By Geoffrey Edgson
Students arriving at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat (the ancient Town of Nebo) for their first day of work. (Photo by Meira Gold)
The first week of the dig season at Khirbat al-Mukhayyat was early, hot, sandy, windy, exhaustive, and fulfilling. Everyone had arrived at the dig house in Madaba, Jordan, by Saturday, May 17. The first day started at 5am as students and staff made their way on to the buses heading to site.
Arriving on site was simple and direct, as everybody knew where they were digging: Field A on the south end of the upper mound, or Field C on the flat area north of the Church of St. George. Each group was assigned a square to excavate, and spent the first day clearing the weeds and gathering pottery from the surface in preparation for excavation. At 9am, second breakfast is served during a half hour break. For the rest of the first week, small and large pick-axes were used to loosen dirt and rocks within the squares, which were gathered by using trowels, hoes, and dustpans to be carried in guffahs to a dump area on east of our squares.
During the digging supervisors and students meticulously watched for artifacts. Throughout the week all groups in both fields found small potsherds, figurine fragments, animal bones, and other artifacts that require closer examination. As some groups dug deeper into the ground, stones were uncovered that were too large to move, so sledgehammers were brought in to smash them.
The dig day ends around 1pm as everyone returns to the dig house with artifacts for cleaning and later study. Fluctuating breezes through the site were comfortable for relief, but blew sand around everyone’s face and body as they dug deeper into the site. Everyday grew hotter as the sun rose in the morning, and left workers and supervisors exhausted by the end of the day.
However, there is a lot of pride when some finds an artifact, or uncovers something interesting for special examination. Nobody has complained about doing the same thing for the next five weeks here in Jordan, meaning the first week began, stretched, and ended on a high-note.