End of Week 1 Update

Greetings from the Holy Land!

It is now the conclusion of the first week of digging at El-Maqatir. Thankfully, God has been good and has kept everyone safe, even in spite of all of the hard work being done. Consequently I wish to thank everyone who has been praying for this work to help provide facts for those seeking to defend the faith which is perceived to be mere fantasy and myth and all of the volunteers helping to achieve that goal.

This first week has been a very productive week that has pleasantly surprised the supervisors by putting us ahead of schedule. Through all of this work and the help from our expert with the metal detector we have found over one hundred coins. In addition to this, we have also found a storage pit with large pieces of pottery within. While these pieces of pottery only date back to the first century, other discoveries have included pottery from the Iron Age, the era of the judges shortly following the conquest under Joshua. Pictured to the left is the handle of such a storage jar, the key indicators of its age being the darker shade of red and the white specs throughout. Also, this dig has delivered a uniquely striped seal for a storage jar. This is pictured right after cleaning where the red stripe around the top and the lighter bottom.

 

Just as exciting as these discoveries are the visits of various people ranging from local tour guides to representatives from the Israeli Antiquties Authority (IAA). This past week Peretz Reuven, the leading authority in Israel in typology joined us for pottery reading after a day of digging. In addition to this, a local tour guide, who is strongly connected with the work in Shiloh came in for a visit and admiring the work we had achieved. Lastly, though certainly not least of all, a couple of representatives from the IAA stopped in and were greatly impressed with the work that ABR is doing at the site of El-Maqitir. According to them, this dig is now the largest excevation project in Israel and they are thrilled with our progress and exceptional quality of work.

Within square two, where I am personally working with a great team, we have made great progress in making our way down to bedrock. To the right is a picture of our square at the end of the week. Also our team is developing a good relationship with our local worker, who is learning English from us while we are learning Arabic from him. Lord willing, this will develop into an open door to share the testimony of God’s Word through communication and our lives.

      

Arcaeological Trip to Israel '14 Days 1 and 2

While this update is different from my usual posts, this is related due to the fact that God has permitted me to go on an important dig in Israel, relating to the biblical account of Joshua's conquest of Canaan.

     Dr. Bryant Wood, from the Associates for Biblical Research, is overseeing a dig in the land of Israel a few miles from Betin and Et-Tel (the traditional site for the city of Ai). Dr. Wood has found the ruins of a small fortified city with a topographical layout that matches the criteria of Joshua's Ai in Joshua 7 and 8. Therefore, the proposal is that the Ai at Et-Tel, which is notably a rather large settlement, is the Ai of Abraham's day and after nearly a millenia a later group settled one hill over and took the name Ai for their fortified settlement. This fortified settlement served as the North most outpost for the city state of Jebus (modern day Jerusalem), on the edge of the Southern border of the city state of Shechem. If proven to be the city of Ai, this will help to refute those who claim the Bible is inaccurate, using the example that the ruins of Et-Tel does not show any evidence of Joshua's conquest.

     To the right is a view of the hill on which the site rests. At the very top are the remains of a Byzantine monastery (pictured below) erected to
commemorate a biblical event; which could either be the events of Abraham's life as he pitched his tent there between the ruin of Ai and the city of Bethel, or it could be for Joshua's conquest of the city of Ai after pruging the camp of Achan's sin.

     To the left is the view of the dig from the top of the hill. The settlement rests on a small rise off the Eastern side of the hill, probably due to a closer proximity to a water source while still maintaining a strategic and defensible position. This location also allows for the protection of the main route going from the North to Jerusalem, which is just on the other side of the hill and passes below the settlement on the South side.

     Having found the ancient outside walls of the settlement, the supervisors have chosen to excavate the ruins from the first century and the Hasmonean era before then, in the hopes of having further findings of the Ai from Joshua's day underneath these ruins. Also to the left is a picture of the site where our square team is excavating alongside an outer wall of what appears to be a house. So far the site has yielded a bountiful supply of pottery sherds from the Roman era, and some dating even further back, probably to the Hasmonean era. These findings also include the mouth of a clay lamp from the first century as well as several small coins.
     So far these have been unveiled after two days and merely clearing the surface of the site, with hopes of more and greater things to come with the lower levels. Thankfully, God has provided good weather that has stayed in the 70's the past couple days, sparing us both intense heat and the need to spend time setting up canopies; this in turn has allowed us to accomplish much, not being worn down by the heat. Lord willing, as the days continue over the next couple of weeks I shall be able to provide updates and more pictures.