A New Week of Working

Hello to all my readers. I hope your week is going well. My work week is now finished, which means it is time for a new blog post! These last three days have been really busy, so get ready! Also, I have uploaded new pictures to Facebook, so be sure to check them out.

Tuesday we learned about stone masonry. An expert came to the Conservation Center and taught us the techniques of sculpting stone blocks. We worked with tools on large blocks that they provided. We each got a block and learned the process of planning and constructing an arch. By the end we each had sculpted a block of the arch, and then put it all together to make the arch in the courtyard. The arch wasn't perfect but it stood, which is the important thing!

On Wednesday we went to a blacksmith in Yoqne'am to learn about metalsmithing. The blacksmith taught us how to shape iron in the furnace. We started by learning how to turn a round rod square, and then back to round. Then we tapered the end to different lengths, and then cut it. Then we moved on to making nails, which were more difficult. We finished by learning a little artwork, creating leaves that could be hung from a keychain. It was really cool working with the iron, anvil and tools and creating metal pieces. Even though some of us got a little burned, we all had fun. By the end we had definitely improved our metalsmithing skills

Today (Thursday) we woke up really early to head to Bet She'an, where we worked on conserving a mosaic floor. The work was very similar to what we did in Caesarea, but the area was smaller so we were able to finish a lot more. The mosaic had design on it, and part of the work was putting the tesserae back where they belonged to fill in the missing parts of the mosaic. Where we knew what the design was we recreated it, but if there were large gaps we did not add anything. After the work was done we took a short tour of the site, but did not go up onto the tel. By this time the temperature was around 40 degrees (over 100 degrees Fahrenheit), so we were okay with not spending a long time in the sun. We ended with some ice cream in the shade at the visitors center and gift shop.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to my blog everyone. Passover vacation is now over, and I had a wonderful time. I went to my cousins' for the beginning of break and the Seder. Most of the time was spent cleaning, eating, and resting, but on Wednesday we went to the beach in Ashkelon. It was a beautiful day, the Sun was hot, the sand smooth, and the water cold. The beach was in a park that also had a lot of archaeological stuff, so I spent some time looking at the ruins as well. On Thursday I left my cousins' house and headed to Tel Aviv to do some tourist stuff.

Thursday evening I walked around the neighborhood where my hostel was, but there wasn't much happening. The hostel was not in the center of the city where all the tourists usually go, but farther south in a quieter area and closer to Jaffa. I also spent some time that night hanging out with the other guests on the roof. Most everyone was drinking beer, but I couldn't join them because of Passover. On Friday I went on the Free Tour of Jaffa. Like all tours it was heavily oriented to ignorant tourists and the like, but the tour guide himself was entertaining and very knowledgeable about other things in addition to the history and tourist attractions of Jaffa. For example, when he talked about the archaeology taking place in the town he genuinely seemed to know proper archaeological methods. He also added in some humor to the tour, which is always a plus. After the tour I did some more exploring of Jaffa, walked along the promenade next to the beaches, and then hung out at the hostel. The hostel also prepared a Shabbat meal, so the dinner was better than going out and trying to find somewhere that was kosher for Pesach.

Saturday I spent most of the day at the beach. The weather wasn't perfect, but it was comfortable. It was windy and overcast, and at one point it very lightly rained. I still had fun lying on the sand and wading in the water. That night I again hung out on the roof of the hostel. There was a group of Indians that were staying, and I learned that they were a contingent of officers from the Indian army that were serving in the United Nations peacekeeping taskforce in the Golan Heights. They had a short vacation, which is why they weren't working. One of them joined the group I was hanging out with and we talked for a long time. It was really cool and interesting to learn his background and history, and about the job that he does in the Golan.

Sunday I left Tel Aviv and headed back to Akko. I met one of the other participants on the train, so the ride wasn't completely boring. We had Monday off as well since it was still holiday, so the resting continued. Stay tuned at the end of the week for my post about what we did once work started up again!

Done for a Week

Hello everyone! The week is over, and now begins our break for Passover. We have all of next week off, coming back on Tuesday the 22nd. It should be a nice break from the early mornings and the hard work.

The end of the past week was dedicated to stone material and conservation. We had lectures Tuesday and Thursday with a workshop in the Hospitaller Fortress on Wednesday. The lecture started by discussing the different types of rock (igneous, metamorphic, sedimentary) and then went into their properties and uses in building construction. Then we discussed the types of problems that can affect stone walls, and the different methods of conservation for the different problems. We discussed a lot about the issues of water and salts, since these are the major problems on the coast that cause deterioration of the stone. We also discussed the problems of prior conservation attempts and the deterioration and destruction that older methods can cause when the materials are not understood. While part of the lecture was a repeat of what we have learned before, it also went more in depth and gave us a better understanding of the problems that face conservation of stone.

The workshop in the Hospitaller Fortress involved mostly cleaning stone objects. We did power washing, cleaning with scalpels and brushes, and cleaning with an ammonium bicarbonate poultice. The ammonium bicarbonate is a white and blobby material that we applied to the surface so it could clean the ash and dirt off the surface of the objects. As it dries it kind of looks like salt crystallization. We were stationed in the courtyard outside the entrance to the Hospitaller Fortress, which meant we were again in the perfect spot to be interrupted by tourists. The most frequent question we got was if the objects we were working on were from the sea, since the ammonium bicarbonate poultice looked like salt encrustation. After lunch there was less to do with the objects that were being cleaned, so they sent me into the inner courtyard to clean the columns and trebuchet balls in the courtyard using a power washer. It wasn't exactly the type of work that I expected to do in the workshop, but it was work that needed to be done and it gave us experience working with those materials.

Our Local Culture for the week was visiting the Student Village in the old city. The student village is an area where university students live while they study, while also doing community work in the city. There are fourteen student villages around the Negev and the Galilee, and they are pegged as the new kibbutzim.

I am writing this blog post from the train, and it is almost my stop. I will post again either later in the week or when I am back in Akko. Everyone have a good weekend and a good Passover!

Plaster and Marble

Happy week everybody! This week is the last week before Passover break.We are starting to really think about what we want to do for our two-month practicum, as well as being really busy with work during the day and stuff we have to do on our own. Here is a look at what we did yesterday and today.

Yesterday and today we got up early to head to Caesarea to do more work. Yesterday we started with a proper tour of the site. We also went to the newer hippodrome out away from the park which most tourists don't realize exists. It has not been excavated, but the cylinder-shape of the structure is devoid of trees, making it visible. In the center of it is an obelisk that has been reconstructed and set up on a podium. After the tour we went to work. We learned about plaster conservation and then each got a section of wall to fill in the holes and reinforce the original plaster. We had to leave the site early so we could get back to Akko for Hebrew lesson. Since I don't go to the lessons I had time to work on the "homework" we had to do. Last week we were assigned areas of the courtyard in the International Conservation Center to document, analyze and write the condition assessment and conservation report. I needed more photos of my wall, so I used the time to document everything I needed.

Today we were back in Caesarea, this time working on marble conservation in the theater. We were right on the orchestra floor with a shade tarp, which meant we were in the perfect place to ruin tourists' photos of the theater. Throughout the day people came up to us asking about our work. Marble conservation entailed filling the cracks with a marble powder mortar that was mixed to match the color of the individual blocks of marble. We each worked on an area and mixed our own mortar so it matched the color of our area. After we finished working we spent some time on the beach. Lying on the sand and relaxing in the sun was a nice and refreshing way to end the day.

Documentation Week Part 2

Here is the post for the second half of documentation week, covering Wednesday and Thursday. Sorry for it being a bit short and a bit late.

Wednesday we were supposed to have a lecture about architectural documentation and how to properly measure areas for documentation. Instead we had a very long lecture mostly focused on mosaics, wall paintings and frescoes. The lecturer talked to us about anything and everything that came to his mind that he thought was important for conservators to know. He spent a great deal of time trying to explain chemical formulas and materials used in conservation of different types of building materials and when they are used. The lecture felt very erratic and scattered. He would be talking about mosaic conservation, then discuss the methods for removing fungus, start talking briefly about wall paintings, and then go back to mosaics. The last five minutes of the lecture were spent talking about measuring and recording. While all of the information was useful, it was presented in a very irregular way that made it very difficult to understand, not even taking into consideration the language difficulties. It was not my favorite lecture. After the lecture we went into the courtyard and applied what (little) we learned about measuring to our small sections. Then we had a lecture and tour by the director of the conservation department of the Israel Antiquities Authority. We toured the Hospitaller Fortress again, focusing on the methods of conservation used and the reasons behind their use.

On Thursday we were back in Khan esh-Shawarda working on our conservation plans. We applied what we had learned during the week to what we had worked on when we were first at the khan. We took more "professional" photographs and did a more detailed documentation of our area. After working at the khan we had our local culture session of the week. We went to a children's welfare club run by an urban kibbutz in Akko where we learned about the kibbutz, their history and mission, and the different programs they run in the city. It was really interesting to learn how a kibbutz can function inside of a city.

Documentation Week Part 1

Happy Week 7 everyone! Here is my mid-week blog post to cover everything we've done since Sunday. It hasn't been a tremendously busy week, but we are still working. People have been asking me about the weather lately, so I'll give a brief description of how it is here in Akko. The mornings are usually windy and cool, about 50-60 degrees. Often there are clouds. By the late morning/early afternoon the temperature has gone up to the upper 60s or low 70s, depending on the amount of sunlight. It is still windy, meaning in the shade it can feel cool. About once a week we get a rainstorm, usually overnight. It is very comfortable and like sitting on the balcony watching the waves. Anyway, back to what we did so far.

On Sunday we began really learning about the process of documentation and evaluation of conservation projects. We had a lecture discussing those topics and then did a local culture meeting in Akko at the Shop for Meaning, an arts store run by people with special needs. After our introduction to Shop for Meaning there was another Hebrew lesson, but I did not attend. I asked the staff and they said that it was meant for those who didn't know Hebrew, and that my level of understanding was beyond what they have had in the past. So they excused me from attending.

On Monday We started with another lecture about conservation plans and then started our own in the courtyard of the International Conservation Center. We each got a small area of the courtyard to document, record, analyze and evaluate. My section was a one-meter long and three-meter tall piece of wall in the corridor of the courtyard, as well as one-stone deep and halfway up the connected façade of the vault. I started by (and only had time for) drawing a rough sketch of my area and then measuring the dimensions of each stone as well as the dimensions of the entire area. We then had another lecture about structural engineering elements and issues of buildings. I personally wasn't that interested in the engineering side of the day, but some of the information was important to learn.

Today we learned about photography and photographic documentation. The beginning of the lecture began with covering the basics of photography and cameras, which was review for me. Having a grandfather very knowledgeable in photography and taken a photography class meant that I knew most of the information that the lecturer told us, but I did learn a few things. After the lecture we went back to the courtyard to get advice about how to photo-document our areas.

The rest of the week is also devoted to learning the process of documentation. Stay tuned for my next blog at the end of this week!