Huqoq Day 3; Capernaum and Bethsaida

We had another interesting day digging at Huqoq---really interesting at one point, but that will need to be wait until the season results are published!  We left a couple of hours early, however, because Rachel was not feeling well from all the heat and exertion.

The head of the possible Alexander figure in the mosaic. (photo by Jim Haberman)

7/8/14 Update: See the exciting UNC press release update, "New Mosaics Discovered in Synagogue Excavations in Galilee."  On our second day digging at Huqoq, we were actually there when the first part of these mosaics were discovered.  It was not in the square where we were working . . . we were just barely finishing the Ottoman level and working towards the Mamluk period in our section . . . but everyone at the dig was called over to see when some of the ornamental mosaic border was first uncovered.  The really exciting stuff was discovered after we left . . .

New mosaics discovered in synagogue excavations in Galilee - See more at: http://college.unc.edu/2014/07/02/mosaics2014/#sthash.fclQfl6z.dpuf

New mosaics discovered in synagogue excavations in Galilee - See more at: http://college.unc.edu/2014/07/02/mosaics2014/#sthash.fclQfl6z.dpuf

New mosaics discovered in synagogue excavations in Galilee - See more at: http://college.unc.edu/2014/07/02/mosaics2014/#sthash.fclQfl6z.dpuf

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After a few hours of napping and lunch, however, she felt better, so we drove down to the sea of Galilee to visit some sites and do a few promotional videos for The Miracles of Jesus, which will be released in August.

The first site we visited, was Capernaum, which we have visited several times before but always enjoy seeing.

We then went to "Orthodox Capernaum," the part of the ancient site controlled by the Greek Orthodox Church, unlike the main site, which is operated by the Catholic Franciscans.  The archaeological remains there are not readily available, but there is a beautiful church to the Seven Apostles (the 7 disciples of John 21?) that has many lovely frescoes, several of them revolving around miracles and events from Jesus' Galilean ministry.

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We then went to Bethsaida, where we met the Huqoq team, which was being given a private tour by Rami Arav, the director of the site.  Most of what he was showing them was the early, iron age material, so Rachel and I broke off on our own so that we could do some video filming for my book and see what may have been the location of New Testament Bethsaida (there is an ongoing debate about whether this archaeological site is home of Peter, Andrew, and Philip or whether there was a smaller Jewish fishing village closer to the shore, though the shoreline has changed over the centuries, so this is all complicated).

Road to the tenth century site, the capital of OT Geshur

Rami Arav, describing the site to the Huqoq team

Looking down to the Sea of Galilee. Have earthquakes and centuries of alluvial deposits shifted the shoreline out that far?

Rachel, having had all the fun she could stand.

Huqoq Day 2, Magdala

Rachel and I got up at 4:00 and rode over the the excavation site with the digging team.  We worked from 4:30 to noon, with a break for breakfast at 8:00 and a bit of fruit and a brief break, "eleven-sies," at 11:00.

Sorry, not pictures. Because Huqoq is an active excavation, it is not permitted to post pictures or describe what we found until Dr. Magness posts her press release at the end of the season.  To give some idea about the significance of this Byzantine-era Jewish synagogue, see this article in Biblical Archaeology Review and this BYU Rel Ed update, which features my colleague Matt and alum Brian Bozung (whom I taught in ClCv 363 while he was an undergrad at BYU).

Still, it was a great experience---though dirty and really hot---to get actually work on a dig first hand.  I had archaeology seminars in grad school but never had any field experience.  And it was good for Rachel to see what it is like, since she is starting her Ancient Near Eastern Studies (ANES) major in the fall. 

7/8/14 Update: When the UNC press release was posted in July, my colleague Matt Grey was able to send me some of the pictures he took of me and Rachel at the dig, which I can now post in our blog.

 

Exhausting, hard work . . . but it was worth the experience!

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We came home from the dig hot, tired, and dirty.  After showering, we helped was some of the day's pottery finds and then took a 2-hour nap.

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 After that Matt and Brian joined us for a visit to the new Magdala excavations, which have revealed the size and prosperity of the home town of Mary Magdalene.

The synagogue at Magdala is one of the earliest known, dating to the first century.

Rachel, Matt Grey, and Brian Bozung in front of the Magadala synagogue

Miqveh at Magdala

Magdala's port area on the Sea of Galilee

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One of the most moving parts of the site is not ancient: it is the Roman Catholic spirituality center, which is envisioned as a focus of modern pilgrimage.

One first enters a large rotunda dedicated to the dignity of women, where the women of Jesus' ministry are honored.

Small chapels off the side focus on the different miracles that Jesus performed in Galilee.

 

The main sanctuary is dedicated to the 12 apostles.  It features an altar shaped like a Galilean fishing boat, which seems to float on a pool of water seen through the window just behind it and the sea beyond.

Finally, a prayer hall in the basement has been designed to be an almost exact replica of the Magdala synagogue.