This week’s 13-minute program of “The Book and the Spade” gives overviews of several excavations planned for this spring and summer. Among those mentioned are:
- Ashkelon (ongoing excavations headed by a team from Harvard)
- Khirbet el-Maqatir (possible site of Ai)
- Bethsaida (hometown of Peter and Andrew; possible hometown of Absalom’s mother in OT times)
and my personal favorite…
- Khirbet Qeiyafa ([Quote from the program: The site dates to “a time of intense archaeological interest right now… What’s being found here may well inform the debate over the 10th century [the time of King David] in years ahead. This is a very interesting and significant archaeological site…”)
The program notes that most volunteers at these and other sites tend to be college students and “older, retired people.” I certainly don’t fall in either category (though I am currently in a graduate program) but I was able to excavate for three weeks last summer. You can do it as well. Want to come to Khirbet Qeiyafa with me this summer?
Bible, Archaeology, and Travel with Luke Chandler 