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Dig
At
erusaletn''
1
am one of those privileged stu–
dents of Ambassador Col–
lege-chosen this year tó dig
in Jerusalem in the City of David
Archaeological Excavations. The
excavations are now entering the
fou r th season under Dr. Yigal
Shiloh of Jerusalem's Hebrew
University.
Occupying the original site of
Jerusalem, the City of David sits
atop the spur of a hill just south
of the famous Temple platform.
lt
is outside the present city wall
(constructed under Turkish rule
in 1536). The site has been inhab–
ited continuously for near ly 6,000
years.
As a student in Southern Cali–
fornia, that histor ical perspective
is shocki ng. A 100-year-old
building in California is consid–
ered a historie monument. In my
home state of New York, we
must go back another 300 years
to trace our modero history. But
finds from the City of David shed
light on human history covering
approaching six millennia.
All in a Day's Work
The actual work of digging can
really only be defined as a chore.
Even if you are in good physical
condition when you start out, you
wi ll inevitably find sorne muscles
that haven't been used in a whi le.
The summer sun beats down with
intensity by midday, so work
begins early a nd ends shor tly
after noon. By 6:30 a.m. we had
pick in hand , a cap on our heads
and sunscreen on our backs.
Frequent breaks for water
were necessary. We had to learn
to drink regularly to prevent
dehydration even if we weren't
thirsty.
We could feel a real sense of
accomplishment when we had the
chance to stand back and examine
our progress, see old building
foundations emerge, and share in
piecing together bits of informa–
tion from one pit witb tbat from
another. A picture of a living
society with real people started
forming in our minds.
Sometimes tbose valuable bits
of information, though, were
infrequent finds, gleaned, per–
haps, from nothing more than a
shattered cooking pot or a per–
fume vase. During the four weeks
Ambassador College students
spent digging last summer, one
volunteer chanced to be in an area
providing no significant find until
bis last day. He unearthed a han–
die, bearing a significant inscr ip–
tion, which had broken from a
storage jug.
After sorne examination, that
one small find gave them an accu-
rate date for the level they were
excavating. It provided additional
evidence that the society at that
time must have been prosperous,
engaging in trade with other civi–
lizations around the Mediterra–
nean, from which this particular
potsherd originated.
Of course, it is dangerous to
base such sweeping assumptions
on one piece of evidence. But
matched with abundant other evi–
dence, like pieces of a jigsaw puz–
zle, the picture becomes clearer,
the explanation of a find more
sure.
1
was working in the area of
an Israeli te borne from the First
Temple period-the t ime of
David and Solomon, and the
divided kingdom. Having exca–
vated down to the floor of one
room we found several clay fig–
urines, broken but identifiable.
They would have been the fam–
ily's household idols- mute tes–
timony to the frequent backslid-
ing of the ancients into pagan–
ism.
A Time to Re flect
Working on the dig, gaining a per–
sonal feel and understanding
toward the people who lived here
so long ago, made me realize how
little man has really progressed, in
sorne senses. Our tools are more
sophisticated, and our toys. People
have traded idols of clay for those
of porcelain. But never has any age
of man been able to secure the elu–
sive qualities of peace and happi–
ness. At one time they attempted
to secure them with weapons of
iron. Today we use F- 14s.
Civilizations may rise to great–
ness for certain lengths of time,
but tbey inevitably crumble.
What is left behind? Potsherds
for a future generation to piece
together, but no answers telling
us how to find or maintain happi–
ness and peace. Seeking it
through material wealth and
power has led every civilization to
greatness- and destruction.
When one is working on a dig
one has time to think about things
Iike that. Most of one's time is
spent carefully moving di r t, pick–
ing out potsherds and looking for a
change in thecoloror quality oftbe
earth, indicating a floor or a
destruction layer. It's tiring and
dirty work, but when the back
aches and one stops for a break,
there is the chance to look around
and see the pieces of the excavation
fit t ing together, becoming a house,
a street, a city. One's mind drifts
back, imagining the people who
Jived and worked here, and no, they
were hardly different then.
A Walk Through Today's
Jerusalem
"Jerusalem of gold" says the
song--or as l sraelis sing
it- "Ye–
rushalayim shel zahav."
And at
evening, as the sun's last rays
reftect off the centuries-old sand–
stone blocks of the city wal l, the
song seems true. The city glows.