This article by Tommy Chamberlin was first published in the Spring/Summer 2024 issue of Bible and Spade.
Late in the spring of 2017, I found myself in an unexpected location, surveying the hills of the Judean highlands that stretched out into the distance before me. A buzz of activity was occurring all around the small hill where I stood. More properly, this place should be called a “tell”-a layered mound where different stages of ancient habitation can be seen, often spanning thousands of years. Our team was working here to reveal the secrets of the past. The sounds of archaeological work filled the air: trowels scraping the surface, picks loosening the packed soil of yesteryear, guffas of freshly excavated soil spilling into sifters, and voices of supervisors giving instructions to volunteers like me. My ears picked up the voice of excavation director Scott Stripling giving his expert opinion on the dating of a pottery rim recently uncovered from its ancient resting place. Gary Byers, my square supervisor and a grizzled veteran of many years of excavation, smiled as he walked in my direction. He then began to advise on the proper way to excavate the pithos rim that had just been uncovered in our square. Perhaps we were coming down on a storage room of pithoi (large storage jars), he speculated…
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