The dig is over. I still have a day left on the kibbutz but the tools have neem put away, the container has been packed and the field tents have been taken down. The last five weeks are still a little difficult to digest but as the memories are still fresh, I’ll try to paint a picture. Being an archaeologist was something I had wanted as a child but one day dismissed as a childhood fantasy. When I looked at my schedule one day and realized that I had been taking all history and anthropology classes, I realized things had all but come full circle. My first day at the dig site was hardly what I had expected. Really, I didn’t know what to expect. We woke up before the sun did, at 4am to be exact. Such would be the routine for the next five weeks.
The work didn’t mirror the childhood fantasy that had been deeply embedded in my imagination but seeing the reality of archaeological excavation was just as riveting. The days were hot–extremely hot–and each day I returned from the site covered in a thick film of dirt, sunblock, sweat and insect repellant. But the work was very rewarding. Most of the pottery we found was from the Iron Age, with some Early Bronze and Chalcolithic as well, and ours is believed to be a Judahite site. The skills I learned are indispensable: thinking spatially and digging stratigraphically. That is, peeling through layers of dirt and soil all while systematizing the relative positions of objects and artifacts. There is the dormant fear that I may not be able to keep these skills as sharp as I’d like since there will likely be much time in between dig seasons but the eager amateur can find things to do to keep both the skills and the trowel sharp.
Kibbutz living, though usually slow and devoid of energy after a long, early day of digging, was a vacation in itself. The locals were part of a tightly woven fabric and welcomed us into their community with endearingly wide-eyed enthusiasm. Most of the Jewish traditions were observed but being a secular Jewish community, Kibbutz Ruhama was home a to a diverse range of lifestyles. The only thing that stands out in my mind more than the dig experience itself was having an ice cold beer beneath the starry sky in front of my room. In the pre-industrial age, our ancestors were much more aware of the cycles of the heavens and Earth. But it seems as if once this 21st century urbanite was planted beneath the star-studded night sky, away from light pollution and the trappings of “civilization,” all those hard-wired visceral feelings soon returned. It was easy to feel completely and totally like I was the living universe observing itself. Looking up and seeing the constellations or gazing out over a desert expanse allows us to feel more intimately connected with the universe in which we exist.
So to any would-be intrepid travelers, I cannot possibly exaggerate the vital importance of going abroad. If not archaeology, if not Israel, anywhere. Jerusalem, or J-Town as I now call it, has made it into the “Top 5” on my list of favorite places in the world. I got lost there, I talked to strangers, I met some really top notch creeps, went to museums, got ripped off, learned to haggle in both Arabic and Hebrew, and on two separate weekends, stayed in this beautiful city (which, not to mention, is older than my country!). The three major world religions converge here and I visited places that I’ve only read about in History books. I walked through the halls of palaces, floated in dead seas, saw sunrises from fortresses and high altitudes, rode camels and even got my butt handed to me by 60-pound Israeli kids in arcade fighting games. I saw, felt, and smelled things that forced me to recalibrate my senses and I have little choice in the matter of seeing the world, my home country, myself differently. Have no apprehensions about leaving your comfort zone because once you take the dive, they’ll dissipate anyhow and the rewards will certainly outweigh the risks.
Justin Simon
Purchase College Archaeology 