The buses left about 430am and we reached Azekah with first light when it was cool. Since we had met and cleaned our site the day before everyone was raring to go! We cleared topsoil in my area =E-East-Efrat the supervisor- Elah Valley side- and filled sandbags all around the squares, and found- I kid you not – 37 scorpions!
On top of the tel Ido found walls or installations, which is great because we do not know exactly where Bliss and Macalister dug and refilled their trenches.
Because of the intense heat wave for the rest of the week we will end an hour earlier to play it safe. This is another indication of how they really care for our physical comfort and safety- e.g. coffee cups with plastic tops int he morning so we can head for the bus and drink as we drive!
Aren Maier of Bar Ian presented a talk on Gat and tomorrow will guide us there.
Yuval Gadot ave a nice personal talk of his early encounters with archaeology. Later in a training class he explained what we hope to find in each of the 5 main areas we are tackling now, and how they were chosen- based on seeing walls or other features in an extensive survey, for which team member Shatil earned an MA.
Dsvid Willner and Bob Cargill are working with Ido Koch and myself to help all the volunteers contribute thoughts and images through this blog, youtube, and facebook- stay tuned!!!
Barnea Levi Selavan
The Lautenschläger Azekah Expedition 