For four weeks last summer, a group of Louisiana College students took a crash
course in biblical archaeology – helping to excavate a site that dates back
to Old Testament days
For four weeks last summer, a group of Louisiana College students took a crash
course in biblical archaeology – helping to excavate a site that dates back
to Old Testament days
In the Old Testament days – there was a town known as Beth-Shemesh in the foothills
of Judah, about 15 miles southwest of Jerusalem.
It occupied a unique place in Israelite history. It was strategically
located, a border town that felt the influence of the Canaanite, Philistine
and Israelite cultures.
Indeed, it lay in the land of Samson, who fell for a Philistine
girl not so far away in the town of Timnah.
It carried biblical significance as well. It was to Beth-Shemesh
that the Philistines returned the Ark of the Covenant (as recorded in 1 Samuel
6).
It also was the site of a decisive battle between King Jehoash
of Israel and King Amaziah of Judah during the time the Israelites lived in
divided nations.
Families in the town lived in simple – but ingenious –
homes made of mud brick, with a thatched roof that also was covered with mud.
The homes were laid out in sections, with pillars dividing
the areas. The center section was the living area, where cooking and weaving
was done. On either side were areas for animals, which lived under roof with
the families.
Sleeping areas were located on a second level.
A typical home would include usual items – pottery jars
for water, a weaving loom, cooking items and such.
But in a typical Israelite home, there also would be a prized
possession as well – a pottery bowl used to carry meat from sacrifices
back to the house for use by the family.
The bowl would be marked with the word “kadosh,”
the ancient Hebrew word for “holy.”
It would not be used for anything but its stated purpose, set
apart so it would not become unclean.
How can one know this? After all, there are precious few records
of life as it was lived almost 3,000 years ago.
But records do exist – and last summer, Louisiana College
professors and students played a key role in finding them.
They did so by visiting what has been described as “the
ideal class-
room” – an archaeological dig.
From all indications, it was the start of what could grow into
an exciting program for the Louisiana Baptist school.
The summer of 2000 saw the launch of that program as a small
group of students spent six weeks in the center of the biblical world –
the Middle East.
For two weeks, the group visited historical sites in Israel
and Jordan. They then spent four intensive weeks working on the excavation of
Beth-Shemesh, the Israelite city that was destroyed by the Assyrians in 701
B.C.
At the site, the Louisiana College students worked with students
from two other United States universities. They were accompanied by Louisiana
College religion professors Fred Downing and Carlton Winbery.
Winbery is chair of the schools religion department.
Downing is a veteran of archaeological digs and even served as an area director
for last summers effort.
The summer dig was designed as a field school – complete
with training sessions, workshops and lectures. Some were informal, given as
students spent their afternoons cleaning and sorting finds from the site.
But it was the sometimes exhausting, sometimes tedious work
of excavation each morning that was the focal point. Indeed, the Beth-Shemesh
site would be dug for just the four summer weeks. Excavation leaders then would
spend the next months studying and reporting on finds – and preparing for
the next summers work.
This particular dig at Beth-Shemesh began in 1990. There have
been two previous excavations of portions of the site – but the current
one is the first in about 60 years.
Days began early for the excavation team, Downing explains.
“The wake up call came early every morning – 4:00 a.m. At 4:45, the
group stumbled onto the bus. The ride to the mound of ancient Beth-Shemesh took
about fifteen minutes. But the route went back in time 3,000 years through the
Valley of Elah, where David once fought and defeated Goliath, and where watermelons
now grow and shepherds still herd their sheep as in biblical times.”
At the dig, students proceeded to “move dirt.”
They did so in remarkable fashion, Downing reports. Indeed,
he says the excavation directors agreed it was the best year recorded in the
current, decade-long dig.
“The Louisiana College students gained the reputation
of a hard-working group who quickly learned some of the important techniques
required for archaeological field work,” Downing says. “The rigor
with which they worked paid off in the quality and quantity of the finds.”
Indeed, by the end of the dig, the Louisiana College group
had excavated 23 of the 40 layers recorded for the summer. They had moved 7,802
buckets of dirt, weighing about 309,000 pounds. And out of 99 artifacts found,
Louisiana College students accounted for 65, two thirds of the total.
However, as Downing indicated, it was not an effort marked
by quantity alone. The finds were significant.
Students found loom weights, used by Israelite women as they
worked in their homes. They found figurines used in worship of ancient gods.
They found pottery. They found grinding stones. They found jug stoppers.
They also found what is known as a lamelech jar. It is so named
because it was a storage jar inscribed with the word “lamelech,” which
meant “to the king” in ancient Hebrew. The inscription identified
the jar as one from the kings storage room, likely used to transport food
to troops.
Anything with writing represents an exciting find, Downing
and Winbery explain. And when the writing is the word “kadosh” on
fragments of an ancient Israelite bowl used to carry sacrifical meat, it is
more than exciting.
It is downright rare. Only two or three such fragments ever
have been found, Winbery and Downing explain.
Add one to the number, thanks to Louisiana College students,
who found inscribed fragments of such a bowl this summer. “This would have
been one of a familys prized possessions,” Downing emphasizes.
But the Louisiana College students did more than find even
the most prized items from an ancient Israelite house.
They found the house itself as well, uncovering evidence of
the pillars that divided sections of the home and the cobblestone pavement that
marked the area reserved for animals.
It was an important discovery, Downing stresses.
“Until this season, no architectural remains had been
found in (this particular area). Important finds had been made, … but there
were no buildings to go with the finds. The discovery of the pillared
building by the Louisiana College students was, therefore, quite significant.”
Project Co-director Zvi Ledermann agrees. “The excavations
(in the area where Louisiana College students worked) gave us a rare view of
an eighth century BCE domestic house, dug in modern, careful method,” he
notes.
“This is one great contribution! If that is not enough
to make one happy, what can? It was a great season. I am already so excited
about next summer.”
He and other leaders also are so impressed with the Louisiana
College work that they have invited the school to become a sponsor of the dig.
It represents a high honor for the college, Downing and Winbery emphasize. Few
Baptist schools are sponsors for excavations, they note. However, Louisiana
College will join that group if the school can secure the funding necessary
to accept the invitation.
Meanwhile, Winbery and Downing are planning for their second
summer expedition to the dig site in the summer of 2001. Both agree the experience
is important – for students and for what the work reveals about the ancient
world.
“What it does is recreate a context in which events took
place, … and that helps us understand those events better, …” Winbery
explains. “At a site like Beth-Shemesh, you rake the grass off the top
of the ground and take the sod off the top of it, and youre back in pre-Christian
times. … And in terms of biblical archaeology, youre in the center of
the world.”
Indeed, it is not hard to imagine an ancient Israelite family
at home in the ancient city of Beth-Shemesh.
A woman is weaving, as another prepares a meal.
The sounds of animals fill the house.
Household items can be seen everywhere, including the “kadosh”
bowl, which rests by itself on a small shelf.
Outside, a man repairs a section of the roof.
It is not hard to imagine him pausing as he does and looking
toward the holy city – Jerusalem.
It is not hard to imagine him witnessing the arrival of soldiers,
sent by King Hezekiah to prepare for an expected attack from the Assyrians.
They carry storage jars of food with them.
And as the man watches, it is not hard to imagine him turning
to look in the direction of the likely attack.
It is not hard to imagine the worried look on his face as he
considers the future of his family and home.
It is not hard to imagine at all.
In fact, thanks to the efforts of Louisiana College students
last summer, it is rather easy to do so.
(For information on the Beth-Shemesh program or on helping
Louisiana College become a sponsor of the dig, persons may write Winbery and/or
Downing at: Louisiana College, Department of Religion, P.O. Box 612, Pineville,
LA 71359, or call 318-487-7254)