First Full Day, Part II: Archaeological Seminars – “Digging” Israel

After lunch, we headed to the National Park of Beit Guvrin, where the ruins of Maresha are. Maresha was an important city in the area of Judah during the First Temple period, and during the time of the Maccabean revolt. We spent time with Archaeological Seminars: Dig for a Day, which is an organization that coordinates the excavation of this site, and the areas around it. We got to go down into old cisterns and “basements” of ancient homes, dig around and sift of shards of pottery and other items. This is not “staged” – we dug around in dirt and touched pottery that was 2200 years old! We found pieces of pottery, plates etc. that were used around the time of Judah Maccabee – right where he lived! So very cool! Visit the links in this post for more information on the area and on the Dig for a Day tours. So much valuable information in those links – too much to write in this post! Plus, we of course want to post pictures 🙂 What an amazing way for our group to truly connect with the land and our people and history.