Only two more days until the dig starts!!

So that you know what some of the things that we have found so far, and would like to find more of, here is a nice picture of some vessels from the 9th century BCE (”Hazael”) destruction level.

So, let’s find more of this, and others …

Aren

After quite a lot of “back and forth”, Dr. Yigal Levin (the project educational director) and I have finalized (meanwhile …) the schedule for the lectures, field trips, etc. that we will have durign the 2008 season at Tell es-Safi/Gath.
This will give those of you who are joining us an idea about what you will be hearing/doing - besides digging. For those of you who could not join us this season (and clearly, will make an effort to join us next year) - you can see what you are missing!

2008_extra_dig_activities_schedule-1_7_081

Aren

I was on the tell today with a group that I guided and the tell is “looking good!” A lot of the thorns and thistles in the various areas have been cleaned, and the paths and signs around the site are on relatively good shape. It was not too hot - hope that it stays this way for the next month or so.

Fingers are getting itchy …

Aren

Wow! There is now less than a week and a half for the beginning of the season, and I’m starting to get “dig fever” …

It appears that we have a really nice group, with ca. 90 people on the team in the 1-3 weeks (and about 50 in the last). The group is a nice, diverse group, with people from all over the world, and with a wide variety of backgrounds. I have a feeling that this season is going to work out very nicely!

Now, what you all have to do is make a wish list, which does not have to be too long, just sufficiently sensational, of what you want us find, and we will make an effort to fullfil these wishes …
:-)

On Tuesday, July 1st, part of the team will be out in the field to mark the squares - refresh markings for old ones, and newly mark the new square (and new Area G - with possible fortifications).

So, as you can see, I’m looking forward for the season!!!

Aren

Hi to all,
Since my book is coming along nicely, I just wanted to give a few updates regarding the upcoming season - which starts VERY SOON - in two weeks and a half, on July 6th.

We will have a very nice, and rather large team this year, so I hope that we will be able to make nice progress in the various areas.

As of now, our work will be in the following areas;
Area A (Alex’s area): the main excavation area until now, on the easter side of the tell. We will be excavating Iron I and Iron IIA levels
Area D (Joe’s area): we will continue, and expand, the excavations in the area in lower city (to the north of the tell) that was started last year. We assume that we will continue to find Iron IIA finds, and hopefully earlier stuff as well.
Area E (Itzik’s area): Just to the east of Area A, we will continue to excavate EB II-III (and maybe some LB) material as well.
Area F (Jeff’s area): This area, to the NW of the tell summit, will continue to provide interesting and diverse finds. This year we will be working on; the MB II fortifications; LB, Iron I, Iron IIA, Iron IIB, perhaps Persian, and parts of the Crusader period fortifications.
Area P (Rona’s area): We will continue to excavate in this area (located to the west of Area A), since towards the end of last season we strated finding some intersting walls, perhaps dating to the Iron I or LB.
Area G (Iosi’s area): This is a new area that will opened this season. It is located to the south of Area A, on the slope. On surface one can see a very large wall, perhaps a fortification. We will try to understand what this is, what’s its date, etc.

All told - we should have a great season, with great finds, a great time, a great people!

See you soon!!

Aren

Just got the great news that Joe Uziel, long time member of the Safi staff and currently, the Area Supervisor of Area D (the lower city), has just had his PhD cofirmed, and so, as of now, he may be officially be called Dr. Uziel!!

Joe’s thesis, which is entitled: The Southern Coastal Plain of Canaan During the Middle Bronze Age (Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, 2008), is a regional study of the Southern Coastal Plain of Canaan during the Middle Bronze Age (ca. 2000-1550 BCE), based on previous studies (excavations and surveys) of the regions and the publication of the MB finds from two previously unpublished excavations - Tel Nagila and Tel Yavneh Yam. Joe carried out an in-depth analysis of the material culture, settlement pattern and political structure, and I believe produced a study that will be of much importance for anyone studying the coastal plain in general, and the Land of Israel during the MB.

Mazal tov! Mabruk! Great work!

Aren

P.S. We now have so many Doctors on the staff of the Safi excavations that we should open a clinic and start treating patients … My expertise will be dealing with “chronic cracked pots” …

Those of you who keep up with the blog on a regular basis know that Aren has mentioned Area D - the lower city various times in his posts. As the supervisor of Area D, I figured it would be nice to fill you in on what happened there our first season. In fact, even many of the people who visited the site last summer have no idea what Area D is - they usually just stopped to ask directions to the other areas (actually, Aren is the one who told them to do that).

Area D is located north of the tell, next to the southern bank of the Ela River. Aren’s decision to excavate there (as far as I know) was based on the following:

- the survey findings, which led us to believe that there was an extensive lower city to the north of the tell during the Iron Age.

- reports that Moshe Dayan did some excavations of his own near our excavation area.

- the presence of several walls, visible on the modern-day surface, include what may be the line of the city fortifications.

while only having excavated one season in Area D, it seems that Aren was right all along - there is an extensive lower city at Gath dating to the Iron Age II, making Tell es-Safi/Gath one of the largest cities in Ancient Israel!!!

In our first season we opened five squares. We discovered vessels similar to those found int he 9th Century BCE destruction level in Area A, as well as several mudbrick walls dating to the period. This is hopefully just the beginning of great things to come in Area D!!!

Since Aren is quite busy, I (Joe) have decided to post something on the blog - which I haven’t done in a long time. I was thinking of what I could post about, and the truth of the matter is that I had trouble coming up with something that I could write about which Aren hasn’t written about already.

I decided to write about the Crusader period at Safi - something which is quite far from my field of expertise (if I have one of those at all :-)). I looked through the posts on the blog, and noticed that we haven’t written too much about this - primarily due to the fact that not much had been excavated at the site dating to the period. this has changed in the past couple of seasons, with the discovery of part of the Crusader Castle uncovered in Area F (the circular structure in F Upper which you can see in this picture), as well as various finds (for example see this post by Aren on Crusader buttons).  In addition, A quarry was found along the cliffs of the tell which was used in order to build the castle.

The finds from the Crusader Period at the tell are much less extensive than those of the Bronze and Iron Ages.  The Crusader Castle, built at the top of the tell, in an attempt by the Crusaders to surround the Fatimid stronghold of Ashkelon.  The name of the castle - Blanche Garde (meaning something along the lines of the white guard) - is related to the white cliffs surrounding the tell.  These cliffs seem to have been the source for the name of the site in various periods, including the Arabic “Safi” (shining).

I’m sure that there is much more to say about the Crusader period at Tell es-Safi, but that is all that is coming to mind right now.  If anyone wishes to add (or correct) anything to this, please feel free to add comments.

Joe

Just wanted to assure everybody that even though I have not been posting much on the site for the last couple of weeks, I am still alive and kicking, and no, I have not been abducted by UFOs! Since there is just about a month left till the dig starts, and I am on a Sabbatical, I am trying to spend as much time as possible in the sisyphian effort of turning out a book that I owe for quite some time (on the Jordan Valley during the MB). In between various things that I have to do relating to the preparation for the dig, I am trying not to do too much that is not DIRECTLY related to the book.

My apologies …

Aren

Today, I had a chance to quickly visit part of Tell es-Safi with a small group. Although in fact, some of the signs that were put up were vandalized (some more extensively, some less), the ones that I saw were not that bad (although I did not go up to the top of the tell and see what is happening there). Thus, I hope, either the damage has been partly fixed, or the initial reports were a bit exagerated - thank god!

In any case, though, there difinitely is a someone who is trying to damage the work that was done on the site!

Aren