East Again

Introduction Tel Shimron is an ancient city. It is the largest tel in the Jezreel Valley, and at its height, during the Middle Bronze Age, would have spanned about 19.5 hectares (about 48 acres). Although it is a large site, it has never been excavated, except by Uval Portugali, who surveyed the site and dug a few test pits in the 1980s. Portugali concluded, and our survey last summer confirmed, that the tel was occupied at least from the Early Bronze Age to the Islamic period - but it also was used during the crusader period, and even in modern times became one of the first settlements of Israeli settlers. The Topography Like all tels, Shimron is a man made mound, a result of many cities being built, destroyed, rebuilt and occupied for thousands of years. Generally speaking, the deeper you go, the older the artifacts and architecture you find. However, Shimron's topography is comprised of an acropolis, and several shelfs of land defending from it. Because of this, there ar...

It’s been almost a year since my last post! But since several people have asked me if I’ll be blogging this summer when I return to the Excavation at Shimron, I decided to spruce up the site a bit, and resume posting! Last year only blogger profiles could comment, but it should work for anyone to comment now, so please let me know your thoughts or ask me any questions, I love to hear from you all! As a summary of what I’m doing this year, I’ll be flying to Tel Aviv on June 12, and working for 7 weeks as an “assistant square supervisor” at the Tel Shimron Excavation. Basically, that means I’ll be part of a team within one of the excavation grids, helping to instruct volunteers and record our finds. I am thankful to be placed on staff this year, and am reminded of God’s goodness to me. - Being on staff means all expenses are paid, which makes it possible for me to participate - This will be my 3 rd visit to the “Holy Land” and I consider myself very blessed for that. - It...