After the Shiloh Dig Season

The Shiloh dig season is over for another year. Over the course of this past week, the dig team dwindled to almost nobody. Yesterday morning I dropped off one team member at the airport, and in the afternoon I said goodbye the last few as they headed to the airport. It was a sad feeling, saying goodbye to so many dear friends. I’ll see a few of them throughout the year. Some will come to Israel again before the next dig season, and I’ll see others at conferences that I’m planning to attend. But I won’t see most of the team for almost a year.

However, it is good to be home again. I am working on re-adjusting to normal life and planning a schedule for myself. I started two to-do lists this morning. One is a short-term list of things I need to do today and tomorrow. The other list goes through the end of the year and includes several big projects.

I thought that you might enjoy some of my favorite photos from the Shiloh dig season. Some you may have already seen on my blog over the past few weeks. Others are from some of the weekend adventures that I went on. I plan to write about those adventures eventually. You can consider these photos as a sneak peak.

The Herod Family Tomb

Ruins of a pillared building in the Shephelah

City lights in Samaria

A visit to the Elvis Cafe

The tomb of Jason, a Hasmonean ruler

Melody excavating at Shiloh

The Garden of Gethsemane

Many hands make light work. Washing pottery at the end of a dig day.

An inscription above the entrance to a Hasmonean tomb

Pottery Reading at Shiloh

Columns at Sebastian (Samaria)

Jerusalem from the balcony of the Notre Dame restaurant

Standing stones at Gezer

Rooftop party at the Ritz Hotel

Sunrise over the model four-room house at Shiloh

With friends at the Tower of David

The Mediterranean Coast

Ossuaries from first-century tombs on the Mount of Olives

Conserving ancient walls at Shiloh

Sunset in Jerusalem

A replica of the Madaba map at the Tower of David

Birthday cake!