LA(h) Confidential

Week 4: Tell es-Safi/Gath

2010-07-30T08:47:00.000-07:00

Week 4 found us with a much reduced team as most of the undergraduates returned to classes. The week was spent drawing sections, then taking down the shade so we could clean for final photographs at Tell es-Safi/Gath. It was wicked hot and reminded me of the many projects I’ve worked on where there was no shade. It was a frenzied week of sweeping our Area, A2 and helping out of neighboring areas in preparation for the final photographs.

Here Alex adjusts the meter stick for photographing the temple in the area neighboring ours. How do we know it's a temple? There are many parallels with the Temple at Tell Qasile. You can find out more info on Aren Maeir's blog: gath.wordpress.com
In addition, we scanned many of our notes. The week ended with final photographs, followed by aerial photographs, and covering our area to protect it.

Week 3, Day 4: Tell es-Safi/Gath

2010-07-22T08:29:00.000-07:00

Today, one of my PhD students, Caroline Tully uncovered a very interesting floor with lots of debris on it, and Louise "Titch" Titcombe found a tiny pomegranate or opium pod shaped bead, maybe made of carnelian. Tomorrow is our last day of real digging and tonight I'm looking forward to the end of week party.

Week 3: Tell es-Safi/Gath

2010-07-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

We've had some other exciting finds this week and I'll blog more about them soon, but in the meantime, this is our University of Melbourne Team Photo with the Australian Ambassador, the Honourable Andrea Faulkner. Note, the students accidentally held up the flag backwards.

Week 3, Day 3: Tell es-Safi/Gath

2010-07-21T10:50:00.000-07:00

This week has been another whirlwind and I'll post more later. Today was another big day: one of my students found a tiny gold coil, and another found a fragmentary bull figurine in another rubbish deposit. We have found several floors and documented them, then started excavating them. I went with 3 of my students to see the small Philistine museum in Ashdod. The best part of it was that they had costumes, so we all dressed up like a Sea People's Warriors. They also had a very interesting exhibit on the problem of looting and forgeries. We tried to find the site of Ashdod, but we would've needed a better car, but we did get sense of the landscape. Afterwards, we took a quick dip in the sea, which was very warm. When we got back to the kibbutz, I finally got to see a photo of the very interesting horned altar found at Ashkelon in a previous season.

End of Week 2: Tell es-Safi/Gath

2010-07-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

Today we had another exciting day at Tell es-Safi/Gath. It began with a visit from the Australian Ambassador, the Honourable Andrea Faulkner, and continued with uncovering this Philistine amphora.

Here, the Ambassador is speaking with one of my MA students, Sam Crooks.

We also had a visit from the Megiddo team and student Caroline Tully is pictured here speaking with the Megiddo Director, Israel Finkelstein.

Week 2, Day 4: Tell es-Safi/Gath

2010-07-15T03:59:00.001-07:00

Although yesterday was rather slow, digging rubbish fill in several areas, we had a big day today. polyvinyl impressions taken of our chisel marks to be studied under an electron microscope in Canada,

In Sharon's square, in fill, perhaps in a courtyard, we found a sealing (aka bulla) but with no image or inscription, a gold earring, and a silver bead.

In Jo's area, we finished the uncovering of our phytolith surface.

While digging yet another rubbish deposit in Dean's area, we found a "celebrity" sherd that was featured in the BBC documentary being filmed on the Bible and a very nice, but broken flint knife.
Tomorrow, the ambassador!

Week 2, Day 2: Tell es-Safi/Gath

2010-07-13T07:42:00.000-07:00

Today I supervised Sarah's happy removal of our 4th whole vessel. We also uncovered a layer of phytoliths, supervised by my PhD student Jo. However, I'm pretty tired from my lecture on Cypriot architecture last night, not to mention staying up till 11pm to e-mail from the Australian Ambassador: she's visiting us on Friday!

Week 2, Day 1: Tell es-Safi/Gath

2010-07-12T07:58:00.000-07:00

Today was a pretty exciting day in the early Philistine Area, Area A2.

These are two of three Philistine bowls excavated at the north end of our area. They were found under last year's surface of hydraulic plaster (soon to be published in the Journal of Archaeological Science).

Sarah (pictured) and Sharon found the 3 Iron Age bowls and we are hoping for big things tomorrow!

More of our "sacrificed" young goat in a pit was excavated by Liora, our faunal specialist, with assistance from my student Amanda.

This nice rim sherd for a Philistine, Mycenaean style deep bowl came up in one of our pottery bags.

End of Week 1: Tell es-Safi/Gath

2010-07-09T09:00:00.001-07:00

On Thursday night, we wrapped up a great week with a felafel party.

Despite the fun, we still had enough energy left to prepare for photos and trench tours. Our rubbish pile was cleaned for photographs and Emily is cleaning the Philistine pavement with chisel marks in preparation for further study.

The week ended with trench tours accompanied by our Aussie mascot.

Excavation: Day 4

2010-07-08T04:11:00.000-07:00

Today, my students, Belle and Michelle, found lots of phytoliths under this basalt pestle. We also cleaned the jar smash for photos, and uncovered a chunk of hydraulic plaster from last year's fill.

Tell es Safi: Day 3, a Juglet

2010-07-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

On day 3 Derry uncovered a complete Philistine juglet. We also have part of another hearth, and some cool animal bones like a piglet jaw and the cervical vertebra of a cow. It must be day 3, because we also found a whole vessel on day 3 last year!

Day 2 at Tell es-Safi/Gath 2010

2010-07-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

I think everyone is doing a great job, despite a few beers last night to break the ice. So far, we have a cobbled surface that may be an extension of the foundation that supported last year's find of hydraulic plaster. Dani is excavating a pottery smash and Dean is instructing his team. You can see more photos on my Facebook page.

Day 1 at Tell es-Safi/Gath 2010

2010-07-05T07:52:00.000-07:00

I have 21 great students that managed to get 8 grid squares clean on Day 1 of the 2010 season of the University of Melbourne team at Tell es-Safi/Gath. There was also time for the kibbutz pool. Tonight a beer, Tomorrow, digging starts!

Inauguration Day!

2009-01-20T11:47:00.000-08:00

A group of the IAS fellows gathered at Marie-Henriette Gates apartment to celebrate the Inauguration of Barack Hussein Obama.

I May Be All Wet, But My Martini's Still Dry...

2009-01-19T15:11:00.000-08:00

About once a week, usually on Shabbat, I migrate to the American Colony for drinks. This time I was joined by Ann Killebrew, Albright Fellow Penelope Mountjoy, and IAS fellows: Jeremy Rutter, Marie-Henriette Gates, and Robert Schiestel.

Ashkelon in November & My Close Encounter with a Qassam

2009-01-17T12:49:00.001-08:00

In November Dan Master showed our Institute research group around Ashkelon. Here, we're standing in front of the Canaanite Gate. Over the last few weeks, it hasn't been safe to go there.
Last week, we went to a conference at Beersheba U on the Philistines.

On the way south to Beersheba, we could see the smoke rising over Gaza, which may be from the destruction of the UNRWA facility there.
One of the most interesting things about the talks was hearing about Philistine regionalism.

Afterward, some of your group wanted to look at some pottery stored in a nearby area called Omur. There was an air raid there and we had to spend some time in a bomb shelter and heard 3 loud booms.

These bomb shelters are a fact of life for Israeli's, especially in the south and the north, and for Palestinians.

Study in Jerusalem: Visiting Safi & Megiddo

2009-01-17T12:39:00.001-08:00

I've been doing research at the Institute of Advanced Study at Hebrew University in Givat Ram since Nov 1. Our theme is Regional Narratives and our time is divided between weekly field trips and seminars, and doing our own research. There is a broad range of regional specialization among the different participants including Turkey, Greece, Egypt, the Canaanites, the Israelites, and the Philistines. In addition to interacting with each other, there has been interaction with fellows at the Albright and with members of the other IAS research group on urbanism. This has included joint seminars and fieltrips. We also had a mini conference in early December. I would say my teaching will have benefitted as much from being here as colleagues have been very generous with sharing information and circulating offprints, especially of items not readily available on JSTOR.

In November it was nice and green at Tell es-Safi and the bedouin tent was pitched below Area A.

Aren Maeir took us around Tell es-Safi, which is now a national park. The tell was very green - looking very different than it does in the summer.

There was also time to discuss the Goliath inscription.

A couple of days ago, Israel Finkelstein gave us a 4 hour tour of Megiddo, which included some interesting historical anecdotes about research there. Here we're near the entrance to the site at the Late Bronze Age gate.

Costco comes to Melbourne!

2009-01-12T14:27:00.000-08:00

Costco is finally due to open in Melbourne in 2009 at Docklands. Yippeeee!

Happy New Year from the Judean Desert!

2009-01-03T10:05:00.000-08:00

Today I had a a great time. I went to the the Judean desert with my friends Norma Franklin and Shimon Gibson to help Shimon measure an Iron Age building in the area of Buqeah. We found some unrecorded features and measured lots of walls. The best part was being warm! I'm going to try and bring my earlier activities up to date since arriving in Israel on Nov.1 very soon. It has been a very busy year for me that has involved publishing 2 books, writing some articles, organizing the 12th International Aegean Conference: DAIS, The Aegean Feast that brought 48 speakers from 14 countries to Melbourne, seeing my husband join me in getting dual Aussie/US citizenship, going to a conference in Cyprus, digging in Israel in July, then returning for 4 months in November, breaking my toe last February, and of course, teaching my students. I plan to gradually update my activities chronologically.

Merry Xmas, Happy Hanukah, Kwaanza, & Solstice!

2008-12-26T12:53:00.000-08:00

Christmas week involved attending my first Hanukah candle lighting, and in fact, I made it to 4 of them, plus going to midnight mass in Bethlehem, which was sung in Latin, with passages presented in many languages. I had lots of time to mill around, meet Santa, and visit the grotto of the Nativity before the 2 hour High Mass. I think I like Hanukah: what's not to like about 8 days of donuts, latkes, and prezzies!

Au Revoir Jerusalem

2008-08-02T10:48:00.000-07:00

I'm about to board the plane home to cold Melbourne. Yesterday we took the final aerial photos of the site and last night, my friend Linda and I celebrated the end of a successful season, where else, but at the American Colony Hotel in J'lem. Then we had a serious discussion the merits of mojitos v. martinis. Stay tuned - I hope to put some photos of the last 2 weeks up soon!

Dean Leaves For Cyprus

2008-07-25T10:54:00.000-07:00

Here, Dean is demonstrating his technique in excavating an ox scapula - sorry, no notches.

Dean receives his completion certificate from project director, Aren Maeir.

Dean ended his 3rd week at Tell es-Safi/Gath on a high note. He clearly has what it takes to be an excavation director!

Our week 3 team

2008-07-23T03:12:00.000-07:00

Gilad and Linda joined our team in week 3 after part of the Melbourne contingent left for home.

Team Melbourne At Tell es-Safi/Gath

2008-07-22T10:58:00.000-07:00

Our Melbourne team just finished excavating this building at Tell es-Safi/Gath.
We had a great time and our students did a fantastic job. Dean, Brent and I continue on for a bit longer and hope to have more fun photos from Tell es-Safi/Gath!

A look at the 10th century at Safi

2008-07-22T03:05:00.000-07:00

Elisabetta from the Weizmann Institute of Science demonstrates her talents at excavating our 10th c. "Aegean-sytle" hearth.

We found the hearth while trying to uncover the westward extension of the wall you see in the foreground. Instead we found a plaster floor in close association with the hearth, which in turn is under a large 9th c. wall.

Here is the sealing in the style of Siamoun, a 10th c. pharaoh, which was found on top of the hearth along with a pile of grape seeds - which will help with dating.

Linda Models Her Big Find

2008-07-22T02:53:00.000-07:00

On her first day back at Safi, staff member Linda Meiberg found this electrum pendant while cleaning a wall and demonstrates an alternative way of wearing it.

Completion Certificates

2008-07-21T08:01:00.001-07:00

Our team celebrates at the Thursday night bar b q after collecting their well-earned completion certificates.

Our Area is Spotless!

2008-07-18T07:58:00.000-07:00

Team Melbourne did themselves proud in preparing this early Iron Age Philistine Area for Friday's trench tour!

Brent Tells Us About Aegean Scripts

2008-07-17T07:20:00.000-07:00

One of my PhD students, Brent Davis, wasn't too tired from record keeping to deliver a lecture to the Safi team on Aegean scripts and languages. My turn comes next week!

Mycenaean 3C in Area A2 at Safi

2008-07-17T03:03:00.000-07:00

This unusual Mycenaean 3C rim for a deep bowl turned up in our area toward the end of week 2.

Astarte Appears in Area A

2008-07-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

Today were were cleaning pottery from the rubbish pit that Shannah and Lauren have been excavating in the northeast corner of the "Melbourne megaron" and found this really cool mould for making plaque's or figurines of Astarte. It is broken, but you can see her hips, pelvic region, belly button and one of her upraised arms.

More of the Philistine Buffet

2008-07-15T07:02:00.000-07:00

Sharon excavated 4 more mandibles from another rubbish deposit across the road and Brent helped.

The Philistine Buffet!

2008-07-10T06:55:00.000-07:00

The rubbish pile in the northeast corner of the "Melbourne megaron" in Area A2 of Tell Safi seems to have the full Philistine buffet including a sheep scapula, boar mandible, fish vertebra, bovine astragali (not pictured), and a nice little basalt mortar for grinding up some spices.

Meanwhile Elsewhere on the Tell...

2008-07-09T07:40:00.000-07:00

Project Director, Prof. Aren Maeir gave us a tour of the exciting things happening in Area D. If you want to know more, then read his blog!

Mycenaeans at Safi

2008-07-09T06:38:00.000-07:00

Dean and Vaia were digging a fill with earlier material set into it. Shannah and Lauren were digging a similar fill on the other side of a wall. Lo and Behold, they both found joining parts of the same Late Helladic IIIB imported pyxis - a type of box.

Alex Gives Us A Lesson

2008-07-08T07:36:00.000-07:00

We couldn't have done such a great job without help from Alex Zukerman - he puts the A in Area A.

It Begins With Cleaning

2008-07-07T07:28:00.000-07:00

We began cleaning our excavation area in Area A. In cleaning the area, we found this bi-chrome Philistine bird sherd.

Endorsing Shelmerdine Wines and Vineyards

2008-04-19T21:46:00.000-07:00

I recently convened the 12th International Aegean Conference, DAIS: The Aegean Feast on 25-29 March. The lead up to the conference and catching up have kept me from blogging much. But I want to relate one of the best experiences that I had with the conference. One of my presenters was the prominent Classicist Cynthia Shemerdine from the University of Texas. Out of the blue and on a whim, I contacted the Shelmerdine vineyards with regard to sponsorship. Stephen Shelmerdine and his lovely wife Kate met with me and a friend Stephie, who has been helping with the conference. Then they invited me, my husband, and Cynthia Shelmerdine, and her partner for a wonderful afternoon lunch where we also met Stephen's mother. I spent some time looking at family photos for resemblances and hearing about the family history of the Shelmerdines - I now know more about them than my own. Before they started a vineyard, there was a felt hat factory in Melbourne.

The Shelmerdines donated several cases of wine for the conference banquet at Ablas Lebanese restaurant, which they attended as my guests and sold us wine below cost for the reception - which was decorated with the felt hats of the Shelmerdine factory, and organized our winery tour. When we visited his Lusatia winery in the Yarra Valley, Stephen personally explained all the wines to the archaeologists, and also the iconography of the labels and even the bottle cap. One could not ask for a better service than this. He is a great raconteur and story teller.

I can very much recommend Shelmerdine wines and their Heathcote winery.

First Visit to Sydney

2008-04-16T04:32:00.000-07:00

I gave a seminar at the University of Sydney last week. It went really well and then on Friday I attended the meeting of the Council of the Australian Archaeological Institute in Athens, and I got taken out to the Australian club both nites.

I spent Saturday walking around the city. I went to the aquarium, then on to the parks and botanical gardens. Then at sunset I had a glass of champagne in front of the opera house (it looks smaller in person), then ate lobster at a restaurant on the harbor with a view of the bridge, then walked around some more and that was it.

I really like Sydney - it's much warmer than Melbourne for one thing. The tall buildings reminded me of New York, the old buildings reminded me of London, the harbor reminded me of San Francisco, and the weather reminded me of LA. So, it's not like any place I've visited.

Toeing the Line

2008-03-11T00:44:00.000-07:00

I haven't been posting much.

Between trying to finish my paper for the conference I'm organizing, polishing up an article, reading student work, giving guest lectures, planing the conference, I've been flat out. I still have to put together a ppt for my talk, stuff the conference bags, and make final arrangements with the caterers. I had other "fun" things go on last weekend. I wrote something like 24 recommendation letters for 6 of my students who are all applying for the same 4 scholarships. Poor students. I also bumped my toe on the bed and from the crunchy sound I knew it was broken. I put it "back" into position, taped it, and iced it. I had my toe X-rayed - it's definitely broken, but I had set it and taped it correctly so there was nothing the Doctor needed to do - maybe I should be an MD instead of a PhD!

Petition to Protect Sites in the Lakonian Wetlands

2008-02-21T17:38:00.000-08:00

I am posting this information on behalf of Chrysanthi Gallou of the University of Nottingham:

There have recently been reports in the Greek press for the plans of a private company to build a power plant in the area of Viglafia, just opposite Elaphonisos, in south-eastern Laconia http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=58549520
The site is an important wetland and has been included in the proposed list of Natura 2000 sites. It is also of great archaeological importance since a large number of prehistoric and later sites will be SERIOUSLY affected, including the very important submerged Bronze Age site at PAVLOPETRI (see Annual of the British School at Athens 64 (1969) 113-142).

The local authorities and the Committee for the preservation of the site, assisted by the local politicians, have made appeals to the Greek and European Parliaments. In addition, they have set up a petition and they would be extremely grateful if we would sign it. It only takes a minute!

http://www.petitiononline.com/adepuydt/petition.html

More details on the subject can be found at
http://www.enet.gr/online/online_text/c=112,id=58549520 (where also the support offered by Nottingham's Centre for Spartan and Peloponnesian Studies is mentioned)
http://www.vatika2000.com/prwtoboulia%20politwn%20gia%20thn%20prostasia%20twn%20batikwn/prwtoboulia%20politwn%20gia%20thn%20prostasia%20twn%20batikwn.html

Feel free to circulate this message to anyone whom you think might be interested.

The HOTTEST ticket in Melbourne

2008-01-30T06:13:00.000-08:00

We've had a really good last few days. We went to the big day out on Monday - to hear a lot of bands we've never heard of, to see if Bjork would wear her swan (she didn't), and mainly to hear one of my favorite bands - Rage Against the Machine. We saw them again tonight at Festival Hall. I over paid for the tickets on e-bay, but when they broke up in 2000, I never thought I'd get a chance to see them again. I spent endless amounts of time kicking myself for not driving to downtown LA when they protested the monopolistic 2 party system at the Democratic National Convention. So, seeing them 2 x this week was cathartic for a number of reasons. Now I'm sore from all of the jumping up and down.

Happy New Year!

2008-01-01T12:30:00.000-08:00

Cold weather hasn't been a problem since a couple of days before Christmas. In fact, we have had a record hot NYE at 42 C (113 F). It felt more like being in Las Vegas or Syria heat-wise.
We still managed to have a fun though low key New Years. We met up at this new really cool bar (Gerald's) with one of my students (Rod) and his girlfriend (Maria). In addition to writing a PhD in Classics, Rod is also a novelist and has written a very interesting novel called Prince of the Lillies, about the Minoans and about living in Sitia, Crete, where I used to dig.
Gerald let us get pizzas from La Porchetta next door and we stayed in his bar drinking and eating till about 10:30. Then we got Asta and a bottle of champagne, and miraculously found a cab and went to my student's friends apartment building in East Brunswick. The friend was from New York and has been here for 5 years. It was a little like Melrose Place with this big apartment building and everyone gathered around the pool partying. Our friends went out to the street to see the fireworks and we stayed at the pool. At midnight everyone jumped in the pool and Asta got really excited. She started running around the pool barking, then she finally jumped in and alternated between swimming in circles around the pool and riding around on a boogie board. It was really hilarious - unfortunately I left the camera at home that night. The pool was cold but refreshing. We finally walked home around 1:15. I think this was the first New Years since I had to march in the Rose Parade that I didn't have too much to drink.

And Today is Even Warmer... in Los Angeles

2007-12-23T21:46:00.000-08:00

So much for summer in Oz, although it should warm up later in the week, although the weather report is
more of a guideline than anything one can rely upon. I guess it's a good thing we won't be bar b quing this year.

We Thought It Was Supposed to be Summer?

2007-12-21T19:29:00.000-08:00

We're experiencing the 3rd day in a row of pouring rain (including flash flooding in the city) and as you can see by the weather report, our summer day is the same temperature as today's winter weather in Los Angeles (except without rain). The thunder was bad enough that Asta crawled on my lap last night.
Yet, we are in the middle of a drought with water restrictions. See:
http://www.melbournewater.com.au/
Drought's seem to follow me around. I've lived under water restrictions in Athens, Nicosia, and Los Angeles. Strangely, it rarely rains in those places whereas it seems to rain continuously here. Of course, we need water, It just seems odd to have so much rain yet be experiencing drought, not to mention our so-called summer temps. Presumably Melbourne water - which also manages drainage, is doing something to recycle all of this rain - it would be nice to hear specifically what they are doing. Cyprus has improved its situation by building a desalination plant, with 3 more to be built by 2013 - a costly solution for such a small country. In Athens, we took navy showers and caught our shower water in buckets and used it to flush the toilets. I catch my shower water here from time to time to water plants, but with the amount of rain, this is rarely necessary.

We're Ready for our Close-ups Mr. DeMille

2007-12-11T20:28:00.000-08:00

Extras are rehearsing a scene from The Pacific on Rathdowne Street

Our favorite local bar, Gerald's became a Greek Kaffeneion

The fruit and veg market was turned into a Greek establishment

Lots of equipment was brought in for the shoot

One building was turned into an old fashioned gas station.
We live in a neighborhood of vintage houses and the main street (Rathdowne) just two blocks from our house was used for a location for a new HBO series called 'The Pacific' produced by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. It's about US soldiers fighting in WW II in 1943 and stationed in Australia. Our street was used to recreate Lonsdale St, which is the heart of the Greek community downtown. Having a movie shoot going on near our house reminded me of all the production work that used to go on near where we lived in Los Angeles - I frequently rollerbladed past the Bay Watch beach, for example. Alas, even though we've seen Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks in our local Mexican food restaurant in the Palisades, they were nowhere to be seen in Carlton North.

Saturnalia

2007-12-10T20:20:00.000-08:00

The end of the year brings with it inevitable parties. This was an end of year party thrown by our Classics and Archaeology grad students. We had some great food at a local pub, and I shared some stories about my own grad student experiences.

Last Day In LA

2007-12-03T14:54:00.000-08:00

On my last day in LA, I finished where I started - at the Pacific Dining Car, having lunch with 2 old college friends, Craig and Chris. Coincidentally we sat at the table where we sat on our wedding day. We managed to wrap things up by howling at the moon, which was very difficult concerning it was daylight. The trip home was uneventful and we were back to work the next day.

LA Hash and the Old Place Redux

2007-12-01T22:54:00.000-08:00

I spent my penultimate day in the city of the angels running with the LA Hash House Harriers in the hills of Agoura. It was primarily a trail run with spectacular views of the Malibu canyons and San Fernando Valley. Afterwards there was a bar b q. It has finally gotten cold enough here to wear a coat at night, so I'm glad to be returning to summer this next week. After I left the hash festivities, I went to the Old Place, a rustic restaurant on Mullhullond Drive (appropriate since it has a David Lynchian quality) that I discovered on my visit here last year. (See the post from last November). The Old Place is a 37 year old restaurant run by an elderly couple while their slightly less elderly son serenades the customers with Country Western music. They only accept cash, open when they want, and only serve steak or clams. When the food runs out, they close. I arrived there earlier than last year and was rewarded with 3 fairly good size pieces of steak. The prices have gone up, it's now $16.00 for a meal and $3.50 for a Corona beer. They also serve Australian wine by the glass.

Last Few Days in LA

2007-12-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

Sunset over Santa Monica

Aside from deleting a deluge of spam, my last few days in Los Angeles have been spent catching up with friends and buying things that are cheaper here (well, pretty much everything is cheaper here other than wine and museli), such as Levi's and running shoes. Despite the fact that it's winter, there has been just 1 day of rain and all other days have been warm and sunny. The sunset over Santa Monica can be seen from Palisades Park where I went running when I lived in California. I am planning to go on a diet when I get back - I think I put on about 8 lbs (4kg) from all of that Mexican food. Last night was a final goodbye with many of my friends at the El Coyote Mexican Restaurant in WeHo. My friend Vicki, says it's tacky, but it's old school, tacky chic. My best friend and best man, Bob, gave me grief about not having enough margaritas, but I think I had enough to still function on Saturday and get my rental car up the hill to Craig and Christine's place, where I'm staying. Dwight and Cathy from the Hash were there also.

Knowledge Transfer and Science Fiction

2007-11-26T19:33:00.000-08:00

I just left the Los Angeles Science Fiction Convention where the theme was archaeology and I gave presentations on three panels: problems that archaeologists have, ethics, and the future of archaeology. I got a lot of insights from the experience in terms of dealing with the interested and educated public. This is what most people call public outreach, but what my Uni now calls "knowledge transfer." One of the other panelists was an indigenous Californian who is also an archaeologist. So, the panels were worthwhile. I also went to a presentation on the real archaeology on Indiana Jones, where I got some information I can use in my course on Egypt. The experience also gave me a chance to promote the excavations at Tel es-Safi/Gath and meet up with many Jewish fans. Of course, there were also some great parties and the green fairy made an appearance. I also got to see an Astronaut diaper, something that was an endless topic of dinner conversation last year at the Albright - that is till Anna Nicole died and Paris got sent to the slammer. I'm spending a few days with friends and going to a couple of concerts before heading back to work and a new government in Australia.

Interlude, Friends, and Doggies

2007-11-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

I'm not driving so I ordered the large margarita!

Brian, Me, Sandi, and Leslie on Thanksgiving
I'm spending 2 days in Carlsbad, California before heading to my next conference, which starts on Friday. I'm staying with my friend Sandy, her daughter Kate, and her 2 dogs, Scruffy and Tommy (Trojan). Sandy is one of my oldest friends - she and I were undergrads together at USC. I miss Asta, so I've been walking Tommy and Scruffy to compensate. Sandy made some home made chili. Last week we also went out for Mexican food before the ASOR conference started. Brian met us at Leslie's house on Thanksgiving. Leslie and I were in the USC banc together.

San Diego Maritime Museum

2007-11-20T20:31:00.000-08:00

I spent my last day in San Diego at the Maritime Museum. This reavealed some unusual symmetries with Australia. The centerpiece of the Museum is a ship known as the Star of India, but it was originally the Eutrepe, which took English emigrants to New Zealand after it was built in 1863. A new addition to the museum is the HMS Surprise, used in the movie, Master and Commander, which my sister-in-law worked on. Behind the Surprise is a 1974 Soviet Submarine.

San Diego: Zoo, Sea World, Brian's Birthday

2007-11-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

I managed to also make vistis to the San Diego Zoo and Sea World - the Shamu show was a highlight. I took Brian out for a good steak for his birthday before he had to drive up to Anaheim to spend time with his mom. I spent my last day in San Diego at the Maritime Museum.

ASOR Meeting

2007-11-17T20:24:00.000-08:00

Aren Maeir is Reporting on the 2007 Season at Tel es Safi

Jeff Chadwick is speaking about Cooking at Tel es Safi

Morag Kersel Answers Questions In Our Theory Session While Jonathan Lawrence Prepares to Begin and Andrew McCarthy Moderates
Both of the sessions I co-chair went well at ASOR as did my paper on an international style of Bronze Age architecture. This paper provided many examples, but focussed on the site of Hala Sultan Tekke on Cyprus. Aren Maeir and Jeff Chadwick also gave terrific papers on the site of Tel es-Safi/Gath. Aren talked about this season's new finds and Jeff spoke about the cooking installations in Area F. We also attended an exhibition at the Museum of Man and made several visits to more Mexican restaurants.

Arrival in San Diego

2007-11-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

Brian and I met up yesterday in the OC and drove down to San Diego in the afternoon. The hotel we are staying in is located on Harbor Island - a beautiful place, but further away than I expected. While Brian took a nap, I checked out the pool and jacuzzi (spa in Oz-speak), which was quite nice given that it's a "chilly" 73 (20 C) degree winter day here - much warmer than the "spring" in Melbourne. In the evening we drove out to our favorite Mexican Restaurant - Casa de Pico - the one that serves margaritas you can swim laps in. We had the medium size, which for $7 are still 3 x as big as the Australian ones that cost twice as much - do the math. I will be spending the next couple of days getting my powerpoint presentation ready.

Los Angeles Hash and Foothill Hash

2007-11-11T20:38:00.000-08:00

I spent my first full day in Los Angeles going through the 60 e-mails that accumulated in just 24 hours, then driving to Glendale for the Los Angeles Hash. It was kind of a small turnout, but it was still great seeing everyone. I was kind of tired at the end and skipped the on on on. I ran another hash, the Foothill hash, today in Griffith park. It seemed pretty much like it was all uphill with lots of dirt trails and shiggy. This one had a bigger turnout. I got a couple of down downs both days - for being a returner. I've now done more hashes this year in California than in Melbourne. It's "freezing" here in LA - dipping down as low as the mid-60's! (18 C) - shocking! We went out for pizza afterward, which for me is kind of like taking coals to Newcastle. Tomorrow, we're heading down to San Diego for the ASOR conference.

Life in the PDC

2007-11-09T20:34:00.000-08:00

The great thing about flying to Los Angeles from Melbourne is arriving 2 hours earlier than I left. I really needed those 2 hours just to drive across Los Angeles to my friends house - Craig and Christine who I stayed with last year. My first nite back, we went for drinks at the Pacific Dining Car where I got married and which features prominently in so many James Ellroy novels. I was still able to muster the energy to drink martini's and howl at the moon. Meanwhile Brian is visiting his mom in Anaheim and we are meeting up on Monday to head to San Diego for the ASOR conference.

Marking Papers

2007-11-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

It's hard to believe that I've had very little to say on my blog for over a month, but it seems like every time the 10 inch high pile of papers I've had to mark goes down, that more come in. I've been getting a little help with the last batch from Asta. I can't believe that the marking is finally done, the grades are in, and the 8 (count 'em EIGHT) honours theses I supervised were all finished and I'm packed to go to ASOR tomorrow.

Calling All Star Trek Fans

2007-10-18T19:03:00.000-07:00

I've been staring at an endless mountain of papers the last few weeks: huge piles of receipts from 265 days of travel, essays to mark, honours theses drafts from 6 students, galley proofs of my book, more essays to mark, 2 more thesis drafts to read, 2 more theses to mark - you get the idea. In the midst of this, I found this video on the web and put it here for a bit of fun.

My New Book: Theory for Classics

2007-09-29T05:01:00.000-07:00

I was surprised to find that the cover for my new book, Theory for Classics, Routledge: 2008, is already posted. This is one of the things I did during my sabbatical in Jerusalem. It's available for pre-order.
This is the official blurb:
This student's guide is a clear and concise handbook to the key connections between Classical Studies and critical theory in the 20th century. Louise Hitchcock looks at the way classics has been engaged across a number of disciplines.
Beginning with four foundational figures - Freud, Marx, Nietzsche and Saussure - Hitchcock goes on to provide guided introductions of the major theoretical thinkers of the past century, from Adorno to Williams. Each entry offers biographical, theoretical and bibliographical information along with a discussion of each figure's relevance to Classical Studies and suggestions for future research.
Brisk, thoughtful, provocative, and engaging, this will be an essential first volume for anyone interested in the intersection between theory and classical studies today.

2 Week Interlude

2007-09-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

I'm coming to the end of a 2 week teaching break. It started fun with a tour of the Yarra Valley Wineries with some of my colleagues. A visitor, Haim Gitler, Curator of Numismatics at the Israel Museum of Jerusalem came to Melbourne to give some lectures. He had a free day and wanted to do something, so this gave us a great excuse to visit some wineries! In the top photo, Haim and I are in front and in the back, from left to right: Brian, KO, Kevin, and Roger. Touring wineries is just about my favorite thing to do in Australia and we finished the day at the Domain Chandon winery (aka Mecca).
The rest of the time was unremarkable: grading about 50 papers - most of them on ushabti figurines, doing my US taxes so the IRS doesn't hunt me down, and drafting a grant proposal. The fun isn't over yet - I still have to do my Australian taxes. Moving here means I get to have double my fun.
There is hope on the horizon: we are going to California in November for 3 weeks and I have managed to score tickets for the Rage Against the Machine concert in January.

KROQ/Weather/Voting

2007-09-01T20:03:00.000-07:00

My favorite radio station, KROQ has finally joined the 21st c. and started streaming live 24/7 over the internet, bringing Los Angeles another step closer to Melbourne. Now, if we could just stream Mexican food and some warmer weather over the internet (it turned cold again!), life here would be just about perfect, except for the long drive to the House of Blues. 3 days ago on Thursday was the warmest Aug day on record here - I think it got up to about 20 C (68 F), but Friday was about 10 C (50 C). I think I could retire if I had a dollar for everytime I've heard: "all four seasons in 1 day." I'm not used to 4 in a year, let alone 4 in a day. I finally sent in my voter registration form to "enjoy" my "right" to compulsory voting. I don't like either major party here. The only choice is whether to spoil the ballot or pay the fine. Oh, well a 4 inch steak and a bottle of sparkling shiraz at the pub across the street goes a long way to compensate.

An Almost Warm Day...

2007-08-25T06:16:00.000-07:00

It's finally almost spring here - a whole 20 degrees C (68 F) - about as warm as the coldest winter days in California. We took advantage of this to go to an outdoor cafe, my favorite pizza place, Cafe Coretto. During the Grand Prix, Cafe Coretto is the hangout of the Ferrari club. We walked to the cafe so that Asta could come along too. The semester is 5 weeks along and almost half over and I've finally caught up enough to begin doing my own work.

Expat Blog of the Month!

2007-08-19T05:00:00.000-07:00

A few months ago, I listed my blog on Expat Blogs in a futile attempt to get more hits than my dog Asta. This is a web site that lists blogs of expats and it is a lot of fun to visit. Asta is listed on Dogs with Blogs. Like Dogs with Blogs, Expat Blogs has started nominating a blog of the month and I'm pleased to be the first blog to receive this honor.

Work, Winter Colds, Footy

2007-08-18T04:50:00.000-07:00

2 weeks after I got home, we went to see Gwen Stefani at the Rod Laver Arena. Since GS is from Anaheim, it reminded us a lot of home. She put on a terrific concert. A couple of days later Brian got a bad cold or flu and then I caught it. It was tough cause I still had to lecture. I went to the doctor last week and got antibiotics. I'm feeling a lot better except for the fact that our footy team, the Carlton Blues, lost again today. Unlike most games for the past 3 years where they have been hopelessly behind they only lost to the Essendon Bombers in the last few minutes. Asta is comforting me. On a higher note, my college football team, the USC Trojans should have another winning season.

Welcome Home/Welcome to Oz!

2007-07-30T04:40:00.000-07:00

Returning to Australia also meant eating and drinking, in other words, feasting - a means of renewing relationships. My former supervisor, Prof. Donald Preziosi, his wife, Prof. Claire Farago, and their daughter Mia have been here the month of July as visiting fellows in Art History and in the School of Historical Studies (Inc. Classics and Archaeology). They actually got here several days before I did, and once I caught my breath, they came over for dinner. Donald gave a really great public lecture as well as a talk for my Aegean seminar. We also had dinner with our neighbors, Philip and Dorothy, a few days later. Philip did the rennovation on the church, which became our house, and they live in the front of the house, ooops, church. Dorothy is American, which gives us lots to talk about!

Asta's Homecoming

2007-07-23T05:15:00.000-07:00

I arrived home on July 20 and so did Asta. It was uneventful for both of us, but we were glad to see each other and Brian. Both of us immediately settled in to our routines. I'm grateful to our friends Grant and Mandy, and their kids Ellen and Billy for taking such good care of Asta while I was away. Meanwhile, the day after I left Tel Safi, they had a major find of a cult assemblege.

Absence Makes the Hearth Grow Fonder

2007-07-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day of digging at Tel es Safi as I have to return to reality, freezing cold weather, and an 8 month high pile of mail. I spent the day uncovering a series of floors, one of them with bones on it, which were associated with the hearth. I also found a tiny piece of bronze - probably scrap. It's important because it may indicate bronze working or at least the possession of it at the site. Meanwhile Brent found a Late Bronze Age wishbone handle from an imported Cypriot bowl while cutting a section through an earlier hearth. Brent is staying for the full season, while Amanda leaves this weekend. I want to thank everyone on the dig, especially Aren, Alex, Jeff, Linda, Miriam, Rotem, Amit, Deb, and Jeff and the students in square A2 for a memorable time. I wish for continued success for the rest of the season!

Tel es Safi: Absence Makes the Hearth Grow Fonder...

2007-07-17T06:17:00.000-07:00

Although the dig at Tel es Safi goes on for another 2 1/2 weeks, I'm leaving after we finish digging tomorrow as I need to start teaching next week. I'll be back in frigid (it's only 41 deg F!!!) Melbourne on Friday afternoon. We had a pretty eventful day that started with Aren Maeir photographing 2 of our hearths. We had a group photo (Aviva,Aviva, Josh, Me, Brent, Udi, and Area Supervisor Linda Meiberg) taken behind 2 of them before the large one in the middle was taken out. But, that's OK, because we found 2 more later on. Meanwhile, Aviva found a small gold bezel - possibly the only one found on the site. This is in addition to 4 beads found in the square - including 2 carnelian ones! We ended with the usual washing of our pottery. All in all, an eventful day!

Hearths v. Ovens

2007-07-16T11:52:00.000-07:00

Today was an exciting day in our square. Scientists from the Weizmann Institute uncovered the hearth pictured in my previous post, in order to take soil samples. There was a Philistine bichrome bell-shaped bowl (aka in the Aegean as a deep bowl) with Mycenaean style spirals lying just above the hearth, which is over half a metre in diameter. In addition, 2 more hearths were found as well as a floor near the hearth. The only way we could tell it was a floor was that there a number of sherds laying flat on it. There is another hearth coming up just next to this hearth, and there may also be a type of oven called a tabun near the new hearth. Why is this important? Hearths are associated with both the Mycenaeans and the Philistines, the Philistines make Mycenaean style pottery, and many archaeologists believe that the Mycenaeans were part of the Sea Peoples contingent that settled in the region known as Philistia. All of this leads to the question - did Canaanites cook in tabuns, while the people making the Mycenaean style pottery use hearths?
Inquiring minds want to know...

A Pottery Lesson

2007-07-16T06:20:00.000-07:00

Here our Area Supervisor, Alex Zuckerman and Square Supervisor, Linda Meiberg are teaching Brent and myself how to read and eat Philistine pottery. Meanwhile, Amanda found another bead - she has a few more days to find enough for an entire necklace before she returns home.

A Relaxing Weekend...

2007-07-14T09:01:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend in Jerusalem: I packed, Brent studied, Amanda went site-seeing with Jeff Chadwick and his students, but we all managed to catch up on sleep and find time to have last drinks at the American Colony!

Where Alyattes & Wylattes Make Their Mocha Lattes

2007-07-12T03:59:00.000-07:00

It's Day 4 and very eventful at Camp, I mean Tel Safi. On Tuesday we visited the EB site of Tel Yarmuth in the afternoon after digging. Last night, I gave a lecture on the Aegean and its connections to the Philistines to a very attentive audience of students and other volunteers. Today, our team began to uncover an Aegean-style, Philistine hearth. It may be the latest such hearth found in Israel, as it sits 50-70 cm above the 11th c. hearth. Here, the Director, Aren Maeir is posing with the new addition to his site, but who are those people in the background??? Elsewhere in our area, the animal head of a ring kernos was found as well as a tiny animal figurine. In another part of the site, an imitation scarab was found. The area we are working in is where the "Goliath" sherd was found last year. This sherd has two words incised on it, which can be read as Alyattes and Wylattes. These are Indo-European names, read in semitic as Goliath, and although this name is famous, it may have been as common for the Philistines as John Smith.

Camp, Ooops, Tel es Safi/Gath Day 1

2007-07-09T08:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we arrived at Tel es Safi. We is myself and two students: Brent Davis and Amanda Rose, who just arrived from Greece. The day began with a tour of the site and a lecture on Tel es Safi by the Director, Aren Maeir. This morning began with the ride up to the Tel at 5:30 am. We are working in Area A with Alex Zuckerman and Linda Meiberg. We're stoked because Area A is the Philistine area and we spent today cleaning our square, which has a Philistine hearth: which has parallels at Tel Miqne and with Aegean hearths. Amanda found a really nice bead or clothing applique made out of mother of pearl with two piercings. Tomorrow we are taking down a baulk, which may have more hearths in it. I spent part of the afternoon helping Brent and Amanda clean pottery and teaching them a bit about what you can learn from sherds. It's really great digging with my students. We are staying at the Kibbutz Revadim, which feels more like summer camp than a dig. We have air conditioned rooms and there's a huge swimming pool where I soaked off the afternoon heat. This clearly beats living in a tent. On Wednesday, I'm giving an intro lecture on Aegean archaeology.

Off to the Dig...

2007-07-07T23:17:00.000-07:00

My student, Brent, arrived a couple of days ago from Greece and today we are going to Tel es-Safi for the excavations. Brent is going for the full month and I'm going for 10 days, and then back to Melbourne. Here Laura, myself, and Celia are having drinks in the garden of the American Colony Hotel. Celia is currently working at Ashkelon and we usually room together every year at ASOR. I guess I'm still celebrating being finished with my book, Theory 4 Classics, especially since my editor said she really liked it and she hopes to have it published by January 2008!

Finito!

2007-06-30T11:04:00.000-07:00

DHL came 2 days ago to pick up the manuscript of my book Theory 4 Classics and whisk it off to Routledge in Oxford. This is in addition to the 36 page article I've written on how architectural influences travel. I've done a little celebrating the past couple days, but I've also finished my final report for the Albright and the University. Tomorrow, I get back to the Philistines and my friend Celia, who I usually room with at ASOR is spending 3 days with me.

My Scariest Middle East Experience...

2007-06-21T09:42:00.000-07:00

I attended the gay pride parade today in Jerusalem. Some people here wondered why I bothered. I went out of respect for many friends and also to show my support for tolerance and universal human rights. I was also curious to see how it would play out. It was a very moving experience - all the more so because I felt like I was risking my life going there. It was definitely the scariest experience I've had in 20 years of working in the the middle east. All was well however, thanks to the 9000 cops there were for the 5000 marchers. It was interesting. Whereas gay parades in big US cities and in Australia are more like celebrations - there was some of that - but there was also the atmosphere of campagning for human rights with people carrying pictures of Gandhi, King, and Mandela. Amnesty International and the Communist Party also got in on the action. It made me think of what the 1960's must have been all about. The police sealed off a very large perimeter, using buses to block the streets. The marchers were surrounded by police in riot gear. There were also plainclothesmen and police all in black on motorcycles. The march passed the historic King David Hotel where Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice have stayed. My biggest fear was that someone planted a bomb somewhere, but it was fine. I recovered with a trip to the American Colony for drinks :-).

Trude Dothan, Asthma & Revising Syllabi

2007-06-16T04:15:00.000-07:00

Last night I went to Trude's house for shabbat dinner. Trude is Trude Dothan, the Grande Dame of Philistine archaeology. I've been a semi-regular guest there throughout the past year. Trude is always up for enjoying an ouzo or an arak and tells great stories about her long career in archaeology and her many excavations. The photo shows Trude holding court in the Albright garden earlier in the year. Afterward I met up with some friends in the garden bar of the at the American Colony Hotel, but by that time, I switched to Perrier. One of the friends, Beatrice, I met some 14 years ago while still a student when I helped lead a group from the Albright around Crete. The garden bar is lovely and feels more like Hawaii than east Jerusalem. It's been very windy the last few days and it was cold enough that we enjoyed our drinks wrapped in blankets. The wind has also created a lot of dust and pollen, which has been irritating my asthma, so I'm using my inhaler a lot. Problems in the Gaza strip resulted in a number of road blocks and check points yesterday, the day of Friday prayers, but things stayed quiet. I was indoors working all day, but heard about this from others. Today I lost 3 hours to re-arranging the lecture schedule on the syllabus of one of my classes. The syllabus for my seminar is already online.

i-Chat, Do you?

2007-06-13T12:53:00.000-07:00

I just found out my best friend, Bob Anderson, has a new mac book and just signed up for i-chat. I have i-chat too, but no one to chat with until now. Bob was online tonight at the same time as me and we were able to have some face time. It's the first time I've actually seen him since November. Bob was the man of honor at my wedding. It was great being able to have a face to face conversation with him and very easy. If any of you other friends have it, let me know your i-chat e-mail and we can talk. Even though the photo I took on the computer screen looks a bit blurred, it was actually quite clear.

Winding Down

2007-06-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

My time here is starting to wind down. I finally finished my book manuscript for Routledge. It was a long haul. I still have to type up the bibliography, write an introduction, and make corrections, but I'm still planning to send it off by the end of the month.
It's hard to believe that I'll be home soon, especially since I have a lot of things I still want to do before I leave.
Last week I gave a lecture at Bar Ilan University in Tel Aviv. You can read about it on Aren Maeir's blog.

Catching Up With Friends in Nicosia

2007-05-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

Today, Andrew and I went to the Museum to see the exhibit celebrating the 80th anniversary of the Swedish Cyprus Expedition. I took him for lunch at Demos and then went there again to see my friends: I had dinner with Angelos, Niki, and Red Check (photo). I'll post some pictures on my blog over the weekend. The next day, I returned to Jerusalem. The photos show Demos Taverna, Me and Demos.

Nicosia: The Mother Hash

2007-05-29T12:34:00.000-07:00

I arrived in Cyprus two days ago for a short working break, to renew my tourist visa, and catch up with friends. I’m staying at the Cyprus American Archaeological Research Institute, where I spent nearly a year when I had my Fulbright. Since my favorite taverna is closed on Sunday’s, I went up the street to TGI Fridays and had Nachos with American style chedder (yellow, not white like in Oz) and a margarita. Funny to go to Cyprus for American food.

On Monday I enjoyed a mystery novel and a cappuccino at the Starbucks on Ledra St, walked around the old city and took photos, then went to my favorite Taverna, the St George, owned by our friend Demos. We ate there nearly every night and I picked olives at his farm in Zygi 7 years ago.

On Tuesday, I did some work in the library and bought books at Moufflon. I also went to run with our mother hash - the Nicosia Horrible Hash House Harriers. The turnout for the Hash was small, but I still enjoyed it. Heidi and Paul who threw that big party at Abu Faisel last year on New Years have moved to Perth, so maybe we will see them at the Interhash. Afterward, I met up with Andrew McCarthy, who co-chairs my ASOR session. It was nice to hear more about what he does outside of the hectic atmosphere of the ASOR meeting

The Albright, the Fulbright, and the Not-So-Bright

2007-05-24T11:25:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday's Shwarma fest marked the end of this year's academic program at the Albright Institute, the first member of the American Schools of Oriental Research consortium. The end of the year is also marked by photographing the all of the fellows for the Albright Institute Newsletter. Here I'm featured with the prominent Biblical scholar Anson Rainey who was the Annual Professor prior to my arrival and with the Barton Fellow, Matthew Suriano - we asked to be photographed together as he is a current UCLA student and I'm a past one. Matt is also giving a paper in my ASOR session this year!

Tel es-Safi/Gath Day 5

2007-05-17T14:00:00.000-07:00

Today was the final day of the pre-season at Tel es-Safi and we're all pretty happy cause we helped get Jeff's trench (you can see during and after shots) all nice and clean for the season in July. Our group photo shows Itzak, me, Rotem, Jeff (the Area F supervisor), and Julie. That evening we went to a bar b q at Deb's house for some great steaks - cooked on an Aussie bar b q!

Lachish, Beth Shemesh, and Duncan MacKenzie

2007-05-16T17:50:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, I took a break from the week of digging to go on the last Albright field trip to the sites of Lachish and Beth Shemesh. Most people are interested in Lachish because of a preserved Assyrian siege ramp on the other side of the Tel, but my interest is in the Canaanite temples, which have been dismantled since the time of their excavation. One photo shows our group ascending toward the Iron Age gate. There wasn't much to see at Beth Shemesh, but this trench around the fortification wall was excavated by Duncan MacKenzie who worked with Evans at Knossos on Crete, and that makes it historically interesting.

Tel es-Safi/Gath Day 3

2007-05-15T09:35:00.000-07:00

One photo shows Julie, Rotem, and the view at the start of our day. The other photo shows a Palestinian boy with his two pet hawks. I won't be digging tomorrow because there is a fellows trip to Lachish and Beth Shemesh. I'll be back at Safi for the final day on Thurs before the regular season. Taking down the baulks will make room for the hordes of volunteers that will be joining us at the site (including 2 of my students!) in July.

Tel es-Safi/Gath Day 2

2007-05-14T09:31:00.000-07:00

This photo is during a break in the work. Julie on the right and Deb on the left are both members of the staff at Tel es Safi. Deb is also giving a paper in my session at the American Schools of Oriental Research meeting this November in San Diego. We continued taking down the baulks after removing a stone feature.

Pre-Season at Tel es-Safi/Gath Day 1

2007-05-13T17:10:00.000-07:00

I’ve finished 18 of 29 chapters of the book I’m working on and this week I’m taking a little break. For 5 days this week, I’m participating in a 5 day, pre-season excavation at Tel es-Safi-Gath led by the director, Prof. Aren Maeir of Bar Ilan, members of his team, and Jeff Chadwick of BYU. Today was my first day digging and we had a great time! We are working in Jeff’s area, Area F at the top of the tel. In the foreground of this photo from my earlier visit to the site, is a pierced stone used as part of a bone tool workshop from the early Iron Age and behind it is a rounded tower from the Crusader Period. I woke up with a sore throat this morning and was worried that I would end up wimping out, but the day just seemed to fly by. We are cleaning this area and taking down a couple of the baulks between excavation units in preparation for the July excavation season. The top photo shows us at the beginning and all of those piles of sandbags were taken down. I’ve got two students coming here and I think they’re going to have a great time!

For We Are Jolly Good Fellows!

2007-05-03T12:45:00.000-07:00

I had a low key birthday celebration a today - aka Drinko de Mayo. I spent most of the day working and am halfway through my book. My husband surprised me by sending a dozen roses (while pretending to forget it was my birthday) and after dinner, a bunch of us (Matt, Karen, Yours Truly, Anne, Ed [and Ben taking the photo!] went to the American Colony Hotel - a very old hotel where a lot of embassy and media types go - and had cosmopolitans.

Samaritan Passover: The Silence of the Lambs

2007-04-30T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today we went to Mt. Gerizim in the region of Samaria, in the west bank, in the north, to view the Samaritan Passover. While graphic, I have chosen not to post the most graphic photos. The Samaritans are a sect claiming descent from the northern kingdom of Israel, and carry out a ritual sacrifice of sheep that follows ancient traditions. At 3 pm there is a fire lighting ceremoney in 5, deep, plaster lined pits and these fires are kept burning for about 5 hours in advance of the cooking. Each pit is lit separately with chanting. About an hour before the sacrifice there is more chanting and prayer. The chanting is rhythmic and becomes more intense leading up to the sacrifice. The sacrifice involves the killing of about 30 sheep. They drain the blood into a channel, prepare the sheep, then cook the offal and skins separately as a sacrifice, then cook the whole sheep on a spit, with 5-6 sheep in a fire pit. It was one of the most intense and amazing things I've ever witnessed. Hundreds of people watched in bleachers like the kind you see at a football game. I counted at least 15 tour buses in the village! Right after they made the first cut, a guy fainted about 4 rows behind me! I had to take off all my clothes when I got home to wash and take a shower to get the smell of burning lamb out of my hair. We couldn't eat any leavened bread or prepared food in front of the Samaritans because it goes against their beliefs. I had a big lunch before I left the Albright, and I didn't really feel like eating last night after what I saw and I didn't really feel like eating the next day! Although Australia has the best lamb I've ever tasted, I don't plan on eating any of it for a while. Although I enjoyed the experience, I did not really even want to look at my photos for a few days.

Tel Aviv Hash, Aussie Run 680: Yaqum, South of Netanya

2007-04-28T21:01:00.000-07:00

The following description of the run, is an edited version of what the hares (Fer Fox Sake and Russian Bride) wrote:
Strewth Cobbers , how do you make the warm amber taste used for down downs better than an abo's jockstrap? Simple you add the greatest bonzer known food to it - even mothers milk does taste better with a savoury spread, made from an extract of brewers yeast, eaten on sandwiches and toast. or from a spoon in conjunction with the amber fluid.

So there we were standing around like shags on rock waiting for any more hashers to turn up , a motley bunch of four decided to run along with the hares, the hares gave the ducks guts and it was "on On" - what was real beaut woz that Goldo had to check it out more times than she has ever done because there were so few on the trail. Richo, Clair and Up the Duff Pausey also ran around looking chooks with no heads trying to find the start of the trail.

Eventually we went over the bridge next to the servo and thru the sand where all the whingers thought they were on a dead cert until the drongos realised that there were two trails but they did not chuck a spaz. At the next hold like a bunch of derros, the hashers took forever to find the trail and then again thru the sand we hit the cliffs where luckily and for a bloody change there were no poofters on the beach swinging their wedding tackle around ,

Setting off again down to the never never, we thought that the hashers would chuck a spaz, and with no seppo's on the run, the hashers were flat out like lizards drinking trying to find the trail. We eventaully got to the half way and introduced the all time international classic "C'mon on Aussie C'mon" complete with a Mexican wave.

The second half gave the option for the most daft short cut option, just run accross Hwy 2 or continue on. They continued on to right till we got to a tunnel under the road where some noggin had decided to drop a bondi cigar at the entrance in between setting the hash and running it.

Well Goldo and Up the Duff Pausey spat the dummy and decided to LONG CUT and run over the bridge ahead. What nongs. Then again tempting fate, we ran back down the side of the bloody Hwy

The servo could have been seen but the hares wanted to cheese off the pack a bit more so went to the back of beyond and woop woop before the on in.

Back at the circle the walkers waited and drank amber fluid as the pack ran in. Fer Fox Sake sharing a Sheila moment complained that with his shaved legs (done for sporting reasons to make him go faster) that he now has sympathy with the other sheilas that running thru scrub scratches your legs more when they a softer than a rug rats bum.

Now to continue the Anzac Spirit with each down down the hasher had to first lick a spoon of vegemite (think vegemite shooter) before doing the down down , and fair suck of the sav bottle not one wanker did not like the taste it made warm beer taste better

Achziv and Akko Trip

2007-04-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

Today we went to the archaeological sites of Achziv and Acco in the north. Achziv is a largely unexcavated coastal site within view of the Lebanese border (waves) with 11th c. chamber tombs cut into the bedrock. Acco was an important Bronze Age through Crusader site, and is interesting to me because of a portable ship’s alter found there with ship graffiti on it like you see at Kition in Cyprus.

Die Zauberfloete: Mozart’s Da Vinci Code

2007-04-20T23:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to see the Mozart’s Opera, The Magic Flute, at the Palestinian National Theater. It was performed by a touring group from England, so of course it was in English, although one of the production people was with the music program at Melbourne Uni! The sets were minimal, which reminded me of the way the way the RSC performs.
I’ve always wanted to see the Magic Flute ever since I taught a course on Black Athena because Mozart was a mason and there are many coded references to Masonic philosophy, Egypt and Enlightenment in the opera. I thoroughly enjoyed it - especially at the price of 20 sheckels (about 5 dollars), which is less than a sandwich costs in Melbourne. Maybe Dan Brown will write his version!

Ani Lomedet Ivrit!

2007-04-16T11:19:00.000-07:00

Which means: I study Hebrew. Yes, the symbols make more sense than this Nabatean rock art from the Wadi Rum. I can read street signs now and know about 100 words, which is about 90 more than I knew when I got here. However, some of the signs look a lot like Greek letters, but have different values. When I'm tired (like today) I start to read them that way and they don't make much sense. I swam almost a mile earlier today before Hebrew and Arabic. We pay for the Arabic lessons by the month and I'm dropping them after today, because it's too much and I need to finish the book I'm writing.

If There's Global Warming, Why Is It So Cold?

2007-04-14T08:37:00.000-07:00

I was going to go to the hash in Tel Aviv today, but ended up not going because it was cold and rain was predicted. It has not really rained here, but I just decided I didn't want to be stuck there trying to get to the bus station in the rain, like 2 weeks ago, when I slipped and hurt my knee. There was supposed to be a Jerusalem hash today, but no one showed up for it. I think I'll give up on them. I ended up just going for a run on my own. I am soooo over being cold, although at least my room isn't unbearably cold anymore.

Tribulations

2007-04-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

Some of the American Expats in Oz think things are difficult, but consider what happened to me yesterday. I always keep my laptop locked to something and 2 days ago my lock just fell apart. The Office Depot in Jerusalem does not carry computer locks and I had to visit 20 stores (both in Palestinian east Jerusalem and in Jewish west Jerusalem) before finding one in the Christian quarter of the Old City. Last night I had pretty much given up and ordered a Kensington lock on E-Bay. Even with the shipping it came out a dollar cheaper than what I paid in Jerusalem.

April 7, 2007: The 300

2007-04-07T13:02:00.000-07:00

I went with my friend Dalit tonight to see the 300 - about the Spartans fighting the Persians at the Battle of Thermopylae. It was based on the Graphic novel by Frank Miller (Robocop & Sin City). The dialog and the movie was a little hokey in parts, (I don't think Leonidas ever had to fight an Orc!), but I still really enjoyed it. Dalit and I were among just a handful of females at the movie.
Earlier today I ran 5 miles and went with 2 of the other fellows into the Old City and we had lunch at the Austrian Hospice. I bought some Nike socks there - just 15 sheckels for 3 pairs - about the cost of 1 pair in Australia.

Completing Our Pilgrimage

2007-04-06T14:30:00.000-07:00

Part of the pilgrimage experience is to record the completion of the successful pilgrimage, which is what we’ve done here. Being a pilgrim works up a powerful appetite, so we went to Abu Shukri for hommous afterward!

Ascending the Via Dolorosa

2007-04-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

The more serious pilgrims slowly make their way up the Via Dolorosa or way of sorrows toward the final stations in the church of the Holy Sepulcher.