The Earth-sifters of Tel Bet Shemesh Essay -- Personal Narrative Essay

The Earth-sifters of Tel Bet Shemesh The newest addition to my bedroom wall is a framed enlargement of a spend solstice sunrise. Its not the only photo on my walls, but this one is different. In that photo, light from a nearly-visible sun looms up from behind a cluster of tents and human beings silhouettes that could easily date back to the Early Iron Age. In fact, those silhouettes belong to twenty-first century, Early Silicon Age students in search of thirteen degree Celsius year old artifacts atop an ancient, artificial mountain that was created over centuries as successive cultures built upon the ruins of previous civilizations. For me, as for the other students and professors who worked this summer at the archeological dig at Tel Bet Shemesh, this photo conjures up memories of earth-sifters and wheelbarrows, rhythmically chinking pickaxes on stone, and excavation grit grinding between our teeth. Zvi and Shlomo, our fearless Israeli directors, would excitedly jolly up us to sweep, scrape, and sift with near-reckless abandon, on only one condition we could never, unde... ...cial conflict. Because of the governments involvement with archaeological exploration and archaeologys dependence on international volunteers at Israeli excavation sites, not even remote digs were spared the political posturing that characterizes Middle Eastern life. I highly recommend this experience to students who have a heat energy for cultural or political history, who are willing to work long hours, and who can live in a close community with other volunteers. fervency more than makes up for a lack of previous archaeological experience.