. We took them to Beth Shean in the north as well as to Caesarea on the Mediterranean. We ate fun food (lots of falafel!) and walked lots and lots and lots! They got to meet our amazing landlord, Micha and talk to him about his family and living in Israel, and they also met our equally amazing shopkeeper, Shaban, who continually offered them drinks and discounted prices on his goods. All in all, it was a marvelous 2 ½ weeks, and we were sad to see them go.

After my parents left, we had 2 weeks before leaving for Rehov to start our dig. During this time, we not only worked at the school, but we also arranged to move out of Micha’s apartment and on to campus, to help save some of our rent money. We have enjoyed living in Talpiot and in Micha’s apartment so much, it was difficult to go. But, we knew it was the best decision and would save quite a bit of money in the long run. We are not able to quite move in to our permanent home on campus, as the current Student Life Directors will still be here until the end of July. When we do move, we will be moving into a room that has a first century tomb…empty, of course, but still unique! So, we will be moving from a bomb shelter (where we lived in Talpiot) to a first century tomb (now, how many people can say that? :0) Until then, we are moving around from dorm room to dorm room as they need us to, and most of our stuff is in storage at the school (so, now our stuff is divided between 3 or 4 different locations? Crazy!). We are grateful for a place to stay, though, so we continue to be flexible as needed.

And now… We are at Rehov! We have been here now for over 3 weeks, and we have 2 weeks left to go! All of our adventures here will definitely require a separate entry, so I will save that for a later time (hopefully not 3 months later!). In short, we have been traveling back and forth from Jerusalem on the weekends, and have been living at Kibbutz Beit Alfa during the week, which is close to the tel. We are having so much fun this year, as we are digging in Area C, in a destruction layer that dates to approximately the time of the Aramean invasion of the land (possibly Hazael). There are many, many “goodies” that are turning up in our area, and we haven’t even reached the floor yet! So, there will be many more exciting things yet to come.

As a side note, this past week we were able to get our Student Visas renewed, so we are officially here for another year! We can’t believe how quickly this year has gone, but how long it also has felt. We have learned so, so much in this past year, and we know that what we have learned we could not have gained anywhere else. We are so grateful for the prayers and support of our friends and family back home, and we are excited for you to share in our news of God’s provision for us! We couldn’t have done it without you. :0)

Our prayer needs for the next coming months include:

1. A New Home. As much as we want to be flexible and practical with our living conditions, I (Mandy) really do miss being a little more settled and having a place to call Home. Please pray that we can get settled without many unexpected surprises after the dig is over.
2. A New Position. Justin and I are both eager and a bit anxious about our new position. We’ve never done anything like this before! Please pray that we will be adaptable to the needs of the position, creative in solutions, open-minded, and gracious with ourselves and each other through this upcoming first semester. Please also pray that we can find a reasonable balance between our work and our own personal boundaries, to give as much as we can, and to also protect our relationship and our own time.
3. Time. We want to make sure we have the time to get the projects done that we have committed ourselves to this summer, as well as try to take time to work on our theses. Please pray for rest for us during the month of August, as well as time to study.
4. Family. With the extra year we will now be committing to, we also know that this means an extra year away from family. Please pray for our families during this time, as we know it is hard to be so far away from them.

Thanks, everyone, for your patience in waiting for our long overdue update! Year Number 1 is almost wrapped up, and we look with anticipation towards Year Number 2. We love you all, and we’re excited to have you along for our extended adventure. :0)

Almost 8 Months in Israel: Adaptation and Lingering Culture Shock

Hello Friends and Family!

You know, each time we update the blog, I always have a secret resolution to be more consistent with our updates.  We really want to share with you all the details of what we are learning, and every day as we walk back and forth to school, we will experience some little something that I would love to jot a quick paragraph about.  But, then homework kicks in and I somehow forget.  Well, I’ll keep my resolve, and one of these days, maybe we can be a little better.  :0)  At the very least, we are hoping this will be the last super-packed semester, so maybe we will have more time soon.

Can you believe we have been here almost 8 months?!  I always wondered how the adjustment process for something like this would be, and experiencing it first hand is a strange and interesting thing.  Justin and I are both so analytical that, of course, we talk about it quite a bit.  On the one hand, our daily routine feels very normal…we almost feel like we live in the States.  On the other hand, though, we still have moments we would love to blame on culture shock, and I still crave certain foods at odd times (today just happens to be In N Out burgers, though Mexican food still tops the list…you just can’t create the taste of restaurant food at home!).  Overall, I have been amazed at the human body’s ability to ADAPT.  It really seems like a person can be put in any new environment, and after awhile, their mind and body become ok with it…we somehow make a pattern of familiarity within the unfamiliarity.      

Our classes began the beginning of February, and we have been enjoying (more or less :0) every minute!  Most of our classes this semester center on the Second Temple Period, which is the historical period between the destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem in 586 BCE by the Babylonians, and the destruction of the Second Temple (first built by the returnees after King Cyrus of Persia’s edict) in 70 CE, by Titus.  The biggest chunk of this period centers on history that is between the stories of the Old and New Testament in the Bible, sometimes referred to as the Intertestamental Period.  Many don’t pay much attention to this time, since the Bible doesn’t directly address much of it, but the period is actually full of rich history and is very important to the history of the country and the people.  It is actually a shame that we don’t focus on this period more, especially for those of us who study the Bible.  It is like watching the first hour of a movie, walking away for 30 minutes to get a snack, and then returning for the final 15 minutes of the show.  You kind of miss important details!  You wouldn’t do that with a movie, but somehow, we are ok with reading the New Testament, not realizing that we just missed about 400 years of history!

So, despite our Bible degrees, we are working to get up to speed on this really interesting time.  We love that many of our classes are all dealing with this period, since we get to learn about the history (through our history class), the archaeology (through our archaeology class) and the development of Hebrew from this period into the next (through our language class).  It’s been a lot of fun, and we’ve been able to go on a few field studies related to it!

We have attended two main field studies so far this semester, one for our Archaeology class, and another for our 2nd Temple History class.  For the latter, we spent the day again in the Judean Wilderness, doing A LOT of walking!  Now, before I delve into the details of the day, I must precede this with one of our funniest experiences we have had thus far.  You see, Jerusalem gets quite a bit of rain in the early spring.  Actually, it gets annually just as much rain as England, but it gets it all at once, instead of spread throughout the year.  So, when it rains, IT POURS!  On this particular field study morning, we left our house at 6am to trek for 30 minutes to the bus.  We were expecting a “chance” of rain, and it seemed cold, but we were also headed to the normally hot wilderness.  Since it was already sprinkling, we came prepared, wearing layer upon layer, and otherwise looking like we were headed to see Niagara Falls.  Our preparedness paid off.  About 10 minutes into our walk, on this early, cold Shabbat morning, we turned onto Hebron Road, to be greeted with a virtual lake on the road that stretched for about 40 feet.  Our sidewalk is only about 6 feet wide.  There was no escaping the inevitable.  We began walking briskly, but had to pause as 2 cars swept past us, throwing a bit of water as they went.  Glancing back, I gasped in premonition.  A very large bus was barreling down the highway in the right-hand lane, and we could not clear the body of water in time.  We crouched, I screamed, and Justin, being closer to the sidewalk, took the initial onslaught.  If only the moment could have been captured on film.  :0)

So, on to our field study…  We hiked two mountains that day.  The first is located within an area called the Buqeia Valley of the Judean Wilderness, to the west of Qumran.  We hiked a mountain overlooking this valley, known as Hyrcania, and built up by (and named after) the Maccabees (and John Hyrcanus).  This Maccabean fortress (as well as many others) was taken over by Herod the Great, destroyed and rebuilt over, to erase the memory of the Hasmonean Empire.  Most of the ruins that are there now are from a Byzantine monastery (with sadly preserved mosaic floors), but there are still a few Herodian mosaics up there as well.  The most intriguing part of the site, other than its strategic location and breathtaking view of the valley and the Dead Sea, are the tunnels that were carved underneath the mountain, some of which have unknown purposes.  Apparently, a man by the name of Bob, who was a pilot for American Airlines, carried on elicit digs at this location for 10 years, unbeknown to the Israel Antiquities Authority (or the Israeli Defense Force training crews that carried on practice drills in the valley below).  He was looking for the treasure that was depicted in the "Copper Scroll" found at Qumran (the stories of which many think are not true and serve more of a fictional purpose) and thought it was hidden in one of these tunnels at Hyrcania.  After Bob’s digging days were finished, Hebrew University dug in the tunnels for several years, never discovering their purpose, or their end.  

Our second stop for the day was at Kypros, another of Herod’s fortresses (this one was named after his mother).  This one overlooks the city of Jericho, as well as the main ancient route between Jericho and Jerusalem.  The ruins are also badly preserved, but the view was incredible.  We learned that excavators had found an actual bathtub at the top of the site, which is now housed in the Rockefeller Museum (we have seen it, and I have no idea how someone could have lugged the bathtub up the hill… it looks like it is solid stone, the same shape and size as an old bathtub today).  On this part of the trip we also got to see some of Herod’s aqueducts through the Wadi Qelt, which directed water from springs near Jerusalem to his palace in Jericho.  We ended the day overlooking St. George’s Monastery, a Greek Orthodox monastery cut into the cliff overlooking the Wadi Qelt.  

Between our first and second field studies we have had a few fun doings and goings.  For one, we celebrated our first Valentine’s Day here!  It was a quiet evening of ordering in pizza and watching a movie, but it was marvelously relaxing (and always fun to eat restaurant food :0).  We are trying to deliberately plan date times, since it really feels like we have set into our studies.  We spend most of our days together, but we are both so involved in our studies that it doesn’t always feel like we can connect during the day.  It’s good, but it is also challenging for us, and we enjoy the moments we get to unwind and not think about our studies for a bit.

In addition to this, spring has sprung in Israel!  I have been eager to see this season here, even before we came, because I heard about how beautiful it is.  The countryside and the weather have more than fulfilled my expectations.  The weather is constantly changing here right now.  Some days are very warm, and others are very cold, but for the most part, we have a few days every week or two of rain, and then the sun comes out in all of its glory.  We never liked the sun in California, as it always seemed to feel harsh and unfriendly.  But the sun here is welcoming during this time of year, and complements the breezes that constantly blow.  The sky is a deep blue, and there are wildflowers all over the hills.  Most of these flowers are modest, and some might even call them “weeds,” but they fill the hills with patches of yellow and purple, with the crowning glory of the red poppy filling in the gaps.  Everywhere you look you can see flowers, even if they are very tiny – in the rock walls, in the cracks of the cement…everywhere.  Even the trees have bloomed, some in the most unexpected of ways, and we have what looks like Wisteria, yellow puffballs, and fragrant orange blossoms everywhere!  I’ve taken some pictures, but not nearly enough.  Along with the weather and the flowers has arrived a new kind of bird whose song I have not heard up until now.  He reminds me of a Disney bird with the melodies of his bubbling happy song, and I would call him a mockingbird, except that he doesn’t have quite as much variety as the mockingbirds back home.  I think we might have spotted him once, and he seems a drably colored, medium-sized bird (if he is indeed the one we have been hearing).  Whatever he is, his music daily puts a smile on my face as we go about our day and our studies, and I hope his visit is longer than the duration of the spring flowers.

With that in mind, we became excited for our second field study, with our Archaeology class, when we found out we were going to the Shephelah.  Rolling hills of grass and yellow daisies and red poppies everywhere!  We went to Maresha and to Beit Guvrin / Eleutheropolis, both sites very near one another.  This area held some of the principle cities during the Hellenistic and Roman times.  Maresha’s lower city is filled with subterranean cavities that were used for many different purposes, both domestic and commercial.  In addition, the site boasts of some burial caves with paintings of exotic and mythical animals.  These paintings have been disfigured and faded since the beginning of the 20th century, but fortunately the original depictions were copied when the tombs were excavated and recently repainted in the tombs so that visitors can enjoy them.  At Beit Guvrin / Eleutheropolis, we were able to see one of the few amphitheaters in the country, which was used for gladiator and wild animal fights during the Roman Period.  The site also boasted of a relatively well-preserved Crusader chapel (made from a hodge-podge of materials in secondary use) and poorly preserved bathhouse.      

Other than our studies, we have been keeping ourselves busy with work (yes, work!).  As you will remember from our last entry, my (Mandy’s) job at APU was ending, and we were looking for work.  After we posted this, our school approached us to see if we would continue to help in the kitchen!  We are assisting the lead cooks when we have short-term groups that come, and we will be the primary cooks on the days when the lead cooks are out on their field studies (Nat and Shirley get to participate in all of the Physical Settings field studies that we took last semester :0).  So, we get to cook more!  It is still only $4.50 per hour, and not too many hours per month, but it is still something, and we are grateful for whatever we can get.  We are excited to not only be tied in more with JUC, but we also enjoy the work.  We are also trying to do a few special dishes, since some of the days we will only be cooking for a few of the longer-term students and have a smaller crowd that have been away from home longer.  So, I have big dreams of doing BBQ, Cajun, Mexican, and other fun homemade items.  So far, we have been able to make for them my Mom’s homemade turkey and cheese hot pockets.  I think they were a hit, and Justin and I had a blast making them in the kitchen!

Other than that, we are blessed to have income through Justin’s online class through LIFE Pacific College this spring, to help us finish out the semester’s living expenses. 

One of the other prayer items we left you with last time was in relation to our thesis topics and our future meetings with our advisor.  We met with him a couple of weeks after the semester started, and he has now approved both of our topics!!  Yay!!  We haven’t had much time to devote to the topics so far over the semester, but as we study, they are always in the backs of our minds, gathering whatever information we run into on the way.  Our hope is to be able to spend a good chunk of the summer working on them, when we aren’t digging.

And speaking of digging…this summer, we will officially be digging again at Tel Rehov in the Beth Shean Valley!  We are applying for scholarships to help pay for the dig, and the director and coordinator are working with us as much as possible to try to reduce any unnecessary expenses.  Last weekend, Justin and I were able to meet with Dr. Nava Panitz- Cohen, the coordinator of the dig and Dr. Amihai Mazar’s assistant.  We had been planning a coffee date with her since our 2008 season, so this was long overdue!  Since we walk everywhere (it’s cheaper than taking the bus!), we knew we would need to plan a whole day to walk to Hebrew University and back, and this past weekend seemed like a good chance to go.  God gave us sunshine and a breeze, and we headed out in our best walking shoes, eager to face the 9-mile round-trip hike up and down Mt. Scopus.  :0)  It was such a fun day, and we had an amazing visit with Nava!  The campus is beautiful, and the archaeology lab was amazing!!  We will most likely be going to the campus occasionally to visit the archaeology library for our theses throughout the next year, and we are hoping for possible opportunities to learn and expand our experience while we are here.  Upon our return, we congratulated ourselves on a hefty trek, and decided to calculate into our budget possible bus far, at least one way, when we need to go back!  

So, that has been our lives for the past couple of months!  We live and work and study and experience all that we can while we are here.  We have Passover coming up in a couple of weeks, and we are beginning to prepare for it.  Granted, the school might host a Passover dinner for the on and off-campus students, but when I say prepare, I’m actually referring something a little less sacred.  It is strange how being here takes our mind off of all of those big holidays that we are used to celebrating in the states.  Even St. Patrick’s Day almost slipped right by us!  Interestingly, it is the Jewish holidays that stay at the front of our minds, mostly since they are also national holidays and dictate things such as when we have class, how quiet the day will be, or what food we can buy.  Remember how Passover is a celebration of the Exodus from Egypt?  And they ate unleavened bread?  Well, before and during Passover (which lasts for a week), anything with “leavening” is apparently taken out of the stores.  This doesn’t just include yeast and anything that has yeast in it.  According to one source I found online, this includes “Leavened bread, cakes, biscuits and crackers, cereals, coffee substance derived from cereals, wheat, barley, oats, rice, dry peas and dry beans. All liquids which contain ingredients or flavors made from grain alcohol.”  In addition to this, the site mentions that the only vegetables that are ok to use during Passover are the frozen, bagged kind that have been approved.  Does this mean that they won’t stock fresh fruits and veggies over the next two weeks?  What about things like pretzels?  I don’t know for sure, but for any non-Jews who live here, Passover means stocking up on your regular food items that contain any ingredients that might be forbidden during the holiday for Jews.  It’s an interesting practical side of living here.  :0)

We are excited to be here during the time of Passover and Easter.  I’m not sure what we will be doing yet for the holidays (sadly, most holidays fall in the middle of the semester, and the homework doesn’t really stop :0).  There is usually a big procession and reenactment of the crucifixion from the Mt. of Olives, along the Via Dolorosa, to the Holy Sepulcher, and huge crowds of people cram in to watch the proceedings.  I think we appreciate more the day to day of living here, and seeing areas and excavations of the time when Jesus lived, than participating in a reenactment with a big crowd of people, but on the other hand, I suppose we may not get this chance again.  We’ll just have to see…

I wanted to note to everyone that we will be updating our photo albums!  Not only will you be able to see updated pictures from our last couple of months here, but you will notice that some of our albums are missing from our blog site.  Since these scrolling thumbnail photo albums slow down the blog site, we have “archived them.”  They are still available for you to view from the Picasa website (you are directed to this website when you click on any of our photo albums) but we will no longer keep the shortcuts and the scrolling albums of some of our older photos directly on our blog.  All of the most recent albums will stay on the blog, though, for your immediate viewing pleasure!

So, from here, we look towards that last ½ of our semester, and the upcoming adventures of summer!  Not only will we be digging for 5 weeks, but my (Mandy’s) parents will be coming for 2 ½ weeks in May!  We are super excited to see them and are already thinking of some of the fun things we can do with them while they are here!  In the mean time, please be praying about the scholarship applications we have submitted to help with both our summer dig, and our next Fall Semester.  At this point, our funds will get us close to the end of summer.  After that, only God knows what the next step will be to get us through the final year of our studies, but we continue to trust him.  As always, if you would like to give towards our time here, feel free to simply click on the “Donate” button located underneath our picture!

Blessings to you all!

Mandy and Justin

Online Donations! Hey, it's cheaper than a stamp...

Hello Everyone!  Just so you know, we recently added an option on our blog that allows people to make donations to us via Paypal.  If you feel like donating, just click on the "Donation" button just below our profile picture and description.  We are grateful for your care and support!  Blessings to you and your families.

Winter Break

Shalom everyone and مرحبا for all of our Arabic speaking readers out there! We hope that this entry finds you all well and enjoying the beginning of 2010. Things are going well for us. Our two month hiatus from school is just about over - we only have a week left until classes get going again. We are looking forward to getting back to the grind, though. Having the time off has been really good and has afforded us the chance to enjoy the holidays, make some new friends, see some new sights, and get some work done on our thesis papers.  (Make sure to check out our photo album "Christmas Break" for our latest photos!)

Christmastime was really nice, though a little challenging for us emotionally. Obviously we missed being at home among family and friends and our familiar, Christmasy things. We did a little Christmas shopping for each other in the Old City. I bought Mandy a skirt that she wanted and she got me two espresso, or in this case, Arabic Coffee cups. We then worked on a puzzle that Mandy's grandpa got us and, after a leisurely morning we made an amazing Christmas dinner. We cooked a lemon-rosemary chicken in our toaster-oven and we had stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and apple cobbler for desert! It was an excellent dinner. We then got to have Christmas dinner again at JUC the following day (we actually got turkey at this one...it was also amazing). While there were some New Years celebrations going on among some of the JUC students who were still here, we stayed in and enjoyed a quiet evening at home and celebrated by making tacos and having Coke. Believe me, this may not sound like much of a celebration, but when you live in a place with NO tacos (at least we have yet to see any), homemade tacos were an amazing treat and Coke is always special here when we splurge a bit and buy some.

We have been working in the kitchen at JUC as we noted that we would in our previous entry. Our new "bosses," JUC's new cooks, Nat and Shirley Wofford, are a wonderful couple from Texas (if you're so inclined, you can check out their blog at www.woffordmission.blogspot.com) who have volunteered to be JUC's breakfast and lunch chefs for the next seven months. This month JUC hosted three short-term study groups, which amounted to something like 130 students on campus. The schedule of the classes and field studies varied per group and so not every meal that Nat and Shirley have had to prepare these past three weeks has been for the full amount of students, but a handful of them have been - that's where we come in. We have been helping in the kitchen mostly with breakfast clean-up and lunch preparation and in addition to this we have done the dishes for Sunday nights and on two of the three weeks, for breakfast and lunch on Fridays. I guess we are now professional dishwashers.

So we have prepared some commercial-size meals of late. We have made gallons of soup and spaghetti sauce, hundreds of hot-dogs, tons (and tons) of salad, and 40 pounds of meatloaf. The beauty of all this is we got paid for it and we got to eat at each meal we helped with - things couldn't get much better than that! In addition, we have been able to enjoy working with Nat and Shirley and spending some time "behind the scenes" at school. We have also really enjoyed getting to know Nat and Shirley better, and since they are from Texas and are so much like Mandy’s parents, it feels like we have surrogate parents here now, too. Our time in the kitchen ends this weekend and then we have one more week off before classes begin.

In addition to working in the kitchen and putting some time in on our research we have attempted to get out and do some of the things that visitors to Jerusalem normally do. We have lived here for almost 6 months now (can you believe it has already been that long?!) and have still not done any touristy things except for our field work, but our class sessions in the field limited our time and focus (and are, really, not very touristy). We finally have been able to get out a little bit and to take in some of the sites Jerusalem has to offer. Two days ago we spent the day in the neighborhood known locally as mizrach Yerushalayim, "east Jerusalem." This part of town is located outside of Damascus Gate, which is one of three of the Old City's northern gates. Even though we reach this area by heading north, it is in located east of the "New City," which is west of the Old City and denotes some of the original areas that were inhabited in Jerusalem prior to the expansion of the city westward in recent years. Once you head out Damascus Gate, you are immediately impressed by the fact that suddenly it appears that you moved to the Middle East! The neighborhood is older (and understandably a little more run-down) and is inhabited by many of Jerusalem's Arab population. It is in stark contrast to our neighborhood of Talpiot, which is a newer Israeli settlement (established about 80 years ago and maintained ever since). Talpiot feels very western and a lot more like home than "east Jerusalem." East Jerusalem is in no way unwelcoming, however.

East Jerusalem is a wonderful reminder of where we are, with all of its smells of coffee with cardamon, eastern spices, and frying food. The area is crowded with lots of pedestrians, which make up an interesting blend of people. Mostly the residents walking around are Arabs. But interestingly, amid this very eastern bustle of activity, a little section of east Jerusalem is devoted to some very western sites and subsequently draws some very western crowds mostly from England and the States. There is a walled compound just a little way from Damascus Gate on Nablus Road in which there is situated the (now) famous Protestant shrine to the last events of the Gospel stories, the Garden Tomb. This was one of our stops of the day.

The Garden Tomb has a long story associated with it that I will refrain from going into details about here, except to say that it is one of the two main sites in Jerusalem that are revered as being the location of Jesus' interment and resurrection. The other site is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in the Old City's Christian Quarter. The Garden tomb was discovered in the 1800s by a local who was trying to dig a cistern and within 20 years it was decided that the tomb was the actual tomb of Joseph of Arimathea in which Jesus was placed after his execution. The rock face in which the tomb is carved is part of a large limestone hill, which extends to the northeast. With a little imagination, many have seen in this northeastern portion of the rock face, the face of a skull, which is reminiscent of the biblical designation Golgotha (in Latin Calvary) of the place of Jesus' execution, a term which means "skull." This hill has been known, therefore, for the past 200 or so years as "Skull Hill," and it has been the subject of many quasi-archaeological excavations as has the Garden tomb.

Many people visit the area and come away with feelings of awe. Despite the feelings associated with the place, it is most likely not the location of Jesus' burial because it is not a first century tomb. It is an Iron Age II (1000-586 B.C.E.) tomb from the time of King David and the rest of Israel's monarchy, a period that scholars refer to as the "First Temple Period." In fact the whole area has many of these tombs. The characteristics of tombs, like any other cultural aspect of a time period, change as time goes by and thus Iron Age tombs have certain distinguishing characteristics as do first century tombs. There are other details that could be discussed, but we will save that for another entry. The Garden Tomb compound, nevertheless, is really a beautiful little place with sprawling gardens and a quiet atmosphere. It has been maintained quite well by the Garden Tomb Association situated in England. The staff are very friendly and they help make for a pleasurable experience. There is also no entry fee, which makes the visit even better! Also within this same compound is the Ecolé Biblique et Archeologique (The French School of Archaeology) and the French Monastery of St. Etienne (or St. Stephen). The Ecolé Biblique is a long established archaeological research center in Jerusalem with a nice library, which we hope to check out sometime!

Just a short walk from the Garden Tomb is the Rockefeller Museum, Jerusalem's oldest museum devoted to archaeological discoveries in Palestine. In 1968 the Israel Museum was opened in the New City and the Rockefeller became a branch of the Israel Museum. What's really great is that right now the Rockefeller is free of charge while the Israel Museum is doing some renovations in their archaeological wing. We finally took advantage of this opportunity, and we spent the bulk of our day at the museum looking around. We were a bit dismayed to find that we weren't allowed to take pictures of any of the artifacts, though we did see other people taking pictures (and we managed to sneak a couple). The most impressive exhibits in the museum were by far the Paleolithic - Late Bronze Age (500,000 - 1200 B.C.E.) housed in the South Octagon and South Gallery of the building. The South Octagon houses the Egyptian artifacts discovered at Beth-Shean and other places from Palestine that reflect the Egyptian domination of Palestine in the Late Bronze Age (1550-1200 B.C.E.), just before the period of the Judges, according to biblical history. Just to name a few, there is a massive basalt stele that was erected at an Egyptian military outpost by Pharaoh Seti I as well as a later statue of Ramesses III. A signet ring from Tel el-Ajjul, bearing the throne name of Pharaoh Tut-Ankh-Amun, called more colloquially, King Tut, is on display. Needless to say, we had a lot of fun.

Another amazing discovery that we made just yesterday on our grocery store run is that there is a store here that is basically a Walmart kind of store. People from the States are always curious to know if there is a Walmart in Israel. No there is not, but we now know that there is a Megahbul, which means something like "Mega-Savings." This place has excellent prices and has a little bit of everything (including food), just like a Super Walmart. We even got one of their shopper discount cards, called a "YOU Card." We stood at the checkout stand filling out the little form for the card while the clerk rattled off the instructions to us in Hebrew. I (Justin) would fill in one part without really knowing what I was doing and then ask her in Hebrew, "Is this ok?" Then, seeing that I had not filled it in correctly or was missing parts would rattle some more directions in Hebrew. Fortunately the guy behind us in the line intervened and asked me, a bit to my chagrin, "Do you understand what she is asking you?" To which I could only respond, "I'm trying to," in an effort to preserve a little of my dignity. He then helped me through the rest of the form and we made it out of there. Ah well, it all worked out - the guy in line was really helpful and patient, as was the clerk. Anyway, we are now equipped with our YOU Card and are ready to look like locals the next time we go in! The funniest thing about this situation is that we have walked by this store every time we have gone to our other grocery store for almost six months now and have never gone in. We finally went inside and we are so glad we did!

So, now we look toward the beginning of the next semester. We got our new class schedule yesterday and have found that we have 5 days of field studies throughout the semester (we were expecting 2), and during our only overnight field study, we will be staying once again in Galilee, at En Gev!

As we head into the next semester, we wanted to update everyone with our prayer requests:

Praise! Spring Tuition Covered! Over the break, we were able to obtain our necessary funding to pay for our spring tuition through the sell of Justin’s truck! We have been amazed to see God’s provision through all of this! We went into this journey with enough funds to cover our being here for one semester, and he has made our funds stretch so far. We are so thankful, and we know he will continue to help us through the journey.

Job for Mandy. As many of you know, I have been able to maintain a 10-hour per week position through Azusa Pacific University during our stay. I have been blessed to work with APU’s Study Abroad office through this time and have been thankful for their graciousness in allowing me to continue to work for them long-distance. As of February 23rd, this position will be ending, a bit unexpectedly for Study Abroad and for me. Please pray for this time of transition, and please pray that I can find another job. Because we are here on student visas, we can’t work for an Israeli-based company, but we can work for a US company, which means I can work via the internet. With the advance of technology and security, I can still work in many different venues, including financial, secretarial, graphics, or web design. I’m looking for about 10 hours per week. If you know or hear of anything I might be able to do from here, please let me know!! My income through APU made up ¾ of our monthly income, so you can imagine what a hit this is going to be to our already incredibly tight budget.
Finance Update. We have the finances currently to get us through the spring semester, tuition and living expenses combined. We are currently trying to find scholarships that will help us pay for our summer practicum. Please pray that we can get some funding to help with this. If we can get funding, we will have enough finances to last us through the summer. As always, if you feel led to give towards our time in Israel, I would encourage you to do so. Even if it is just a few dollars, it would help so much. You may not think it would be worth the stamp to forego a couple cups of coffee and send $5 to us, but if you consider that that is equal to almost 20 shekels, that’s quite a bit! If you would like to give, please email me at his_clay1@yahoo.com, and I would be happy to send you mailing instructions!!
Thesis Topics. Once our semester starts, we will be meeting with our advisor to try to finalize our thesis topics. Normally, this process begins in our second year, but since we know we don’t currently have the finances to last us our full length of time, we are trying to get started on them now. Our meetings with him last semester proved to be a bit of a challenge (especially for Mandy’s topic), and we are hoping that, with our research done over the break, it will be easier this time around. We need to have our thesis topics approved so we can have a sure direction to head to start working on them. Please pray that our advisor will work with us.

Thank you everyone for your continued prayers and support of us! It is absolutely incredible to live out each day seeing God’s provision. Especially since I (Mandy) am a practical, numbers person, it has been amazing to do our budget, know that we are short, see how much we have at the end and how it doesn’t add up, and just say, “God did it.” Doesn’t make sense, but He did it. And, seeing the surplus at the end of each period gives us faith that He will continue to do it to the end of our journey. It is a lesson in trust I hope we never forget. God provides for us every day; we can trust we won’t run out.

Blessings to each one of you! We love and miss you all tons and tons!

Justin and Mandy