Religious Studies News

Shalom! My name is Jodi Linderman. I, along with Curt Conrad, will be updating this blog from here on. I am a double-major in religious studies and history; my primary area of academic interest is ancient Israel and the Near East, so I’m certainly blogging from the right place.

I would like to note that I wasn’t at all disappointed with yesterday’s Syrian bunker episode. I thought it was pretty exciting. Granted, it wasn’t what I was expecting to find while digging in Israel, but I’m definitely curious to know what was inside. Perhaps they’ll let us know.

So we checked out of the kibbutz today and made our way south, towards Jerusalem. Our first stop was Masada, which, from 31 to 37 BCE, served as a place of refuge for King Herod. More remarkably is the site’s Jewish history, in which from 66 to 73 CE, it was inhabited by Jewish rebels who opposed the Roman empire. When attacked by the Romans in 72 CE, the Jews within Masada decided they would not face slavery or death at the hands of the Romans. In 73 CE, when the Romans finally broke through the city’s fortifications, they found that Masada’s 900+ inhabitants had set their city ablaze and committed mass suicide.

Cheerfully, we left Masada and continued on to the Dead Sea. At 1,385 feet below sea level, the Dead Sea (named due to its high salinity, which prevents anything from living within its waters) is the lowest point on the surface of the Earth. This unusually high concentration of salt results in a high density, making it nearly impossible to sink. I also found it nearly impossible to swim, so one just kind of floats (you can even do this vertically, which is kind of a weird sensation). It’s very very cool, although the water isn’t something you’d want to get in your mouth or eyes – ouch.

After showering off the salt, we took our bus to Qumran, the site at which the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered. As the story goes, in 1947, a Bedouin sheep-herder lost one of his sheep, which had wandered into a cave. The boy threw some rocks into the cave to scare the animal out, but instead he heard the sound of shattering pottery. He went inside to find several ancient jars that contained the scrolls. In all, and over time, approximately 800 scrolls have been found, some intact and some in fragments. The scrolls are said (though this is contested) to have been written by the Essenes, a monastic Jewish sect who chose to live in isolation throughout Israel. The scrolls date from 150 BCE to 70 CE.

Finally, we made our way to Jerusalem! I was in Jerusalem last year, and it is a city that I truly love. Our group is staying in St. Andrew’s Scottish Guesthouse, which is really beautiful and within walking distance from the Old City. This evening, we observed Shabbat at the Kotel (the Western Wall or “Wailing Wall” as it is commonly called); that area of the city is rather lively on Friday night.

Tomorrow we visit sites such as the Church of All Nations, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Via Dolorosa. I will update this again, hopefully with pictures.

Shalom Again!

Ok, sometimes when you dig in an archaeological site you come across fascinating ancient relics. And sometimes you think you do.

Case in point. Today was our last day at the Bethsaida dig in Israel. And we were digging near our suspected tomb that I wrote about yesterday. And we came across an interesting object. Take a look at it:

Itlooked modern, but we hoped that it might be an ancient anchor or some sort of fabulous artifact. The WVU group began to dig vigorously and uncover more of the object. After some very intense excavations, here is what we really found:

Can you guess what this is? It is a modern military bunker! The region where we are digging was a contested piece of land on the border of the Golan Heights, and military installations were common. And today the WVU group dug it up after 40 years!!!

Hey,we still had a great time digging for the last two weeks, and now it’s off to Jerusalem. In the coming days we’ll report about our trip to this sacred city.

In the meantime, here is a picture of some of the artifacts (mostly pottery shards) that the WVU team uncovered while at Bethsaida this season. Most of these shards date back at least 2,000 years!

Shalom again from sunny Israel, where the thermometer is pushing the 100 degree mark this week! However, the hard-working WVU group is not deterred in the least.

I have unbelievable news to share from Bethsaida. One of our own WVU diggers, Brandon Gregory, may have uncovered an ancient tomb along the plaza marketplace that we’ve been working on!

Here is a picture of the possible tomb. Although it is too early to tell what this unusual formation of stones indicates, it just might be a tomb! More analysis will need to be done in the coming days.

Regardless of what the discovery turns out to be, it continues to amaze us every time we discover an ancient artifact. We have already found ancient pottery shards, a coin, bones, a Roman quartz bead, and other fascinating relics of the past.

We still have one more day to dig before we travel to Jerusalem on Friday. But we’ll be sure to keep you posted on our latest findings!

Shalom again from Israel!

For the last several days the WVU group has been hard at work digging at the ancient archaeological site of Bethsaida.

This week we have made much progress. Check out the picture below. The stones you see on the ground are likely part of an ancient marketplace plaza road that originally dated back some 2,900 years ago! The WVU group uncovered this road early this week.

Stay tuned for more discoveries from the hard-working archaeologists at WVU!

Boker Tov!

That means “good morning” in Hebrew. I wanted to update you on our latest weekend adventure. This time we visited the ancient city of Caesarea Maritima, on the western shore of the Mediterranean Sea. This ancient coastal city was once the home of the (in)famous Herod the Great around 2,000 years ago. Although the city was abandoned during the Middle Ages, there are breathtaking remains still exposed for the visitor to see.

Here is a picture of a few of our WVU students dipping their feet into the Mediterranean Sea.

One of the most amazing sites at Caesarea Maritima was the ancient hippodrome. A hippodrome is where ancient chariot races were held. As we walked along this 2,000 year old marvel we couldn’t help ourselves and got caught up in the moment.

Here is a picture of myself attempting to steer an ancient chariot. As you can see, I wasn’t very good at it! I am happy to report that all students escaped unharmed!

Seriously, though, exploring a 2,000 year old city on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea was fascinating. Although it was hot and windy along the coast, it is an experience we will never forget.

Greetings once again from Israel!

This past weekend our WVU group took a couple of days off (well, we don’t actually dig on Saturday or Sunday) to visit religious and historical sites in northern Israel.

Believe it or not, one of the places we explored was the actual site of Armageddon itself. Actually, the place is named “Megiddo”. “Armageddon” comes from the Hebrew “Har Megiddo,” which simply means “Mt. Megiddo.”

As you may know, the Bible lilnks this ancient site (which spans thousands of years) with the great final battle between good and evil. One of the possible reasons for the origination of this belief is the fact that Megiddo lies at the intersection of two major crossroads in Israel and has been the site of many fierce and bloody battles. It is also a holy site. Here is picture of a sacred place dating back thousands of years.

Fearlessly, however, the WVU group decided to tempt fate and come face-to-face with Megiddo. Here is a picture of our group at the site.

OK. so it wasn’t very scary, but we had a great time learning about ancient culture and religious history.

We’ll check back in soon with more updates from the trip.

Greetings from Israel!

My name is Dr. Aaron Gale. I am the head of the Program for Religious Studies at WVU, and over the next several days my group and I will keep you up-to-date regarding our adventures in beautiful, historic Israel.

Over the last week our group of nine WVU students has begun digging at the ancient archaeological site of Behtsiada, near the Sea of Galilee. The site itself contains ruins of many ancient civilizations dating back some 3,000 years!

For example, here is a picture of an ancient stele and so-called “high place” (sacred spot where people worshipped before entering the city) that dates back to the ninth century BCE. This picture was taken near the ancient city gates of Bethsaida the first day of the dig.

Isn’t it amazing? Stay tuned, as we take you along on this most fascinating study abroad experience!