Jerusalem

Unfortunately I can't post that many pictures here, but once back home I will be able to post many more. But for now, here is Carson and I on the Mountain of Olives looking down at Old Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock. On the other side of the Dome that you can't see is the Wailing Wall.

We've got two weeks under our belt at the archeological dig in Manot, Israel. The cave was shut off from the outside world for 20,000 years. That means whatever lived in it before that time hasn't been touched--a good thing for archeologists that study Neanderthal and early hominids (us).

 

It was discovered by the Manot village. They were laying a sewer pipe in 2008 for a new subdivision when they broke through the top of the cave. The locals repelled inside and found the top of a skull that has features of Neanderthal and human--basically inconclusive. They brought it to the authorities who chastised them for moving it. Now we don't know where to look first. After an official survey, they began digging in 2009 by repelling down a water carved shaft. Since then they've made an opening with heavy steel doors to keep out people and keep the cave dark and moist. The cave is still active forming stalactites and stalagmites. So it is open for 1 month out of the year to keep it from drying out. We've been finding flint tools, flint flakes, animal bones, a couple of suspected hearths. A possible third one is called, "Michael Hearth." (Luther is mad about that. He wanted to find it first.) Although we have a chemist, radio carbon specialist and many professors from dentists to bone specialists etc, these things take lots of time and cross checking before they'll say what it is for sure.

 

About 30 people are at the dig. We had Israel's minister of antiquity with 60-70 other rich and dignitaries taking a tour one day. That meant no breaks so they could see us in action. It's kind of cool being the eye-candy.

 

After the first week the Clevland Ohio, Case Western, and Kent University professors and students greatly increased our human power. That meant we could dig in more areas than the one we started on in area E. So Megan, Gadi and Carson started in area G. Megan was doing all the work digging when Carson came along and pulled up an interesting flint rock. It could be a Neanderthal tool from that time period of 30-40,000 years ago. A period they are really interested in gaining more knowledge. (We even had a small fauna specialist here looking at all of our tiny bones and teeth. He have a short lecture and passed around samples of things we dug but didn't know it at the time.) 

 

One of our chemists is building a data base from cave rocks that will help discern what is what. They are forbidden to take samples from the cave rocks because it would damage the cave's growth. But if you accidently break some off they can use those samples. When Megan's head knocked some rock off, they were fine with that. Way to use your head, Megan!

 

Weekends are tours and beaches. We saw the only city Napoleon could not conquer. It's also the place where the Nights Templar first built their fortress during the time of the crusades. The best preserved crusader castle in the world is in Okra thanks to the Turks. "The Butcher", had the Night's castle filled with sand to build on top of it. That was nice of him for archeologists. (Luther wondered why the called him "the butcher." When he found out, he got very quiet and then asked, "So the advisor that got his nose and ear chopped off for ill advice still served him as an advisor?" "Yep, you heard it left. The man didn't have to worry about getting his nose dirty on the job.") We walked through an old hospital, nights quarters, and lots of tunnels. One tunnel is suspected for smuggling past the tax place from the shore. They are leaving the old stone, shoring it up and adding new to rebuild it for tourism. It will be pretty cool.

 

It's interesting to note that the ancient shore line was 2 km further out when the ocean levels were meters lower in the 1000-1300 AD range.

 

A trip to the border of Lebanon was weird. We took a short gondola ride down to a chalk stone laced cliff with flint. We watched a video on a screen in an old WWII train tunnel. At one time this line connected South Africa to Moscow. The train line bridge was blown up out of fear the enemy would move their troops to attack. So now it's a tourist area. On the other side of that movie screen is a bricked up wall and beyond that is Lebanon. Anyhow, the water makes large crevasses in the sand/chalk stone where waves crash. These are the grottos. A walkway goes inside near and not only do you get sprayed but your ears pop a lot due to the wind pressure caused by water swells. Got some footage for the sites and sounds. (After Luther jumped in, we had to get some help to fish him out. After a scolding and a dryer ride, all is okay.) I will be uploading some footage when we get home.

 

What do we do at a dig? Some are in the cave digging about 5 cm down at a time in a 1 by 1 meter square. When we find something interesting we put it in a labeled find-Ziploc. The rest of the dirt goes into buckets with labeled tags. This way they know exactly where an artifact was found. We measure each square's sea level elevation before we begin and after we stop. Then the buckets are hauled out by hand to a wet sift area. Using water hoses we wash away the dirt, pick out more big finds and spread the little washed stuff onto labeled trays to dry. After they are dry, people use tiny paint brushes to separate out any flint, bone or interesting item from the gravel, sand, and small dirt clods. All of those will be sent to universities where they are analyzed by professor types for a growing body of knowledge about primitive humans and Neanderthal.

 

Also a few miles from here is another dig. It's working on a 2000 BCE Canaanite palace. It is so large they still haven't found the ends of it over the 6 years of digging. Although orange and black squares line the floor are cool, they need pottery or human remains or something more to positively identify the palace. (A major spring is near Manot--water for the ancient people was very important.) This year they found something which I cannot say that might help them get more funding! Most of the things we dig isn't to be put out on the Web until some authority has done the study and releases an official report. Pictures of the dig can be taken for personal use but not for the web. So I'll post some of the beautiful cave but not where we are digging. It's a pretty big cave that has a steep slope. Anyhow, we are learning a ton and having a great time. I highly recommend volunteering for a dig. All those years of sand box playing will pay off. If you don't like to sweat, get muddy and find new swore muscles, it might not be for you. (Luther doesn't like it. Mostly because there are university students who love my puns!)

Florence - the Duomo

The city of Florence decided to build the biggest dome in the world in the 1400's, without knowing how to achieve it! Brunelleschi, the architect for the dome, devised a system of an inner shell and outer dome to distribute the weight of the cupola, with thick walls negating the need for further buttressing.  They left the cathedral uncapped for years waiting for  a solution to be devised.

The Colosseum

Apparently, over 5000 different types of exotic animals were killed in sport here during its heyday. A movable wooden floor covered in sand to soak up the blood concealed the animal cages and sophisticated technical apparatus, from winches and mechanical lifts to ramps and trapdoors.  These contests were also used to eliminate slaves and proscribed sects, Christians and criminals, political agitators and prisoners of war. 

With the fall of the Roman Empire, the Coliseum fell into disuse.  The ruins were plundered to create churches and palaces.  Apparently, this was an early sustainability practice!  HA!

Dinner in Rome

Who needs to speak Italian?  Hand gestures say it all. 

The Ryan's at Ponte di Rialto

My sister Cindy and me (Melissa)

 Mike and Melissa

 Megan, Michael, Melissa, Carson

 Melissa's sister Cindy, husband Matt, Erin and Drake.  The Wheeler's joined us on the trip. 

The Gondola Ride

The Gondola holds 6 people, Mike and Matt opted out.  Ever since I was a child, I imagined riding the Gondola in Venice.  A dream come true!

Ponte di Rialto, Venice's most famous bridge.  The balustrade bridge is single-span and has two parallel rows of tightly packed shops. The previous wooden drawbridges built across this point all collapsed, necessitating the erection of a more weighty stone structure.  Antonio da Ponte beat the greatest architects of the day, including Michaelangelo and Palladio, to secure this commission in 1588-1592.

Less graffiti here than in Athens, but still some samplings. This one was interesting. 

The Gondola driver knows when to duck.

Our driver