My New Stomping Grounds

So since my last post, I have officially moved into my new apartment. Unfortunately, I refuse to show anyone pictures until we tidy up a bit, plus some of our furniture still hasn't come in! The apartment came partially furnished, which means it had a refrigerator, couches, a coffee table, night stands, and one double bed. So right now, one of my roommates Rachel is sleeping on the futon in our living room, and Denize and I are sharing the double bed, and we are all living out of our suitcases. The rest of our furniture should be in early next week, and we can't wait! We also don't have the internet yet at our apartment, which has been kind of cathartic for me actually. I actually waste so much time on the internet, so it's great to get back to reading and things that are not on the internet. It's kind of sad to me the way that there can be a room full of people and nobody will be talking to each other b/c we'll all be on our laptops. I think I'm just old-fashioned. Also it's nice to take a bit of a break from checking email constantly, since it is the holidays after all, so I really don't need to be so caught up in my work.

Anyways, I love our new neighborhood! We are just south of Shuk HaCarmel, which is this huge outdoor market. I think it's sort of like a farmer's market, only they literally have everything! From fresh produce to cheap clothes (and scarves...) to spices to bakeries, and everything is very inexpensive. I think the concept of a shuk is a very Middle Eastern one, but it's wonderful!

We also live right by the beach. Literally two blocks away. I can see the Mediterranean Sea from my bedroom window! I have a picture, but I'll have to post it later, since it's on my camera at my apartment, and I'm currently on campus to suck up some of the internet while my roommate skypes with her family.

It was kind of a huge hassle to move in. I absolutely hate moving. I really thought the move would go quite smoothly, and it did for the most part. I am a terrible packer though. For the past few days before we moved in, we've been slowly bringing down stuff on the bus in our backpacks and bags, which was a really good idea, since I could barely get my suitcases closed. I have no idea how I managed to pack to come here. I need to find a vacuum before I move back home so I can use my vacuum seal bags again, that's for sure. Also making matters worse, the airlines pretty much ruined both my luggage and also Rachel's, so it was an interesting adventure trying to lug our bags to the street. Our friend Lianne was super nice and let us use her car to move our stuff down. But we each had two suitcases plus pots and pans plus bags of food, so there was no room for us in her car after we'd packed it all! So part of us took a taxi down to our new apartment. We live on the 6th floor of the apartment, which is the second to top floor. Thank goodness there's an elevator. 

Also exciting news is that I got my first package since I've been here from one of my best friends Becky, who I met at Megiddo last year! It was full of Christmas and Chanukah goodies and much appreciated! (Again, I have a photo, but it's also on my camera, oops. I really should have put them on my computer before coming up to campus.)

When we finally got all our stuff moved into our apartment, we realized that we actually had no food at all really except for like a pita and a thing of hummus and rice and ketchup and other random assortments of food, so we walked up the street a bit, and we found a wonderful Chinese restaurant! It made me a bit nostalgic for home, since my mom and I love Chinese food and were on a huge Chinese food kick right before I moved here. The food was a bit pricey but absolutely delicious!! Also very strange to be eating Chinese food in Israel. When I go out for Chinese food, I'm used to a menu in Chinese and English translations, not Chinese, English, and Hebrew. The food was soooo good, and I definitely have to go back!!

Anyways, I have a paper to get back to writing now. Hopefully in my next blog post, I'll have pictures of my new (fully furnished) apartment and internet at my apartment! Also more pictures of Hazor and Tel Dan, which I'm visiting on Monday! 

Israel vs. America/Michigan

Gilad Shalit, a kidnapped soldier who has been held in captivity by Hamas terrorists for over five years came home to Israel back in October. In exchange for Shalit, the Israeli government agreed to return1,027 Palestinian prisoners  to the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and east Jerusalem. The first group was already released at the end of October, and last night the second batch were released.  The 1:1,027 swap, as the media has dubbed it, is insane and beautiful at the same time. It shows that Israel values human life so much that they are willing to set over 1000 terrorists free. It also shows that Israel wants its people to know that when they willingly or unwillingly enlist in the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) to know they will do their best to save him or her. 

Political current events aside, I'm trying to be a much better blogger and to captivate my blog readers, that means I should probably update more than once a month. The past few days have been quite lazy for me, mostly filled with cleaning and reading about Late Second Temple burial and cult practices for my classes. Also Harry Potter, but that's not for class. :)

One of the things that I really enjoy about my program are the other students in it. We have such a good group dynamic. It's also incredibly neat to be able to sit in class with these people all day and struggle with speaking Hebrew and then later that night sit with the same group at the pub splitting a pitcher of Goldstar and eating hummus while talking about archaeology. I've never experienced such a dynamic before or had friends who really share the same passions for archaeology and ancient history as I do. It's also amazing to think that these friends are really the future of our field. Sure, we are nothing but graduate students now, but many of us are planning to pursue the field even further and eventually it will be us. It's so crazy to know that even when our year here is finished, it won't be the last we see of each other, since undoubtedly, we'll run into each other at academic conferences and some of us might even collaborate on papers together in a few years. 

Many people have asked me if being away from home so long is difficult, and quite frankly, I haven't really been that homesick. Sure I feel as though I'm missing out on a lot back home such as the birth of new baby cousins and my brother's recent engagement, but technology has made everything much easier. I do miss my friends back home, but at the same time, my friends here have quickly become my new closest friends and new family away from. We are all exactly in the same boat, and for most of us, it's our first holiday season away from home. Also, truth be told, it doesn't even seem like Christmastime to me. I actually didn't even realize that Christmas is in less than a week. There is no snow obviously and also obviously not Christmas decorations. No lights decorating the street lamps, no holiday flavored coffee at coffee shops or other Christmas treats, no blowup Santa Clauses and his reindeer, and no Nativity scenes anywhere in Tel Aviv. Right now my Christmas plans are to sit at home with my roommates Rachel and Denize with a bottle of wine and snacks and watch Christmas movies online. 

I think another reason why I haven't been homesick at all is because I came to Israel with the knowledge that the next time I would be home wouldn't be until the end of next August. I can hardly believe that I've been here two months exactly (as of yesterday). On the one hand, it seems like ages ago that I was sitting in the Gerald R. Ford International Airport with my parents waiting to board my flight, but on the other hand, it seems like only yesterday. I still remember vividly the preparations of the day that I left, running around town like crazy with my mom purchasing last minute supplies and packing and unpacking and repacking my suitcases. Last summer it seemed like I was in Israel for such a long time, but it was only two months; I've been here two months now and my time here is still only just beginning.

Furthermore, I absolutely love living in Israel! It's quite different to visit a country for a few weeks or even months like I did last summer, but to actually live here. To buy groceries here, to have a bus pass, to purchase furniture for your apartment, to cook your dinner with the vegetables that you just bought at the shuk, it's all so great. I've never had such an opportunity to be able to live in a foreign country, and I actually doubt that I ever will have such an opportunity again. I really do try to make the most of each day, though most of the day is spent in class. It's strange to think how Israel no longer seems foreign to me any longer. Hearing Hebrew spoken all around me is completely normal, and I'm used to having to try and communicate in my broken Hebrew and apologize for not knowing more. Living here is also really different than just visiting because I get to live in the heart of of the city, surrounded by people who aren't tourists and who aren't students and many of whom don't speak English very well. It's such a unique opportunity, and I'm so glad that I decided to do this!

The Israeli education system is also much different than the American one. First of all, I am one of the younger people in the University, though I'm not even an undergraduate student. This is because every Israeli student must do 2-3 years in the IDF before they enroll at the University. Many choose to continue with their military career and many do not choose to go to University. Many of the people I've met find it very surprising to know that I'm only 22 and working on an MA degree here. Further, the environment is totally relaxed. I'm not sure if this is because it's graduate school or because it's in Israel, but I was so used to the fierce world of academia present at Michigan, that it was a little unnerving here. I absolutely loved my four years at Michigan, but I would be lying if I did not say that it was the most stressful four years of my life. Every student was really in the mindset that every moment you weren't studying was a wasted moment. I was also a subscriber to this thought. It was completely commonplace to be unable to find a seat (or an outlet) in the library at 2am. At TAU, the library isn't open past 6...6pm that is! So strange, considering the UGLi at Michigan was open until 5am, and you could always find somebody there at that time too. 

Now, instead of writing carefully worded emails to professors about if they would perhaps considering meeting with you during their prearranged office hours to discuss something with you if they weren't too busy, I'm emailing my former professors pictures of my adventures here and having coffee dates with my professors here and talking about archaeology and my future goals. It's really amazing how many people that I've met, both at Michigan and now here, that are also invested in my academic future, and I love it.

So sorry this blog is completely void of pictures. Hopefully in the next one. :)

If you want to start World War 3, take a trowel to the Temple Mount

Dear readers, I am so sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time. On Monday, we went to the City of David in Jerusalem for one of our archaeological tours. We didn't look around the Old City of Jerusalem, but I was fine with that, since I've already spent quite a bit of time in Jerusalem last summer. It was great to be back though. Jerusalem is really neat, but one thing I don't like about the city is the amount of tourism there and the way that historically questionable "facts" are presented as truths. I think that's just the biblical historian in me though. :)

One of the features that was neat to reexamine is the Stepped Stone Structure just outside the city wall. It's actually a highly controversial topic in archaeology, because some scholars think that it can be the palace of David or one of the fortresses that he took over. The complex actually plays a major role in the debate of the historicity of the United Monarchy, which, of course, I find absolutely fascinating! One of the major problems in the complex is how to date it, since the topography of Jerusalem doesn't really lend itself very well to being able to date stratigraphically.  In archaeology, we like to use layers and pottery typology to figure out a relative dating scheme, but that's difficult to do in Jerusalem for a few reasons including the fact that Jerusalem has been continuously inhabited for thousands of years and the Babylonian destruction of the city in 586 BCE and lastly, there are holy areas in the city that you just can't get to. I'd imagine it'd be any archaeologist's dream to excavate the Temple Mount. However, this would definitely be a really bad idea and anger a ton of people. So unfortunately, the Temple Mount is off-limits.

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Anyways, so the Stepped Stone Structure (seen above) is controversial. The complex is actually made up of two components included the Stepped Stone Structure and the Great Stone Structure.  Part of the debate is whether these two units made up one complex or if they are actually separate entities.  This architectural problem also contributes to the dating problem. Some scholars who read the Bible maximally think that this might be the Fort of Zion from the 11th century BCE (David's time). The minimalists however think that the stone terrace is 11th-10th century BCE and that the mantle should be dated to the 9th century BCE. Pottery typology really doesn't help us too much in this situation either. A collared rim jar (typical ancient Israelite pottery) was found on the floor below the stone terrace dates to the 11th-10th century BCE. This gives us a terminus post quem (Latin for the date after which) but no terminus ante quem (or date before which). So in other words, we know when the structure has to be after but we don't have an upper limit. There were stone houses built into it in the 7th century BCE, which could provide a terminus ante quem, but this isn't that useful. So really all we can say that this complex was built sometime between the 11th century BCE and the 7th century BCE. 

But does this all even matter? The structure obviously is a sign of monumental architecture, so this is a manifestation of the power of the city-state of Jerusalem. What it cannot tell us though is the size and extent of the so-called "Davidic" kingdom during this time.It's really only enough to conclude that Jerusalem was a political base of power not the sprawling capital of a huge kingdom like the Bible says. But it also doesn't mean that it wasn't. Very interesting!

On Monday, we also visited Ramat Rahel, which was used as an administrative city instead of Jerusalem during the Babylonian Period. There were a bunch of stamp impressions found there like the rosette stamp impressions and the lmlk stamp impressions. These were pressed into the handles of jars, which were used for taxes. At Ramat Rahel are also some great examples of the proto-ionic capitals, a number of which were also found at Megiddo!

We also had the opportunity to go to the Israel Museum, which is in New City Jerusalem. We only looked through the archaeology wing really, but it was AMAZING! Their collection is great and every time period of Israel is so well-represented!! One of the highlights might even be like the highlight of my entire academic life, which is that I got to see the TEL DAN STELE!!!! I was sooo pumped! The Tel Dan stele is an inscription that is the only other mention of David outside of the Bible. It was only found in the early 90s, and it's absolutely incredible!!! Unfortunately, pictures aren't allowed inside the museum though. The Ketef Hinnom scrolls are also at the Israel Museum, which is super cool! They are these two tiny little scrolls of silver inscribed with the Priestly Blessing from the Book of Numbers, which was found in a burial chamber. It might be the oldest surviving text of the Hebrew Bible from 600 BCE! Very cool!

I apologize for the lackluster update after such a long blog hiatus. I will try to do better. I've been busy with papers and presentations and readings and furniture shopping, but I think it will calm down a bit next week. It's like 10:30pm here now, and I want to get back to reading Harry Potter. :)

Also completely unrelated to Israel or archaeology, but congratulations to my big brother Jake and his new fiancee Julia! Hope you're ready to be a VanVels!!!