It's been a few days, so I thought I would write another post to update you all on what happened the last two days of the week. I think my last post ended with Tuesday, so I will write about Wednesday and Thursday. The entire week we have been getting up really early and working all day. We had to wake up around 5am and didn't finish until around 5pm every day, so we all were really drained this weekend.
On Wednesday we were back in Caesarea doing more work on mosaics. We first set up a shade tarp and then began cleaning between the stones with dentist tools. We each cleaned an area of mosaics in this one room by digging between the tesserae (mosaic stone cubes) to remove dirt and old, weak mortar. Then we prepared a lime mortar that was liquid-based so that it would seep between the tesserae and fill the spaces. After letting the mortar dry for a short time we washed the tops of the tesserae to remove excess mortar, exposing the stones while leaving the mortar in between them to solidify the mosaic as a whole. While we were working groups of tourists would come up to us asking what we were doing. The shade tarp seemed like a magnet for the inquisitive. Like I have mentioned before, I always enjoy it when people come up to us asking about what we are doing. After we were finished working on the mosaics we met with the man in charge of conservation at Caesarea. He talked to us about the role of conservation and the conservator, and the ethics behind conservation methods.
On Thursday we were back at the ancient synagogue on Meron, continuing our work from Tuesday. We were joined by a photographer from the Israel Antiquities Authority who was working on a presentation about conservation at the site to improve publicity of the site and of what the IAA does. He photographed us while we worked. He also filmed one of us as a short interview talking about who we were, our program, and what we were working on. We had a lot to work on to finish filling our wall with stones and mortar. My side of the wall had a huge hole inside of it, and filling it took most of our time. In the end we were unable to completely finish the right side of it, but some of the others finished the left side and moved up to the top half of the wall. Near the end of our time at Meron Amit, the man in charge, gave us a brief lesson in removing graffiti from stone walls. There was some graffiti on a wall near the entrance to the synagogue, and he demonstrated to us how to remove it, as well as giving us a chance to do some of it ourselves. The process involves applying a special chemical to the painted area, letting it sit, and then washing it off with water with a pressure washer. The graffiti came off almost instantly and completely. It was really cool to watch and even cooler to do. We were lucky to have been there when they were working on it, since it wasn't originally part of the plan for our work.
Thursday night we went to Haifa for dinner to celebrate Melissa's birthday a little more. We went to a Japanese restaurant for sushi and then to a bar for a drink. The sushi was decent but nothing special. Everyone was so exhausted from the week's work that after one drink we decided we would head home. It was already too late to take the train, so I bargained with a taxi driver for a decent price to take us all back to the apartment. Friday some of us were supposed to go on a hike with another Masa group, but we were too tired and decided to sleep in instead. The weekend was another slow and lazy one as we all recouped from last week.
Saturday, March 29, 2014
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Re-building Walls
Hello again. I'm on a roll, three posts in a row! This one is a little shorter, but still exciting. Today we went to the ancient Rashbi synagogue at Meron and started mortar conservation of a wall. The wall has lots of holes and almost no mortar, and could easily collapse. We cleaned the wall of vegetation and debris, mixed the lime mortar, collected rocks and fit them into the spaces, and applied the mortar to the holes in the wall where we put in the rocks. We were only able to finish a small portion of the wall, but we are going again on Thursday and should be able to finish it. We had to be extra careful doing work in the holes since they are prime locations for snakes, scorpions, and other hazardous creatures. We did find a scorpion, a fairly large one. When the end of the day came you could clearly see our progress in the wall, and (in my opinion) the places where we had done work looked like a professionally-conserved ancient wall. I am greatly looking forward to Thursday when we can finish the work and see the entire thing completely filled with mortar.
Can you find the differences between the first photo and the next two?
When we got back to Akko we had a(nother) tour of the old city, this time with the Chief Engineer who worked with the conservation teams in the city when all of the conservation work was done. He worked in the Hospitaller Fortress and many of the houses, and explained the conservation process from an engineering point of view. He talked about the different methods used in restoring the Citadel, as well as some of the Crusader and Ottoman architectural features that can be found throughout the city. While a lot of his tour was repetition from the other tours we have been given of Old Akko, some parts of it were new. One of the things that he told us that I found really interesting was that the southwestern part of the modern city is built on top of two-story Crusader ruins built of massive vaults. All of that area is filled with debris and sand underneath the modern houses and buildings, unexcavated and hidden from the public. I thought that was really cool. Other things he mentioned were small details about how buildings were constructed that people (including me) don't notice unless they are specifically told about it. Examples of that are the artificial entrances created in the Hospitaller Fortress to make it tourist-friendly are all cut in diagonals, or that most corners in the streets are cut to make rounding the corners easier. These were things that I had never realized or noticed until he brought our attention to them. Every time we have another tour of the city we learn new things, even when we think we won't.
Can you find the differences between the first photo and the next two?
When we got back to Akko we had a(nother) tour of the old city, this time with the Chief Engineer who worked with the conservation teams in the city when all of the conservation work was done. He worked in the Hospitaller Fortress and many of the houses, and explained the conservation process from an engineering point of view. He talked about the different methods used in restoring the Citadel, as well as some of the Crusader and Ottoman architectural features that can be found throughout the city. While a lot of his tour was repetition from the other tours we have been given of Old Akko, some parts of it were new. One of the things that he told us that I found really interesting was that the southwestern part of the modern city is built on top of two-story Crusader ruins built of massive vaults. All of that area is filled with debris and sand underneath the modern houses and buildings, unexcavated and hidden from the public. I thought that was really cool. Other things he mentioned were small details about how buildings were constructed that people (including me) don't notice unless they are specifically told about it. Examples of that are the artificial entrances created in the Hospitaller Fortress to make it tourist-friendly are all cut in diagonals, or that most corners in the streets are cut to make rounding the corners easier. These were things that I had never realized or noticed until he brought our attention to them. Every time we have another tour of the city we learn new things, even when we think we won't.
Monday, March 24, 2014
Happy Birthday Melissa!
Here is another blog post. Not sure how, but I'm feeling up for writing another one immediately after writing the one yesterday. Who knows, maybe I'll write another one tomorrow? First, I want to wish Melissa (one of the participants/interns) a happy birthday today. This week we have very early mornings and late afternoons, so we were unable to truly party with her today. However, we were able to have a small celebration after dinner.
We started the day going to Haifa University to visit the Hecht Museum of Archaeology. This free museum is dedicated entirely to archaeology of Israel relating to the people of Israel. Almost all of their materials were found in Israel. It is similar in its goals to the Rockefeller Museum, but significantly better planned and executed. The museum looked new, well-kept, and was presented in an interesting way. It was really interesting to see their exhibit and compare it to what we saw at the Rockefeller. They also have a 2,400 year old shipwreck. After we were given a tour of the museum (the tour itself wasn't so interesting) the expert in waterlogged material conservation talked to us about the process of conserving, restoring and preserving waterlogged and marine material. He was the one who worked on the shipwreck and taught us everything there is to know about preserving marine archaeological material. We went into his lab where he does the conservation, and learned a lot from him. Then we headed back to Akko.
Back in Akko (after eating a quick lunch) we had another tour by the Israel Antiquities Authority, this time focusing on wood conservation around the city. Avner, the 'tour guide', did more than just talk about wood, though. He explained how different buildings had been constructed, repaired, and preserved over the last hundred years or so. We started in the Efendi Hotel, a gorgeous hotel inside a large Ottoman house. The entire inside was decorated with floral motifs made of wood carvings, most of which were originals from when it had been constructed. Of course it had been repaired and conserved, but a lot of it was original or modeled after the original. We then walked through other parts of Old Akko as Avner explained the conservation process of the wooden parts of the buildings. We walked into some of the buildings so he could show us examples of what he was explaining.It was really interesting to see that almost all of the buildings were constructed in the same way, had the same decorations, and were experiencing the same problems. The Efendi Hotel was one example that has been well conserved, but the decorations inside were the norm throughout the city. It would have been amazing to see the city two hundred years ago, when it was in much better condition.
As I mentioned in the beginning, today is Melissa's birthday. After dinner we made a semi-surprise celebration for her. Two of the girls prepared fondue for dessert and stuck candles in a watermelon. It was a nice and fun ending to a busy day.
We started the day going to Haifa University to visit the Hecht Museum of Archaeology. This free museum is dedicated entirely to archaeology of Israel relating to the people of Israel. Almost all of their materials were found in Israel. It is similar in its goals to the Rockefeller Museum, but significantly better planned and executed. The museum looked new, well-kept, and was presented in an interesting way. It was really interesting to see their exhibit and compare it to what we saw at the Rockefeller. They also have a 2,400 year old shipwreck. After we were given a tour of the museum (the tour itself wasn't so interesting) the expert in waterlogged material conservation talked to us about the process of conserving, restoring and preserving waterlogged and marine material. He was the one who worked on the shipwreck and taught us everything there is to know about preserving marine archaeological material. We went into his lab where he does the conservation, and learned a lot from him. Then we headed back to Akko.
Back in Akko (after eating a quick lunch) we had another tour by the Israel Antiquities Authority, this time focusing on wood conservation around the city. Avner, the 'tour guide', did more than just talk about wood, though. He explained how different buildings had been constructed, repaired, and preserved over the last hundred years or so. We started in the Efendi Hotel, a gorgeous hotel inside a large Ottoman house. The entire inside was decorated with floral motifs made of wood carvings, most of which were originals from when it had been constructed. Of course it had been repaired and conserved, but a lot of it was original or modeled after the original. We then walked through other parts of Old Akko as Avner explained the conservation process of the wooden parts of the buildings. We walked into some of the buildings so he could show us examples of what he was explaining.It was really interesting to see that almost all of the buildings were constructed in the same way, had the same decorations, and were experiencing the same problems. The Efendi Hotel was one example that has been well conserved, but the decorations inside were the norm throughout the city. It would have been amazing to see the city two hundred years ago, when it was in much better condition.
As I mentioned in the beginning, today is Melissa's birthday. After dinner we made a semi-surprise celebration for her. Two of the girls prepared fondue for dessert and stuck candles in a watermelon. It was a nice and fun ending to a busy day.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
A New Week
Welcome back to my blog. I wanted to post again last week but I got busy and distracted. Sorry, again. I will bring us up to date from last Wednesday until today. Just going back to Tuesday briefly, the lecturer we were having on Wednesday and Thursday, Aliza, joined us in the apartment. She is from Jerusalem, so she had to stay the night Tuesday and Wednesday. Luckily we have the empty spare room.
Wednesday and Thursday Aliza taught us about mortars, plasters, and wall conservation. She told us about different types of mortars, what they are used for, and her preferences for how to restore and conserve a wall with mortar. We went on more walking tours of Akko looking at walls that had different stages of conservation. On Thursday we worked with actual mortars on a wall in the Conservation Center. We cleaned the wall, removed prior mortars, mixed new mortar and applied it to the wall. It was cool to work with mortars and to learn how to do repointing and mortar conservation. After working in the Center we went to the Tourist office to learn a little bit about their work in Old Akko. They are working with the local people to help them become self-sufficient and improve their situations. After the meeting we had another Hebrew lesson. I was given a few worksheets to fill out. They were easy, but it was a little more work than last time.
On Friday I went to Beit Shemesh to spend Shabbat with my family. I took the train to Tel Aviv where Uncle Steve picked me up after work. Shabbat was nice. Quiet and peaceful. All the cousins were there, as well as Tsachi's girlfriend and some of Noa's friends. Saturday before Mincha we went on a hike up to the monastery at Bet Gemal. The monastery and the surrounding land is owned by the Vatican, and there are the ruins of a 5th century church behind it with mosaics. After Shabbat was over I took the train back to Akko.
Today we had our weekly review in the morning, talking about what we had done over the past few weeks. We then drove to a place where we learned about woodworking. The two guys there run courses teaching woodworking, and they taught us some of the basics for how to use and shape wood for everyday use. They also talked a little about wood restoration and conservation. We then got a chance to each level a piece of wood with a wood plane. It was really nice to be doing hands-on work.
After the woodworking lesson was over we had another Hebrew lesson. I was reading stories out of a lesson book and answering the questions after. There was a little more that I didn't understand, but it was all vocabulary, while the book was focusing on grammar. I'm giving up hope of having a meaningful ulpan, and I may end up just reading the dictionary to learn the vocabulary.
Wednesday and Thursday Aliza taught us about mortars, plasters, and wall conservation. She told us about different types of mortars, what they are used for, and her preferences for how to restore and conserve a wall with mortar. We went on more walking tours of Akko looking at walls that had different stages of conservation. On Thursday we worked with actual mortars on a wall in the Conservation Center. We cleaned the wall, removed prior mortars, mixed new mortar and applied it to the wall. It was cool to work with mortars and to learn how to do repointing and mortar conservation. After working in the Center we went to the Tourist office to learn a little bit about their work in Old Akko. They are working with the local people to help them become self-sufficient and improve their situations. After the meeting we had another Hebrew lesson. I was given a few worksheets to fill out. They were easy, but it was a little more work than last time.
On Friday I went to Beit Shemesh to spend Shabbat with my family. I took the train to Tel Aviv where Uncle Steve picked me up after work. Shabbat was nice. Quiet and peaceful. All the cousins were there, as well as Tsachi's girlfriend and some of Noa's friends. Saturday before Mincha we went on a hike up to the monastery at Bet Gemal. The monastery and the surrounding land is owned by the Vatican, and there are the ruins of a 5th century church behind it with mosaics. After Shabbat was over I took the train back to Akko.
Today we had our weekly review in the morning, talking about what we had done over the past few weeks. We then drove to a place where we learned about woodworking. The two guys there run courses teaching woodworking, and they taught us some of the basics for how to use and shape wood for everyday use. They also talked a little about wood restoration and conservation. We then got a chance to each level a piece of wood with a wood plane. It was really nice to be doing hands-on work.
After the woodworking lesson was over we had another Hebrew lesson. I was reading stories out of a lesson book and answering the questions after. There was a little more that I didn't understand, but it was all vocabulary, while the book was focusing on grammar. I'm giving up hope of having a meaningful ulpan, and I may end up just reading the dictionary to learn the vocabulary.
Tuesday, March 18, 2014
Getting Caught Up
Hello everyone. Sorry for not posting for a while, I have been distracted and busy and haven't had the time or the internet connection to write a new blog post. So now I am going to get everyone caught up since last Wednesday. We have done quite a lot and I will try to talk about everything, but I might miss something.
Okay, starting with last Thursday, while we were still in Jerusalem. Thursday morning we went to the Rockefeller Museum again. We started with a tour and explanation of the archives. They hold every document about excavations and antiquity sites in Israel. They also hold all the documents that have survived since the Ottoman Period and British Mandate about ancient or important sites, including maps and descriptions dating back to the 18th century. We learned about how they conserve the papers and books, and how they store everything. After the archives we had a tour of the building, learning about the building's history as well as learning about the gallery and the artifacts. Then we went into the basement and looked around the storage rooms. They were filled with pottery, ossuaries, and other artifacts that aren't quite good enough for the exhibition. It kind of reminded me of Indiana Jones, with the wooden boxes stacked to the ceiling. After the Rockefeller Museum (and lunch) we went to the Israel Museum to get a private showing of the Dead Sea Scrolls Lab. This is where they do all the restoration and conservation work of the Dead Sea Scrolls. We saw several fragments that are not on display to the public, and saw the hi-tech camera developed by NASA to photograph objects across a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. It was really cool to go behind the scenes where they work. The one complaint I had was that we were joined by a group of students from Penn State University who were here for their spring break. I like our small group of six. It makes our lectures and tours more personal, as well as just making it easier to see and hear what is being discussed. It was hard at some points to see the scrolls that were being displayed for us because our group had tripled in size. Nevertheless it was a good experience. After seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls we had some time to walk around the Israel Museum.
Friday and Saturday were the weekend, so we all did different things. I spent the time walking in and around the Old City. I did a lot of tourist things, from seeing the Tower of David to walking through the Kidron Valley beneath the Mount of Olives. I did a lot of walking and a lot of sight-seeing. If you want to know exactly what I did over these days feel free to ask, but it's not important for the post so I will save time by not writing it. Saturday night there was a silent disco Purim party at the hostel. I dressed up as a hippie-flower. I wore a long blond wig, oversize purple shutter glasses, and a red flower on my back. I looked pretty ridiculous. The party was fun and a good break from everything we have been doing. It was nice to stay up really late. We had Sunday off because it was Purim, but we had to catch our bus in the morning to take us back to Akko. When we got back we just relaxed and got settled again.
Monday we went to Caesarea and worked on mosaics in situ. We were filling in holes with lime mortar where the mosaics had crumbled away in the Byzantine Church (built on top of Herod's Temple of Augustus) It was really interesting to do work filling in mosaics. Because the work was right in the middle of the tourist area there were people walking right by us while we worked, asking us questions about who we were and what we were doing. I felt like a tourist attraction, just like the ruins.
Today we finally went to the International Conservation Center. We got a tour of the building, a little of its history, and a little reception to "celebrate" the Center being open again. We then had lectures by the expert in mosaics. He was the boss of the mosaics lab that we went to in Jerusalem last week. Today he gave lectures about lime mortar, mosaic construction, and mosaic conservation. In the evening we had another Hebrew lesson, in which I did nothing. I listened to the teacher while she was helping everyone else, and occasionally I chimed in to help. It wasn't a very exciting day.
Okay, starting with last Thursday, while we were still in Jerusalem. Thursday morning we went to the Rockefeller Museum again. We started with a tour and explanation of the archives. They hold every document about excavations and antiquity sites in Israel. They also hold all the documents that have survived since the Ottoman Period and British Mandate about ancient or important sites, including maps and descriptions dating back to the 18th century. We learned about how they conserve the papers and books, and how they store everything. After the archives we had a tour of the building, learning about the building's history as well as learning about the gallery and the artifacts. Then we went into the basement and looked around the storage rooms. They were filled with pottery, ossuaries, and other artifacts that aren't quite good enough for the exhibition. It kind of reminded me of Indiana Jones, with the wooden boxes stacked to the ceiling. After the Rockefeller Museum (and lunch) we went to the Israel Museum to get a private showing of the Dead Sea Scrolls Lab. This is where they do all the restoration and conservation work of the Dead Sea Scrolls. We saw several fragments that are not on display to the public, and saw the hi-tech camera developed by NASA to photograph objects across a large portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. It was really cool to go behind the scenes where they work. The one complaint I had was that we were joined by a group of students from Penn State University who were here for their spring break. I like our small group of six. It makes our lectures and tours more personal, as well as just making it easier to see and hear what is being discussed. It was hard at some points to see the scrolls that were being displayed for us because our group had tripled in size. Nevertheless it was a good experience. After seeing the Dead Sea Scrolls we had some time to walk around the Israel Museum.
Friday and Saturday were the weekend, so we all did different things. I spent the time walking in and around the Old City. I did a lot of tourist things, from seeing the Tower of David to walking through the Kidron Valley beneath the Mount of Olives. I did a lot of walking and a lot of sight-seeing. If you want to know exactly what I did over these days feel free to ask, but it's not important for the post so I will save time by not writing it. Saturday night there was a silent disco Purim party at the hostel. I dressed up as a hippie-flower. I wore a long blond wig, oversize purple shutter glasses, and a red flower on my back. I looked pretty ridiculous. The party was fun and a good break from everything we have been doing. It was nice to stay up really late. We had Sunday off because it was Purim, but we had to catch our bus in the morning to take us back to Akko. When we got back we just relaxed and got settled again.
Monday we went to Caesarea and worked on mosaics in situ. We were filling in holes with lime mortar where the mosaics had crumbled away in the Byzantine Church (built on top of Herod's Temple of Augustus) It was really interesting to do work filling in mosaics. Because the work was right in the middle of the tourist area there were people walking right by us while we worked, asking us questions about who we were and what we were doing. I felt like a tourist attraction, just like the ruins.
Today we finally went to the International Conservation Center. We got a tour of the building, a little of its history, and a little reception to "celebrate" the Center being open again. We then had lectures by the expert in mosaics. He was the boss of the mosaics lab that we went to in Jerusalem last week. Today he gave lectures about lime mortar, mosaic construction, and mosaic conservation. In the evening we had another Hebrew lesson, in which I did nothing. I listened to the teacher while she was helping everyone else, and occasionally I chimed in to help. It wasn't a very exciting day.
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Mosaics on Mosaics on Mosaics
Here's a short blog post for today. Today was spent entirely in the IAA mosaic lab at the Rockefeller Museum. The lab is in a warehouse behind the museum, filled to the brim with mosaics. The head of the mosaics lab gave us an explanation about mosaic conservation, and then toured us through the lab/warehouse. He said that there were over one thousand meters of mosaics in the warehouse, plus hundreds more in museums around the country. Some of the single mosaic pieces were huge, almost ten meters long! They were in various states of preservation. Some looked like they had just been lifted from an excavation, while others were mounted and framed and looked like they could have been displayed in a museum. I was surprised that we were allowed to take pictures, since it is generally forbidden to take pictures of artifacts in archaeological warehouses, including mosaics.
After the tour we began working on actual mosaics, cleaning the tiles of dirt and debris, preparing them for the rest of the conservation process. For the rest of the day we scraped and picked at the dirt on the tiles, revealing them and cleaning them. It was long, hard work, but very rewarding when the design of the mosaic was visible at the end. I really enjoyed working on the mosaics. Next week we are going to be doing more work with mosaics, and I am looking forward to it!
After the tour we began working on actual mosaics, cleaning the tiles of dirt and debris, preparing them for the rest of the conservation process. For the rest of the day we scraped and picked at the dirt on the tiles, revealing them and cleaning them. It was long, hard work, but very rewarding when the design of the mosaic was visible at the end. I really enjoyed working on the mosaics. Next week we are going to be doing more work with mosaics, and I am looking forward to it!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
3000 Years of History
Day three in Jerusalem, specifically in the Old City. Today was tour day. We did a few tourist things and then had a private tour with an archaeologist. It was a lot of walking and my feet are somewhat sore right now, but everything was interesting.
The first thing we did was go on the Western Wall Tunnels tour. I have been on the tour at least one time before, so I knew generally what to expect. This tour, however, was very biased. The tour guide was a young religious woman who heavily pushed her agenda of promoting the greatness of Jews and our view of history. While it was great for stories, some of the information she told us was not accurate. She also seemed to be a better tour guide for children than for anyone else, but our tour group was not made up of children so her emphasis on child-like explanations and attitudes did not go over well. It was still nice going into the Wall tunnel and coming out in the fortress. The last time I was on the tour the fortress was closed off and we exited the tunnels at a different location, so seeing something new was cool.
After the Wall Tunnels we went to the Davidson Center and got a presentation/tour of the Southern Excavation Museum. For this tour we focused entirely on what was inside the museum, since our tour in the afternoon would cover everything outside. The tour guide presented a little about the history of the area and some other stuff, and then used a digital visual model to present a reconstructed Temple Mount and southern market area. The model was cool to see and interact with, but the actual content was a little lacking. The tour guide was a little better about giving us relevant information, but he did insert some biased opinions.
After lunch we had an archaeology tour with Yaakov Biling, co-director of the Southern Wall Excavations who led the excavations of the southern part of the Western Wall. He walked us through the Southern Wall Excavation Gardens and the Second Temple Street beneath the wall. His perspective on the area was unique and he had cool stories about his work at the excavations. He also walked us through other archaeological sites in the Jewish Quarter. We went to the Herodian Quarter, a museum of a Second Temple period basement in a museum, then the Broad Wall. After the Broad Wall we went to the Cardo and learned the history and changes of the thoroughfare and market. We stopped at the Madaba Map before continuing our tour. We then left the Old City via the Zion Gate and walked along the outside of the wall to the Jaffa Gate, where we ended the tour. Yaakov was very interesting, and more professional about the information he presented us. He told many sides to the stories instead of just focusing on stuff relevant to Jews. He told us his opinions, but made sure to let us know that they were his opinions and didn't state them like they were agreed-upon facts. He presented us with a lot of information, but it was all interesting and never boring. Even the things that I knew from before he told in new ways with stories from his history. He made the information personable and engaging, unlike the other tour guides.
I want to clarify that the tour guides that we had today were completely random and I do not blame the ICC or the STS staff for their quality or selection. The staff just organized attending the tours and the tour guides were supplied for us. I was definitely glad we went on the tours and I had a good time today.
The first thing we did was go on the Western Wall Tunnels tour. I have been on the tour at least one time before, so I knew generally what to expect. This tour, however, was very biased. The tour guide was a young religious woman who heavily pushed her agenda of promoting the greatness of Jews and our view of history. While it was great for stories, some of the information she told us was not accurate. She also seemed to be a better tour guide for children than for anyone else, but our tour group was not made up of children so her emphasis on child-like explanations and attitudes did not go over well. It was still nice going into the Wall tunnel and coming out in the fortress. The last time I was on the tour the fortress was closed off and we exited the tunnels at a different location, so seeing something new was cool.
After the Wall Tunnels we went to the Davidson Center and got a presentation/tour of the Southern Excavation Museum. For this tour we focused entirely on what was inside the museum, since our tour in the afternoon would cover everything outside. The tour guide presented a little about the history of the area and some other stuff, and then used a digital visual model to present a reconstructed Temple Mount and southern market area. The model was cool to see and interact with, but the actual content was a little lacking. The tour guide was a little better about giving us relevant information, but he did insert some biased opinions.
After lunch we had an archaeology tour with Yaakov Biling, co-director of the Southern Wall Excavations who led the excavations of the southern part of the Western Wall. He walked us through the Southern Wall Excavation Gardens and the Second Temple Street beneath the wall. His perspective on the area was unique and he had cool stories about his work at the excavations. He also walked us through other archaeological sites in the Jewish Quarter. We went to the Herodian Quarter, a museum of a Second Temple period basement in a museum, then the Broad Wall. After the Broad Wall we went to the Cardo and learned the history and changes of the thoroughfare and market. We stopped at the Madaba Map before continuing our tour. We then left the Old City via the Zion Gate and walked along the outside of the wall to the Jaffa Gate, where we ended the tour. Yaakov was very interesting, and more professional about the information he presented us. He told many sides to the stories instead of just focusing on stuff relevant to Jews. He told us his opinions, but made sure to let us know that they were his opinions and didn't state them like they were agreed-upon facts. He presented us with a lot of information, but it was all interesting and never boring. Even the things that I knew from before he told in new ways with stories from his history. He made the information personable and engaging, unlike the other tour guides.
I want to clarify that the tour guides that we had today were completely random and I do not blame the ICC or the STS staff for their quality or selection. The staff just organized attending the tours and the tour guides were supplied for us. I was definitely glad we went on the tours and I had a good time today.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Ceramics, Metal and Glass, Oh My!
Welcome from Jerusalem! We are spending this entire week here, doing various conservation work with the IAA. We are staying in Abraham Hostel in Davidkah Square near Machaneh Yehuda, the shuk. It is in the center of everything and only about a fifteen-minute walk to the Old City.
Sunday morning we left Akko and drove to Jerusalem. We started in the IAA labs to see where they work on artifacts. Experts on different materials gave lectures about their work, specifically ceramic, metal and glass objects, including their creation, maintenance, and conservation. In the afternoon we were given a tour of the different labs, looking at what they have worked on and what they are currently working on among the ceramic, metal and glass artifacts. Yesterday evening we went out to a pub, got a drink and hung out.
Today we went back to the labs and got to do hands-on work in the labs. Our first station was working with (modern) broken ceramics, trying to fit them back together, reconstruct them and glue them back into one whole piece. It was a challenge, but not very hard. I have the patience to sit and stare at pieces to see if I can find some that have matching breaks. I wish we had worked on actual artifacts, but they didn't have anything easy and 'unimportant' for us to work on, so I understand their hesitancy to let us work on a real artifact. We did the same for the glass workshop. We had a modern glass object that was broken and had to put it back together. It was very similar to working with ceramics but we had to be careful not to cut ourselves, and it was a little more difficult to put the pieces together. We also had a metal workshop, working on actual metal artifacts that taught us the basic techniques without being too important. We were cleaning nails and other small metal objects of their encrustation and dirt. It was a lot more tedious, but I liked it. I haven't worked with metals before, so it was cool scraping away at the layers of dirt and slowly revealing the metal beneath.
After working at the lab we were finished for the day. I took an accidental four-hour nap, and then went walking. I ended up on Ben Yehuda Street, ate a shawarma, and watched the tourists walking around.
Sunday morning we left Akko and drove to Jerusalem. We started in the IAA labs to see where they work on artifacts. Experts on different materials gave lectures about their work, specifically ceramic, metal and glass objects, including their creation, maintenance, and conservation. In the afternoon we were given a tour of the different labs, looking at what they have worked on and what they are currently working on among the ceramic, metal and glass artifacts. Yesterday evening we went out to a pub, got a drink and hung out.
Today we went back to the labs and got to do hands-on work in the labs. Our first station was working with (modern) broken ceramics, trying to fit them back together, reconstruct them and glue them back into one whole piece. It was a challenge, but not very hard. I have the patience to sit and stare at pieces to see if I can find some that have matching breaks. I wish we had worked on actual artifacts, but they didn't have anything easy and 'unimportant' for us to work on, so I understand their hesitancy to let us work on a real artifact. We did the same for the glass workshop. We had a modern glass object that was broken and had to put it back together. It was very similar to working with ceramics but we had to be careful not to cut ourselves, and it was a little more difficult to put the pieces together. We also had a metal workshop, working on actual metal artifacts that taught us the basic techniques without being too important. We were cleaning nails and other small metal objects of their encrustation and dirt. It was a lot more tedious, but I liked it. I haven't worked with metals before, so it was cool scraping away at the layers of dirt and slowly revealing the metal beneath.
After working at the lab we were finished for the day. I took an accidental four-hour nap, and then went walking. I ended up on Ben Yehuda Street, ate a shawarma, and watched the tourists walking around.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
I'm too sleepy to think of a good title
Welcome back everyone. Sorry for not posting this week, but it was a busy week and I didn't really have much time to write. Also, there wasn't a whole of stuff we did that I would consider "interesting" blog post material, so I thought I would just do one big post.
This week was our introduction to conservation. Starting off the week, Sunday was interesting. We spent almost the entire time in Khan es-Shawarda, a large merchant square in the Old City. We learned how to make a conservation survey by actually creating one for a specific feature of the khan. We were split into three groups of two and each given an area to analyze. I was working on one pillar of the faรงade, looking at its construction, the condition of the stones, mortar and prior conservation work, identifying hazards to the pillar, and creating a new plan of conservation that addressed all the issues with it. The exercise was just a practice, since we had very little knowledge of conservation at this point. It was meant to give us an idea of what happens before any work is done on a structure. It was very interesting to actually work with the real process of what happens, but I would have liked to have had some background information on the process before actually doing it. Being thrown into the activity without any prior knowledge about conservation made me feel uncomfortable with my work because I knew I was doing things wrong, I knew I wasn't understanding everything that was needed, and I knew that my report was inadequate and lacking. When I do things I like doing them correctly and properly, so I don't like doing something if I don't know how to do it right. I definitely learned a lot by doing the exercise, and I'm glad it was part of the program. I just wish it wasn't the very first thing related to conservation that we did.
Monday morning we finished our reports and explained them to everyone else. The rest of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were filled with lectures about conservation, cultural heritage (both physical and intangible heritage), conservation laws and international bodies that deal with conservation and cultural heritage. Tuesday afternoon we also were told a little bit about projects that past STS participants have done, to help us start thinking about what projects we wanted to do.
Yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon we had a lesson about Purim. Since half of the participants are not Jewish, we learned a little bit about the story and customs, including mishloach manot, giving gifts. Last week we picked someone's name to make a gift basket for, like a Secret Santa, or what I will call Secret Mordechai. This week we had to make a small gift basket to give to our person, and Wednesday we did the exchange. The gifts were just small things, mostly candies. It was fun doing it and seeing what people got for each other. Then we ate hamentashen and played with costumes that one of the staff brought. A good introduction to Purim before next weekend!
Today (Thursday) we had a tour of archaeology in the Western Galilee with Eliezer Stern, the chief archaeologist of the area. We drove around the area talking about archaeology of the area and going to some sites. First stop was the Cabri Springs and Olive Press park, where there is a partially reconstructed Roman olive press as well as a hidden aquifer and aqueduct from the springs that isn't open to the public. Then we went to the Yechiam Fort. It is a a Crusader tower that was expanded by the Ottomans into a fortress. It has a great view of the surrounding hills. After the fort we drove to a little path that took us to another Roman olive press and oil factory that was overgrown. Then we went to a cave in a village. I'm not allowed to say why we went to the cave, where it is or why it is special, since the information is too important, unclear, and unpublished. What I will say is that it was really, really interesting for me as an anthropologist.
Then we had lunch in a park, which also had some archaeology to explore. In the park was a small village, no more than thirty yards long, that was not excavated but above ground, and completely overgrown. It looked like how archaeological sites are presented in movies, with worked stone lying everywhere, vines and bushes covering everything, and gaping holes in the ground. The village specialized in making olive oil, with at least four different olive presses within the buildings. After exploring Olive Town we went to a kibbutz, I don't remember the name, and saw a Byzantine mosaic on the surface. Only the mosaic was left exposed after the excavations of a church were back-filled. According to Eliezer, he is going to have the mosaic covered as well since the kibbutz was not adequately taking care of it. Our last stop was a small Byzantine tomb underneath the floor of a building next to the Ghetto Fighters Museum in Lochamei haGetaot. The tomb was really small, with room for only two or three people to stand, but had nice frescoes on the walls.
This evening we went to the Theater Center for another play. It was all in Hebrew, but again I understood a good part of it. There was a video of an old, local Arab woman telling the story of her life in an interview, while an actress interacted with the audience and compared part of "her" story of escaping Europe during the Holocaust to the Arab woman's experience before, during and after the Independence War. Some of it was confusing, and I know I didn't understand a lot, especially when both the Arab woman and the actress were speaking at the same time. It was still entertaining, and I'm glad I went.
Okay, time for me to go to bed. It's time for the weekend so I get to recuperate and prepare, as we are spending all of next week in Jerusalem. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not sure if I will have time to put up any posts until after Purim. Stay tuned!
This week was our introduction to conservation. Starting off the week, Sunday was interesting. We spent almost the entire time in Khan es-Shawarda, a large merchant square in the Old City. We learned how to make a conservation survey by actually creating one for a specific feature of the khan. We were split into three groups of two and each given an area to analyze. I was working on one pillar of the faรงade, looking at its construction, the condition of the stones, mortar and prior conservation work, identifying hazards to the pillar, and creating a new plan of conservation that addressed all the issues with it. The exercise was just a practice, since we had very little knowledge of conservation at this point. It was meant to give us an idea of what happens before any work is done on a structure. It was very interesting to actually work with the real process of what happens, but I would have liked to have had some background information on the process before actually doing it. Being thrown into the activity without any prior knowledge about conservation made me feel uncomfortable with my work because I knew I was doing things wrong, I knew I wasn't understanding everything that was needed, and I knew that my report was inadequate and lacking. When I do things I like doing them correctly and properly, so I don't like doing something if I don't know how to do it right. I definitely learned a lot by doing the exercise, and I'm glad it was part of the program. I just wish it wasn't the very first thing related to conservation that we did.
Monday morning we finished our reports and explained them to everyone else. The rest of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday were filled with lectures about conservation, cultural heritage (both physical and intangible heritage), conservation laws and international bodies that deal with conservation and cultural heritage. Tuesday afternoon we also were told a little bit about projects that past STS participants have done, to help us start thinking about what projects we wanted to do.
Yesterday (Wednesday) afternoon we had a lesson about Purim. Since half of the participants are not Jewish, we learned a little bit about the story and customs, including mishloach manot, giving gifts. Last week we picked someone's name to make a gift basket for, like a Secret Santa, or what I will call Secret Mordechai. This week we had to make a small gift basket to give to our person, and Wednesday we did the exchange. The gifts were just small things, mostly candies. It was fun doing it and seeing what people got for each other. Then we ate hamentashen and played with costumes that one of the staff brought. A good introduction to Purim before next weekend!
Today (Thursday) we had a tour of archaeology in the Western Galilee with Eliezer Stern, the chief archaeologist of the area. We drove around the area talking about archaeology of the area and going to some sites. First stop was the Cabri Springs and Olive Press park, where there is a partially reconstructed Roman olive press as well as a hidden aquifer and aqueduct from the springs that isn't open to the public. Then we went to the Yechiam Fort. It is a a Crusader tower that was expanded by the Ottomans into a fortress. It has a great view of the surrounding hills. After the fort we drove to a little path that took us to another Roman olive press and oil factory that was overgrown. Then we went to a cave in a village. I'm not allowed to say why we went to the cave, where it is or why it is special, since the information is too important, unclear, and unpublished. What I will say is that it was really, really interesting for me as an anthropologist.
Then we had lunch in a park, which also had some archaeology to explore. In the park was a small village, no more than thirty yards long, that was not excavated but above ground, and completely overgrown. It looked like how archaeological sites are presented in movies, with worked stone lying everywhere, vines and bushes covering everything, and gaping holes in the ground. The village specialized in making olive oil, with at least four different olive presses within the buildings. After exploring Olive Town we went to a kibbutz, I don't remember the name, and saw a Byzantine mosaic on the surface. Only the mosaic was left exposed after the excavations of a church were back-filled. According to Eliezer, he is going to have the mosaic covered as well since the kibbutz was not adequately taking care of it. Our last stop was a small Byzantine tomb underneath the floor of a building next to the Ghetto Fighters Museum in Lochamei haGetaot. The tomb was really small, with room for only two or three people to stand, but had nice frescoes on the walls.
This evening we went to the Theater Center for another play. It was all in Hebrew, but again I understood a good part of it. There was a video of an old, local Arab woman telling the story of her life in an interview, while an actress interacted with the audience and compared part of "her" story of escaping Europe during the Holocaust to the Arab woman's experience before, during and after the Independence War. Some of it was confusing, and I know I didn't understand a lot, especially when both the Arab woman and the actress were speaking at the same time. It was still entertaining, and I'm glad I went.
Okay, time for me to go to bed. It's time for the weekend so I get to recuperate and prepare, as we are spending all of next week in Jerusalem. I'm looking forward to it, but I'm not sure if I will have time to put up any posts until after Purim. Stay tuned!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)