Digging and Heading South

The 4th of July doesn't involve fireworks and BBQs here in Israel. Though, with the heat we are experiencing, every time we step outside the bus, it's as if we're getting BBQed ourselves. While our stay in Jerusalem was pleasant, the heat increased as we headed south on Wednesday, making our way to Eilat. Most of the day involved driving through the desert, but we did have a wonderful stop at Beit Guvrin, an archaeological site with active digs taking place. We were lucky enough to take part in the dig, spending about an hour in the caves of an ancient society who had lived on the site about two thousand years ago. Lucky for us, the excavations are taking place in the caves underground, thought to be the 'garbage dump' of the society before they abandoned it. We each had a pick, a spade, and a bucket, and were able to dig through the dirt in the cave to discover pieces of bone (thought to be animal), as well as numerous pieces of pottery. After digging for a while and filling our buckets, we headed back above ground to sift through the dirt to see if we had missed any smaller pieces.
Ancient graffiti found in the caves where we dug.
Amongst the rocks and dirt, we found smaller pieces of bone and pottery. We were told that the largest find had been made about a month ago, in which 6 coins from the reign of Antiochus the 9th were discovered. Can you imagine being the person to discover those?! Also, fragments of a draft ketubah had also been found recently. The first fragment had been found by a 9 year old.

After the sifting, we crawled on our hands and knees through ancient caverns, which have been fully excavated. Lit by candlelight, our path took us through ancient cisterns, openings which required us to get on all fours, and an area where the society kept their pigeons (used for communication). We also saw an ancient olive press and learned how the society had used their ingenuity to create olive oil for consumption and export.
Dirty from the digging and crawling, we headed south along the Jordanian border. This 4 hour journey was interrupted by a quick lunch stop and then, a food highlight of the trip. Thirty minutes outside, Eilat, after most of the bus had taken a two hour nap on the bus, we stopped at the famous Yotvata Kibbutz. The kibbutz is famous for its dairy products. Besides excellent chocolate milk, they make the BEST ice cream in the country. We all experienced heaven as we sat in the air conditioned Yotvata store, savoring our scoops of ice cream. We've eaten well on this trip, but this was definitely at the top of the list.
We left Yotvata and continued south along the border, passing an animal refuge teaming with ostriches, wild asses, and white gazelle-like creatures. From both sides of the bus, we saw the desert unfold before our eyes. Looking east, we could see the rough, jagged mountains of Jordan - an area in which our ancestors wandered thousands of years ago.
Finally, we arrived in Eilat - a beautiful resort town on the Red Sea. From here, you can see Egypt, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia. The water is cool, the weather is hot (it is 110 degrees here today), and the night is long. People go out to dinner around 8:30pm and stores along the promenade stay open until 2am. A few of us went to the 3 Monkeys bar in the evening to get a taste of this 'scene'. People strolled along the promenade with their children until the wee hours of the night and we were surprised to see a toy store open at 12:15am as we strolled back to the hotel from the bar. The nights here are unlike anything you would find in the United States. Never would see you a whole stretch of stores open this late nor families with children walking the streets.
The hotel is very nice and is right on the beach. We have great views of the city and the sea from our rooms.









- Joel Nickerson