It was another 4:30 AM morning and I ran joyfully up the hill to continued with my assignment of removing rubble and dirt to expose and ancient stone wall. [OK, I didn't run, and the prospect of spending the next 7 hours digging in the dirt on a hot day did not inspire ummm joy.] This is pick-axe, broom and dustpan work and if I'm lucky, I'll get to do to this all over again tomorrow - and even all week. Every muscle aches and on occasion I wonder why I thought archeology is sooooo exciting.
While I was doing that, "Kimmie" an expert on restoration and reconstruction began to prepare the paving stones for moving and by the end of the day 3 of them had been moved aside. (see photo) Only about 8 more to go!
Following are a couple photos from the church (actually a chapel) of the shepherds we visited in Bethlehem yesterday. A really wonderful place for quiet contemplation.
OK, which floor did you crack up that Kimmie had to put back together? Maybe it was easier to tell the one's with left-handed cracks from ones cracked right-handed? (I'm teasing you! I actually assume you (plural) would have removed it intact if you found it that way - & it's probably flor blocks you didn't touch?) Do you have a diagram? Is this the floor you're "breaking through" to get below..? Or hunks of an intermediate floor?
ReplyDeleteGreat photos, by the way! It's really cool you're doing this blog - now we are all getting a 2nd hand education in the back-breaking work you're doing. I know what I would have been contemplating in that chapel: my aches & pains, blisters & sunburn!
Did you take a picture of the domed citadel roof from the outside - I'm just curious as to the arch - which is difficult to discern from the inside pic.
Great job, Donna - this is interesting & fun!
Love from Your Sister - Linda
If you look at the photo from July 20th - the first day of the project, you can see the flooring that Kimmie helped remove (and it turns out we only removed a portion of these.) The older floor that we want to investigate is below this Roman age floor.
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