Don and Bernice's trip to Jerusalem
I wasn't going to send this first oil painting (in 40 years) to everyone, but since it isn't horrible, here it is. It's not great either, but I feel satisfied, I think I am getting the feel of the paint which is very different from water color. You are welcome to critique. I call it Jerusalem poppies. I've started another one, I'm using the picture of the sunrise I took here in Jerusalem as a reference but changing the skyline..........we'll see how this turns out.
Shalom.............Bernice
Tuesday was my second trip to Tel Bernah. I wasn't sure if I would go a second time, but after finding a camp chair in an army-navy surplus store, I decided that with the comfort of a halfway decent place to sit, I just might survive. This week we measured and laid out 100, ten by ten meter squares (I say we, but I spent the whole time taking pictures and sitting on my little camp chair). The squares are divided by string stretched between stakes, some of the squares go over the edge of the tel and part way down the hill. After much measuring and stringing and hammering stakes, we started our search for surface shards and finds (I actually helped a little with this activity). Every thing that is found in a square is placed in a bag which is labeled for the square. It was amazing how many surface finds there were, but all were small pieces.
Bernah is thought to be the city of Libnah as mentioned in the Bible.
Reverence:
Numbers 33:20,21
Joshua 10:29-39
Joshua 12:15
Joshua 15:42
Joshua 21:13
II Kings 8:22
II Kings 19:8
II Kings 23:31
II Kings 24:18
I Chronicles 6:57
Jeremiah 52:1
This is Don's class (I took the picture) sitting in a field of plowed under sunflowers. Behind us is Tel Bernah, the hill that is flat on top.
Measuring the squares
Some of the weeds were missed by last week's fire and had to be hoed out.
Searching for shards.
Shalom.............Bernice
JUC (Jerusalem University Collage) has been given permission to excavate a tel. Tel Bernah is about an hour drive South and West of the school. This tel has not been explored before, the only digging that has been done on it is some trenches made by the Israeli army during the 1948 war of independence. It is not easy to be granted a site, besides having to meet many criteria, you can be denied just because they don't want you to have it. Yesterday Don's archeology class went to the site to begin preparing it for excavation. I went too.
Eight AM, the bus pulled to the side of the highway and stopped in front of a dirt road, we piled out, and started hiking up the hill to Tel Bernah. First order of business, get rid of the tangle of brush and dried grass so that we can see the topography. It looked like an imposable task. I imagined 20 students, a couple of archeologists and a surveyor all hacking away at bushes and pulling up weeds......... imposable task............lets all go home! Dr. Coe, (Dons teacher and aerologist in charge) asked if any one in the group had fire fighting experience, one girl raised her hand and said that her boy friend is a fire fighter, would that do? The process of how to manage a controlled burn was explained to is and shovels, hoes, mops (for stamping out flames) and buckets of water for dipping the mops were handed out. There were not enough "tools" for everyone so I graciously let the others take the tools and I deemed myself the official photographer. I kept busy trying to avoid the smoke (the wind direction changed frequently) and taking pictures while the rest of the group managed the fire. Don and the others were enjoying themselves, this was one of the few times, and maybe the only time, in their lives that they could play with fire and not get in trouble for it. We ran out of matches but found that dried cow dung would smolder. Smoldering dung would be taken to a patch of dry grass and the grass would ignite. There were only a few casualties, a water jug that wasn't removed from the path of the fire fast enough, and several people were stung. The bees were upset because we burned out their home, they are very vindictive. The hill that had been covered with brush was now black and speckled with white rocks. Parts of an ancient wall could be seen, the army trenches could be seen and bits of broken pottery.
While the surveyor and his assistant were finishing up, Dr. Coe lectured about the site. I sat on a warm rock with the others, feeling tired dirty and sooty and looked down at the valley around us and the hills beyond. How beautiful it is, the valleys, the rolling hills, other tels and cities in the distance. I could see the highway that brought us, winding through the valley and fading off into the distance. What is that on the highway? It has been there for a while, it's quite a distance away......... maybe a mile or two. It looks like a bus sitting by a dirt road. "I hope that's not our bus, that's a long way to walk." I thought. When Dr. Coe finished his lecture, he asked if there were any questions. I raised my hand and asked "Is that our bus way down there?" After showing him what I was referring to, he said something about idiot bus drivers, pulled out his cell phone and made a phone call. The bus then began to move and while we collected our tools and hiked down the hill, the bus came and parked in front of our dirt road. We got home around 5:30 and I was glad that I had loaded the crock pot before I had left that morning, dinner was waiting.
Today was my second time in the History of Syro-Palestine class. It is a very interesting class, among other things, I learned that if you ask a question, you may be assigned extra reading and asked to make a report on it. Oh well.........it's only 25 pages and I have a week to do it.
# 1 Starting fires at the bottom of the tel. Don in the lower right of the picture.
# 2 Fire moving up the tel
# 3 On the top of the tel, after we burned off the brush, we found a star. It was probably put there by soldiers who were encamped there during the 1948 War of Independence. A live shell exploded on the top of the tell when the fire passed over and an unexploded shell was found by one of the girls.
# 4 Some of the students resting in a rare bit of shade.
Shalom................Bernice
My first attempt was a disaster. I set up a still life and started in, after struggling with the background, I disassembled the still life, blended out what I had started on the canvas and considered how to begin again. Oils are very different from water color and I need to get the feel of the paint and start with something simple. Flowers are not difficult, I'll start with them. The Poppies that grow on the hills around Jerusalem in the spring are beautiful and I have some pictures of them, I'll use these pictures as reference and paint my own bouquet. I took a fresh canvas, layered in a background.........Hay, not too bad! I think I'm getting the hang of this..........and today I'll work on the flowers. After my "successful" second try, I am thinking, " This is fun, why didn't I do this sooner?" The last time I did anything with oils was in 1960!! I'm starting from scratch, but am excited about the challenge.
Because I don't have a torch here and don't have a place to use it, I have been frustrated about the silver smithing. There are things I can do with out a torch, but the things that I want to do requiring soldering. I give up, I'll just concentrate on an other medium, oils present the challenge I need. I'll let you know how it goes............
Shalom.................Bernice
No fresh produce in the house and Don will be at school all day, I guess I'll go to the shuke (something like a farmer's market and a flea market all in one) for fruit and vegetables. I robbed Don of all his small change, (best to have correct change at the shuke but I'll go into that later) grabbed my little shopping cart and headed off to the bus stop. Because the Shuke is in the middle of town, I decided to wander in and out of some shops first. Wow! End of summer sales! Stocking shelves with new fall arrivals! I'm on a role! After taking advantage of some of the sales, trying on most of the hats in a hat shop, buying two warm wooly scarves, (it's going to get cold soon) and picking up some oil paints, brushes and canvas, I went on up to the shuke.
The produce at the shuke is better, fresher, and costs less than in the market, it's worth the trip. The challenge at the Shuke is making sure you are getting the right change back. I try to have the right change or close to it because (since I look like a tourist who doesn't understand Hebrew or how shekels and agorot work) it's easier to know if they are short changing me than if I'm breaking a big bill. When I challenge them about my change they just look innocent, shrug their shoulders and act like they don't understand me, but if stay there, continue to complain and wave my arms around a bit, they will finely correct the "mistake". Most of the venders are pretty good, I only have to play this game occasionally. I got some produce, (not a lot because my cart was all ready full from the shopping I had already done) caught the bus, and trudged home.
Oil paints........yes, I'm going to play around with them for a while. It's been a long time since did anything with oils and feel that I need some hints in that area, so I emailed an artist friend for a little information before I get started. I'm anxious to start.
Don started classes Monday, but my first day was yesterday. I'm auditing a class with Don called History of Syro-Palestine 1---Graduate Level. The first day was very interesting, I think I'm going to like it. Yes.........a graduate level class......me! Since I'm just auditing the class, I don't have to write papers or take the tests unless I want to..........I don't want to.
More later............
Shalom..............Bernice
This months Biblical Archaeology Review (BAR) has an article based on the dig Bernice and I have been working on. It is on the web at www.bib-arch.org/barso00.2700.html Today Bernice and I went through the Siloam Channel (Channel II) with Eli Shukron the Archeologist shown in the article. I am attaching a snap shot it took of Bernice and Eli inside the tunnel close to channel 3 shown in the drawing linked to the article (www.bib-arch.org/barjf/barlight9901b.html).
(Links no longer work, ed.)
Don and Bernice Tuttle
All finds have been washed and numbered, we finished today. This worked out well because Don starts school tomorrow. While numbering finds, I found a piece of pot with a seal stamped on it. It had been missed by Elli, the archeologist in charge when he first went through the finds. I showed it to him, he was real excited, turns out that the seal is from the middle bronze age (2000 BC to 1550 BC). This means the pottery this shard is from, was made before the Exodus from Egypt!!! Very exciting!!! Some of these very old pieces of pottery have fingerprints baked into them from the craftsman who made them. Something about seeing and touching those finger prints and handling things that were made 3000 and 4000 years ago amazes me.
More later.....
Shalom..........Bernice
I thought you would like to see ClioB and my matching set of drivers. The dust on the back side of ClioB is genuine Tel Dor dirt. This picture was taken the evening Ron left, we were on our way to have a parting meal. ClioB was with us during Ron and Randy's stay, Ron drove her back to the airport and returned her when he left. I'm sure the first thing they did when they got her back, was give her a bath, inside and out!!!
Shalom.........Bernice
Ron left from Tel Aviv on Tuesday the 15th and is home safe and sound in Palo Alto. We enjoyed Ron's visit very much.
Don will start school again the first week in September. Until then he is working at the dig here in Jerusalem. I went with him yesterday, the weather has cooled off and it was a pleasant day to wash shards. They are going to start putting identifying numbers on some of the finds next week and asked me if I would like to do that. I would, and plan to spend most of next week at the dig.
Digging at the tels is only done in the summer, during the rest of the year there is too much rain. They cover some of the dig with plastic tarps and cover the tarps with sand and sand bags to protect it through the winter. Not only winter weather does damage to the dig, but curious people and vandals sometimes do damage also. Some of the finds from Tel Dor were put on display the last week Don and Ron were there. Here is a sample of some of the things that were found during this seasons dig:
#1 Gold jewelry
#2 Mosaic stone flooring
#3 Small statue pieces
#4 Goddess Nike (Don's find)
Shalom..............Bernice
Yes, the part came in, the repair man came, and the gas man came. We can now use our stove and dryer!!! The only problem with this is that I have to come up with another excuse for going out to dinner.
Don and Ron came home Friday afternoon tired and with stories and pictures of their last week at the dig. There was a special dinner Thursday evening, some of the volunteers celebrated all night and into the morning. Friday morning there were 15 people missing from the dig, and many who did make it were hung over. This made for an interesting day.
Even though I came back early, I got a certificate for having worked at the dig, it's my proof that I really did it. Here are some of the pictures:
#1 The Glass factory, I spent most of my time here.
#2 Washing shards in front of the glass factory.
#3 There was a dog hanging around the dig who liked to steal people's gloves.
#4 The restroom facilities at the dig, another reason to spend my time at the glass factory.
Shalom..............Bernice
The gas in our apartment has not been turned on yet (we're waiting for a part for the stove), and so we can't use the dryer yet. We had a lot of laundry from our week at the dig. The clothes line on the back porch (directly behind me) was not big enough to hold it all, so I strung a line from the window to the closet. I needed to get it all done on Saturday, because Don is leaving for Dor today. When Don came in and saw clothes drying over the bed, he decided that this deserved a picture.
Shalom...........Bernice
It's a beautiful Sunday morning here in Jerusalem. Don and I came to our apartment for the weekend, Don will go back to Dor today, but I am going to stay here. Ron did not come with us, he joined a tour group to Galilee. It has been an interesting experience seeing how digging at a tel works, and how they handle the finds. I enjoyed the interesting part, but the hardships were a HARDSHIP !!! I'm not made of the tough stuff that Don, Ron, and the other workers are, I pooped out.
While Don and Ron were sweating in the dusty "pits" with the other workers, I spent this last week at The Glass Factory washing and writing identifying numbers on the shards. The Glass Factory is a little more than a half of a mile from the dig, there is a museum, small gift shop (air-conditioned) and a crowded little office and storage room (also air-conditioned). Shard washing and numbering is done outside under some huge eucalyptus trees, and most of the time there was a wonderful breeze coming off the ocean.
The Glass factory was built in the 1890s to make glass wine bottles for the grape growers in the area. The bottles leaked, the sand was not of a quality to make bottles, and importing sand was too costly, the factory shut down. Now the lower floors are used for the museum, gift shop, and shard storage, but the upper floor has no ceiling, it's an impressive building.
On our drive back to Dor last weekend, my matching set of drivers (Don & Ron) were strangely quiet. Then I realized why..............
"Is she back there taking notes?"
"I think so"
They were afraid that they would be the subject of my next email........now would I do a thing like that?
I'm looking forward to this coming week. I'll be able to eat what I want to and when I want to, sleep when I want to, and best of all, get up when I want to. What a luxury! Jerusalem is cooler than Dor and that will be a pleasant change too. More later.............
Shalom...........Bernice
It's Friday morning and we feel refreshed having slept in our comfortable beds last night. We were given a three day weekend and decided to come back to Jerusalem to do laundry and rest in the comfort of our apartment, it's only a two hour drive from Dor to Jerusalem.
The big excitement yesterday was that Don found a statue of the Goddess Nike. He was digging below a wall, found her and identified her as a statue, others thought this was just a hunk of column. She had been damaged by someone using a pick, and one of her breasts had been knocked off. They had to take out some of the wall in order to get her out safely and spent some time searching through the debris for her right breast. They didn't find it. Oh, she doesn't have a head either, but that was done a long time ago. The statue is about 3 feet high and the first statue of that size found there, little statuettes have been found, but nothing that big. She is thought to be from the Hellenistic period which would have been between 330 BC and 63 BC. Don tried to name her Goddess Bernice, but they wouldn't buy it. Shards, coins, beads, statuettes, and more pot shards have been found there.
My day washing pot shards went well.......I can do that and will the rest of the time. Shard washing takes place under big Eucalyptus trees and I do pretty much what we did at Don's dig in Jerusalem.
Pictures: #1 Workers at the dig. There are men who work too, but for some reason, most of Don and Ron's pictures show the young girls.
#2 Here she is
#3 Digging her out
#4 Don and his square captain with Nike
More later......... Shalom..........Bernice
Wednesday.........We left Sunday morning for Dor. Don and Ron took turns driving and navigating and I curled up in the back seat with four pillows, watched the scenery, and listened to Don and Ron's discussions about which road to take and where to make the next turn.
"Where do we turn off of this road?"
"At the fold in the map."
"OK."
I kept looking for a line across the road where the fold in the map would be, then..........
"How much further?"
"About this much" Holding his thumb and finger about an inch apart.
"This much?" Also holding his thumb and finger about an inch apart.
"yes"
"OK"
No need for the radio to be on in the car, their conversations were great entertainment, from time to time I got the giggles listening to them. Only once did we have to stop and ask directions, and that was shortly before arriving at our destination.
At the Pardes Hanna Agricultural School, the grounds were nicely landscaped (I guess you should expect that at an agricultural school). After some fussing around we were assigned our rooms. They are set up for four to a room but since Don and I are married, they found an empty room in another building for us. Wow! The room they gave us has an attached bathroom! We told Ron about our luxurious accommodations and invited him to join us. When Ron saw that staying with us meant that he would not have to go down the hall to the bathroom, he gladly moved in with us.
So that you can all feel sorry for us, I will give you our daily schedule:
4:15 am Wake up, get coffee and a snack
4:35 am Board busses for Tel Dor
5:00 am Excavation begins
7:00 am Peanut butter break (10 minutes)
9:00 am Breakfast (in the field), daily swim (optional)
10:00 am Excavation continues
11:30 am 20 minute break for fruit
1:00 pm Excavation ends
1:15 pm Travel back to school for lunch
4:30 pm Pottery reading, stratigraphy sessions and lectures
7:00 pm Dinner Evenings and weekends are free
Half way through the first day of digging I was thinking "Is this worth it?" My back hurt, my legs ached, the dust up my nose had given me a headache, and the heat was smothering. After "breakfast" I spent the rest of the day sitting with the recorder under a tarp.......even that was miserably hot...........can I do this? Do I want to do this? When the alarm rang at 4:00 am Tuesday morning, I said "Go with out me, I'm sick" I slept in Tuesday morning until about 8:00 when the maids came in to clean. The rest of the morning I slept and read, then around 1:00 pm I went down to the cafeteria to wait for Don and Ron and lunch. I stayed at our room again today, but tomorrow I will go with them and spend the day washing pottery shards, maybe I can handle that a little better than digging.
More later............ Shalom..............Bernice
Sunday we are leaving for the dig at Tel Dor and will be helping with the dig for three weeks. I don't know how much digging I will be doing. The tell is right next to the beach and my plan is to sneak down to the beach........ they won't miss me. We will take the laptop with us, and hopefully there will be a phone outlet to plug into. I don't think that I could survive three weeks with out my email life line. Writing these letters is my coping therapy.
We rented a car for the time that Ron is with us. Don, Ron, and sometimes I, have been running around in the car to various dig and antiquity suites. We continue to walk or take the bus here in town, it's easier than trying to find a parking place. Don and Ron walked over to the school library this morning and I have this computer all to my self, no one pacing around waiting for their turn.
Don, Ron, and Randy (when he was here) have been doing the dishes for me. It's so nice to relax in the evening and let them do the cleaning up. We have no dish washer or garbage disposal, we're really roughing it.
Last night we did our first outing with the Civil Patrol. This is a branch of the Israel Police Department and is similar to neighborhood watch. Don and I walked (a few blocks) over to the Community Center where the Civil Patrol office is. We were briefed on what to watch for, got our official police vest and identification, were shown how to use the official police mobile phone, and met the rifle carrying man who would go with us. (We don't get guns because you have to be an Israel citizen and take a class to carry one. That's fine with me.) Soon after we started walking around the neighborhood, we saw a vehicle that looked like the one we were supposed to be watching for. Don pulled out the paper he had written the license number on, and.......this was the vehicle!!!! We fumbled around with the mobile phone trying to remember how it worked, called the patrol office and reported where we saw it and what direction it was going. The patrol office reported this to the police and they took over. How exciting! The men in this vehicle were known to be stealing from cars in the neighborhood. The rest of the evening was uneventful, we walked around the neighborhood and said "Shalom" to any one we met. This is a volunteer thing, and we will be doing it once a month or more. OK, I can hear it now, "Be careful!! Be careful!!". There is no danger to us, we just report when we see something that we think is suspicious.
The gas inspection man came to check the stove and dryer. He said they both had leaks and turned the gas of. This affects the stove and dryer but not the hot water, our water is solar heated. I have been hanging the laundry on a line in the back porch and things dry almost faster than they did in the dryer. The dryer man came and fixed the dryer. The stove man came this morning to fix the stove but said that he couldn't because the gas is off. The gas man won't turn on the gas until the stove is fixed. Oh well..........we are going to be gone for three weeks and in that time Jody (our land lady) should have it all sorted out. For meals I have been using the micro wave, toaster oven, and the deli.
I don't think I will get another letter off before we leave on Sunday, but hope I will be able to send email from Tel Dor. If I can't, I'll cry a lot!!
More later...............Shalom........Bernice
Here are some pictures from Egypt:
#1 Here we are in front of the Sphinx and a pyramid
#2 Our escort in Alexandria
#3 Randy, Ron, and I
Shalom..........Bernice
There are not words to describe Egypt. Cairo is huge, 17 million people, and I was told that it is the third largest city in the world. Our hour and one half taxi ride from the airport to the hotel, which was in the middle of town, was harrowing. Few of the streets have lanes, and even if they do, no one pays any attention to them. We were on a street marked for three lanes and some times the cars were five abreast, added to that, there were horse and donkey carts (at least 2 or 3 in each block) poking down the street. Along the way, double and triple parking created bottle necks, there were few traffic lights, and people crossed the street any old place they took a notion. It was very exciting, like bumper cars at the fair but with people crossing and donkey carts added..............cars, busses, carts, and trucks all vying for position ......... people crossing in the middle of it all and no one stopping or slowing down for them. Now the drivers here in Israel look meek.
Just a little note of interest, "four star hotel" does not mean the same thing in Egypt as it does in the US. Fortunately the four of us took this discovery with humor and had some good laughs about it. We survived the hotel stay, but Jerusalem and our apartment looked real good to us when we got back.
We visited the Pyramids, Sphinx, Museum, Antiquity suites, and spent a day in Alexandria. We hired a guide to take us to Alexandria and that trip was a whole experience in it's self. Before we got into the city of Alexandra, our guide stopped the car and talked to some soldiers along the side of the road, next thing we knew, we had an armed escort through the city, they stayed with us until we were leaving the city, waiting for us at each stop. As we went through narrow streets in the old part of the city, people stopped and stared at us as we followed our escort of 5 heavily armed men, two of witch were sitting in the bed of the truck facing us. It was unreal, like what you would see in a movie, but we were experiencing it.
While in Alexandra, a pretty little Egyptian girl took a fancy to Randy. Our guide translated for Randy and Nosa, and they exchanged phone numbers. I don't know how that would work, if Randy called, neither could understand the other. She was a cute girl, and she and her two friends kept looking at Randy and blushing and giggling.
Security at the airport, both leaving Israel and entering Israel was more extensive than I have ever seen it. Probably because of the talks in Camp David, they are being very careful.
Randy and Don are doing something with the pictures, so I'll wait for them to get done before I send any.
Petra in Jordan was going to be our next stop, but we were all so tired from the Egypt trip, that we decided not to go. Another time, maybe.
More later............. Shalom....................Bernice
Ron (Don's brother) and Randy (Ron's son in-law) arrived Friday evening, and we're having a great time. Don has Ron to talk with about antiquities and digs, and I have Randy to shop with. Randy and I have done The Old City, Ben Yehuda Street and the shook (the shook is a cross between a farmers market and swap meet). Ron spent the day washing shards with Don yesterday. This afternoon we are leaving for Egypt, so it will be about a week before you hear from us again. Shalom...........Bernice
Pictures:
#1 These are the guys that I have been hanging out with.
#2 The Chief Shard and Bottle Washer at the Kidron Valley dig.
#3 First assistant to The Chief Shard and Bottle Washer.
I got up later this morning, and found another beautiful sunrise. I just had to pass it on to you.
Today, I was first assistant to the chief shard washer at the dig site. Yes, Don got me to go with him. He bribed me with breakfast in the Old City, and a promise that if I got tired, or too hot, or just didn't like it, he would take me home. Besides, there was an Arab bus we could catch, we wouldn't have to walk. While waiting for the bus in the Arab section, an Arab sheroot (shared taxi) came by and offered to take us. We "discussed" price with him and he said he would take us for only one shekel more, each, than the Arab bus. OK, we got in. What a ride! Speeding up and down narrow winding roads, making quick stops to pick up others, or to have a chat with another cheroot driver who was also in the middle of the street.
Washing shards was a pleasant job. The only tree on the site is an olive tree and we sat on benches under it. We would put a bucket of shards into a blue tub of water and take our little brushes and scrub them, when they were clean we would drop them into the green tub of water. When all the shards from one bucket were washed we would set them out to dry making sure they were all together with their identifying tag. The water was cool and the brushes would throw sprinkles of water into our faces, it felt good.
The workers seemed to be fascinated that a woman was there. Don had to keep getting out his Arab phrase book and explain to them that I am his wife. One young fellow kept getting right in my face and smiling, I just smiled back. Don took a picture of me with some of the guys.
The dig is down to a wall that is believed to be part of the wall that was rebuilt by Nehemiah, as spoken of in Nehemiah 3:15. Originally built during Hezekiah's reign as mentioned in 2 Kings 20. The pottery shards that we were washing would be from those time periods.
More later.......... Shalom............Bernice
I was up early this morning. I got a cup of coffee, walked out on the balcony, and this is what I saw...............
Shalom............Bernice
