Dig days can sometimes be very routine and repetitive. Recently, I have been doing a lot of sifting and peeling back layers of dirt, wondering if something will finally emerge. There is always discussion with each new layer about what this crack or that strain of caliche might mean. But where I have been digging has been rather boring this week, and nothing definitive has appeared.
So I would like to give short introductions to my fellow cohorts, whose faces have escaped publication here… until now:
Sophie is our leader… chronologically. That is, she arrived first, by quite a bit. She is our creative and artistic companion, and she always has a smile to cheer people up. This is her (on the right) in Jerusalem, in front of the shrine to the Hospitalers.
Geoffery is the pious one. He set out on a quest in Jerusalem for a place to pray. In the Sepulchral, he was nearly crushed by the crowds. Finally here, in the Hagia Maria, he fulfilled his task.
Don is our “wild and crazy guy.” He is up for nearly any challenge. And he is exploring the Holy Land with such fervor, we all wonder what exactly her is searching for. Here he is looking out over Jerusalem from the Tower of David.
Eric is the epidemy of friendship. He is always there in support of his friends and backs them whenever they need it. Here, he is standing in what I believe was a room used for cultic (religious) purposes, revealed in an archaeological dig behind St. Peter in Gallicantu (of the Cocking Crow).
Alex is our Islamist, having studied Islam and Arabic, I turned to him when my knowledge is faulty and he always has an answer. Alex is a friendly, down-to-earth guy who keeps the mood mellow. This is him at the dig site, sifting through the remnants of the past.
Now you have seen the all. This weekend brings more and new exciting things. This weekend we travel south.