Tel Shikmona: The Current Dig 2011

Tel Shikmona (Shiqmona) in Haifa is currently being dug by Haifa University and has about two weeks left before they close the site. At the moment I've heard from the Area Supervisors- Yuli & Haggai that one is digging Byzantine and the other Iron II...

I am going up Wednesday to check it out & shall report my findings :)

Pic is from a Menachem Goren & Andrey Aronov article

Christianity & The Lead Codices

I read in the Telegraph a Fantastical Story. Not discussing here whether or not what is commonly called at the moment the 'Lead Codices' are authentic, the story of the protagonists themselves and their involvement seems to be a woven yarn in many places. According to the Telegraph version (contra the Daily Mail who talk of the Bedouin Hassan Saeda more) this story largely revolves around a certain Mr Elkington whose description and actions within the article immediately brought to my mind the type of person I've had the occasion to chance upon, and one who appeared- well, a little unhinged.

I wondered if it'd be worthwhile to try and chase down Hassan Saede (if at all possible)- since he lives in the town by Mount Tabor....anyone got a cell number for him?

It made me think further of the impact such an authentic artifact(s) such as these could give to Christianity (IF and BY NO MEANS proven..) this is a hypothetical musing... It at first made me shudder a little, then I felt a little sorry.... still engrained in me is the desire not to cause someone's faith to fail. Yet if i truly think on it- i have slid to the other side of the spectrum where actually i'd prefer to live in a world where Religion itself is an artifact- lovingly researched and cherished but never used anymore as a tool or crutch in our lives.

the pic i found here

Gaddafi and Common Knowledge

The bible is a fake because it doesn't mention Muhammad. (?)

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7311564.stm

Must-Watch Video on the Fraud of Oded Golan

He has pushed huge amounts of forgeries onto the antiquities market over the past decade at least, the most notable being the "James son of Joseph brother of Jesus" ossuary and the Yehoash Temple Inscription.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/03/20/60minutes/main3954980.shtml

Nat. Geographic Keeps the Standards-Cheers to Them!

To anyone disgusted with the Talpiyot Tomb production of lies, you might like to know that despite it being hosted and given a voice by Discovery (boo to them), Nat. Geographic wouldn't touch the stinking corpse that it was. Integrity doesn't fall for high viewer-ratings and the fog of sensationalism.

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117982460.html?categoryId=2522&cs=1

to see Discovery's attempts to save its damaged reputation go to..
http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/tomb/tomb.html?dcitc=w99-502-ah-1024
http://dsc.discovery.com/news/2007/02/25/tomb_arc.html?category=archaeology&guid=20070225073000

NEW PRE-INCA TEMPLE?!

The religious-military complex is located in Peru in the man-made Sacsayhuaman fortress. It lies near to Cuzco and Macchu Picchu...the well trodden Inca, and now, tourist paths..

CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2008/TECH/03/15/peru.temple.ap/index.html

Gorgeous Galya on her 27th Birthday

lovely to see the ol' chicken again, even though we live in the same city we don't get to hang-out to much. But she has some great stories from her work, and all the people she is able to help is amazing- shes getting involved with helping Sudanese refugees intergrate into Israeli society, reuniting men (who were kept in prisons) with their wives and kids (who were placed in a christian shelter in Haifa)...so much on the go- but for those of you reading this in CT, she is flying there this tuesday for two weeks- so be in touch with her!

England's Pastures Green

Flying to the Uk to work, changed into a layover on my way to Israel!! So with very little time in hand i raced around visiting friends in Burford, walking through the graveyard of the Anglican Church, visiting the old homestead on Wysdom Way and having tea with the Longs. I also got see good ol' jo po (who managed to drive to Burford bless her!) who i am happy to say has not changed in essentials- still loves the Lord :) yai
Mr Michael took us on a grand tour of Oxford and some of the Uni's, he's so blessed to study there! (His Library is soo cool- although the floorboards creak and that would drive me crazy!! :) And a visit to the UK would not have been the same if it wasn't for the Zeiglers- it was so nice to see them again, and chat in their garden- still as lovely as ever! ....and thank you sooo much for taking me in!
I went to the Burford Baptist Church where i had grown up, its a lot smaller now, but all the lovely ladies still loyally attend week after week- and it was fantastic to see dear Edith and Gill again, and Jean brought me up to speed on all the 'goings down' with the church's refurbishment and it looks hopeful that the church will have a bigger role in the community in the future which of course would be beneficial for all.
An absolute highlight was taking that bike ride with Felicity through the surrounding villages picking berries at will!!!! Praise the Lord! Deedalee ☺

With the family in Zambia

Being home in July was an amazing time- after a few days in Lusaka with mum and dad i had an oppourtunity to hop a plane down to the bush to chill out with my brothers who were busy with a client. It was magical up in the air, in a small light craft plane bumping up through the atmosphere. Before we landed on the runway in the bush where Hamish had driven to pick me up, (and deposit the client’s wife and son)- we had to circle the runway just to scare off any wildlife or to check out that no big holes had made an appearance since they can be slightly detrimental to a safe touchdown :)

The camp is stunning- a lot of hard work went into the making of it, and it sits alongside a river populated with hippo and even occasionally visited by elephants. There is a great lake close-by where we went and did some fishing- but must of the time I lolled about the camp working on a paper in the morning and when we had to vacate the lunch table at noon I used it as an excuse to put the books away and head to the bar cabinet! I am a Manning that’s for sure ☺

Awesome Jhb Reunion!

You guys are so precious to me, thank you all for your enduring friendships, its such a blessing to know such awesome people!! And thank goodness we made it out alive from billy the bums, now whose idea was it to go there anyway....??



Rach my love i shan't forget the night in that hecticly-posh club in town, whats it called ..? completely forgot, neways, you are an original piece of works who showed that millionaire a thing or two...he still calling :) And josie, i had to repack in the UK in an awful hurry and i left your CD behind (the car-music-hip hop thing) ..soo sad! no worries though i'll get it again when i go back in august...still by then i probably won't like it as much as i LOVED it before :) Wazzieness, chilling with you was a dream come true, it had been too long, thanks so much for flying up from CT to see me- your a sTaR!! Tumi i want to eat your baby!!! sooo amazingly adorable.. keep us posted on your lookout for jobs.

Family!!

it was super great seeing the dode this time round in Jhb, and finally a picture of the family!! its hard to get us all together! :)

New Year...Old life

sadly not much has changed from one day to the next, stepping from dec to jan, i wonder why we always expect it will?

I am sad to have confirmed to myself how people are not brave, and things that should be a joy are hidden for reasons i remain unsure of. I am sad to realise that you can love someone, and that means nothing. that people move on, is important, essential- but that they leave you behind is hard to forgive. at the end of each days journey trust is hard to secure in people, the end result is to follow the words of the Lord, which is not to build your dreams and life in the world but in the Lord- poetical but only partly true. As a human i will continue to interact and move through this existence as i know it, to ask me anything less is folly- now Paul and the others are far from foolish, and perhaps i see this teaching in a warped way- becuase i wish too (asking the question in that way is almost like answering it); but just as i am annoyed by bumping into people who don't live in our world and proclaim the virtures of the Lord as if he had not been among us, so too am i vexed by the sight of those who live only for themselves, God's gift to the street they live on, the town they do their shopping in.

Its not nice to find yourself unchanged at the begining of 'new' year.

ahem, in another news: i recieved an A on my Leviticus paper, i got a 1,100$ scholarship, i live with an angel-Flo, i have an oppourtunity in feb to begin working towards my Phd...and i am complaining- shame on me!! but as one knows, whats going on on the outside, is rarely reflected on the inside.

wahoo!

just a little note to say i have managed to recover my password, and can access my own blog again :) hee hee
i will upload some pics of "a night in Joies with the Ladies".....had a hysterical time!
Love seeing Waz again what an angel! and rach is looking more stunning than ever- tumi is still hilarious and outgoing, and josie is all grown-up :) deedalee .... it was a pity that Lex couldn't be there with us.

Mesopotamian Tutorial

Upon approaching the end of my masters, I realized that despite the name of the Bible and the Ancient Near East- the former part had been adequately drilled in over the years but not the latter. So in an attempt to fill in the black gaping hole of my general knowledge of the ancient near east I arranged for myself a tutorial on said subject.
I arrived on time, but rather hurried by the sprint I had made from the scooter rank to the arch library and began looking around for my tut advisor. I spied out the female form that fit the given description and hastily approached. Naomi is an interesting character. She has an amazing mop of frizzy hair that floats a few centimeters above her head, and she has more rouge on her teeth than her lips. She is eccentric and extremely pleasant. When she forgets a word, she’ll replace it with german (she’s Russian), and if that fails, she might just give it to you in akkadian.

This week I bombed up to school for our meeting despite the fact that is was a national holiday, and my scooter was the only vehicle in a ten mile radius of the university!! Needless to say the uni was deserted except for the good ol’ arch library open for the half day. So as we begin the lesson she brings in this huge book that is half the size of a person and heaves it onto the table- then standing up and using both hands she opens it up and begins explaining to me the plaques and freezes found in Assurbanipal’s palace. I don’t have the heart to tell her we’ve covered this material before, and therefore ask brilliant questions (she thinks) to the life and aspirations of Mr King of the Known Universe. I leave the tutorial wondering if next time i should try and guide the topic more, but thankfully she announced that next week we will talk specifically of the Queens of Mesopotamia- pretty groovy! So if something interesting comes up from it, I’ll be sure to post it.

The Cheese Lady

There are few things in life that really intimidate me, one is walking into a Phoenician class completely unprepared to read a 10th century inscription, and the second is the cheese lady on HaPalmach Street.
As I enter the “convenience” store and make my way through the vegetable section, making my samplings, it is the cheese counter at the end of the row that is in my minds eye. I peer anxiously ahead to see who is on duty today, and nearly always it is the Cheese Lady. Now what can be so frightening about someone who cuts cheese and waits on cliental you are thinking? Well its obvious that you have never met the ferocious, unpredictable tiger that manages the stinky, smooth and selected fromages on HaPalmach!

I approach and stand opposite. The counter between us. She stands chatting to the sweet and burly meat man down the way and pretends for five minutes that she doesn’t see me. I am waiting patiently. Then she turns on me with this annoyed look, (that’s right someone wants to buy some nice cheddar cheese if you would oblige) and gives me this evil eye challenging me to mess with her. If I am lucky she skips the pretending part and downright ignores me, hell she has time, I’ve got to make time. The pastry man sometimes out of shame comes and tends on the growing queue- that’s right; I am not her only nemesis.

On the occasion that the pastry man is out of town, we two lovebirds circle one another until she yells out, “ken geveret vemah at rotsa?” Yes Woman and what do you want? ..at this point, I am not sure I am holding the upper ground anymore and I select a cheese with my finger and respond with the desired quantity. Here if I am fortunate all goes smoothly, but more often than not she will yell at me, for no apparent reason, and mumble under her breath that the youths don’t know good cheese anymore. She slaps the cheese around like a live fish out of water, and God forbid you ask to taste a piece of new cheese- what is this a restaurant!? She gnashes her teeth and cuts you a sliver, you try and put it in you mouth but the piece is so small, you can’t taste anything. So that’s when you get out the fake grin and proceed dauntless nonetheless. After the cheese has been sliced and bagged unceremoniously she chucks it onto the counter with one hand, as if she was throwing away a disinherited child. With hands on hips she stares at the wall and asks if I want anything else. At this stage I am so demoralized and browbeaten I withdraw to the row of baked beans; I haven’t responded to her question- it’s more of a phrase they drilled in her brain that means nothing and requires no feedback. So as I stand there clutching my stupid cheese I vow that next time, next time I am going to show her whose boss.

It’s been about 8 months now since the battle lines were drawn…

Mount of Olives Brush with Death

Catchy title huh! but by no means an understatement!! So my dearest waz had some friends in town staying in a secluded (but beautiful) area in the Mt of O. i got instructions and bombed in the general directions at 8ish, the T-junction when i encountered it was not a normal T-junction (which would generally look like a little sweety store selling barbie dolls in the front window)- rather it was the tall, solid and grey separation wall being set up by the Israeli Army..hmm..me thinks to myself, didn't know they lived next to that!! anyway the instructions were as follows...after the "T-junction" go up the street and when you see a "pile of rubble and a wall, take the road in between"....before on the phone this seemed logical info, until i realised that the whole road was strewn with building debris and "pile of rubble" was not going to cut it..anyway i will not sport with you any longer.. i went up a severely dodgy alley (its dark!) only to find it was infested with shady-looking men at the end..never have i made a most excellent 3-point turn in my life! i regrouped at the end of the road and called for better instructions, and it was only a few minuites later that i saw the Israeli police screeched into the nest i had just safely exited, and jump out with guns and batons...obviously a party they had been planning for some time! yikes! Anyhoo i finally made it to the place and had a great time with wazzie's friends! Praise the Lord!

Ruhama Recital

Ruhama (lit. womb>ie mercy) is the name of a kibbutz near to the Gaza border. When I made the call to Yossi, the head of the excavation, I had no idea as to where the place was, only that manual labour was being asked for, and though I doubted any intellectual skills on my side, I felt confident that I might recommend myself as a fellow-donkey in the upcoming three week dig-a-marathon. And so at the end of the summer I found myself sitting at a crossroads in Sderot, a town I had heard of, but not due to it’s lovely array of taxi cab’s or industrial complexes’ but rather by its being a favourite destination of the qassam missiles (that have maybe a little more direction than a drunk, blindfolded Irishman on St Patrick’s Day). I did not have to wait long before a van rolled up stuffed with exciting archaeological instruments of high quality manufacture; buckets, and spades, and buckets, and boxes, and coffee maker, and buck..

thats me making friends with my buckets....


I hopped in and introduced myself ….apparently they had all been discussing for some time how to spell my name, so I was obliged to spell it out and try to find an analogy that they could understand, it was either that or being called Roon!

So here is day one: where we sit and watch. The caterpillar driver was Muslim and about 60, it was an important fast day for them that day, and he worked the whole time in this intense heat with no water or food! I felt sure he was going to have a heart attack!!

and to end off- if you had any illusions of the stress, magnitude, and intensity of what an excavation really means, i hope this picture sums it up :)


here is what the site began to look like after a few days work..

yai everyone this is fun! okay so i don't have a diggy camara, so me borrowed one from a friend and i took some pics of my apartment in J-town... so now i can ask me mumsie to view the blog and see the pics :)

BrOnNicLEs

ello chums, following the sheepfold, and enjoying seeing pics from wazzie's site i thought i'd test out the blog world!