An archaeological dig involves, well, lots of digging. We have been moving a lot of dirt out of Area T1 at Tel Dan. Some of it goes to sifting, but most of it is dumped in a nearby pile (we do look through it while digging, but I’m sure plenty has been missed). We’ve been searching for an Assyrian wall that was assumed to go through the area because it was mapped in other places. The dig was a total of four weeks long and I was part of the last two. Watch the progression of our excavation! (Click for a larger view)
Shortly after arriving on day 1. The first two weeks they dug down this far (with a starting help of a back-hoe). The rocks you see embedded in dirt around the perimeter are from a Roman-era building, circa 2nd century AD.
Day 2. The area on the right only shows up in some of the pictures, so it’s not that it disappeared.
Day 3. A large ashlar stone has been revealed in the middle. Something promising?
Day 4. Something promising is being revealed along the line of the big ashlar stone. The meter stick is in place for pictures for showing size.
More pictures on day 5. The Assyrian wall has definitely been found!
Day 6. It’s becoming harder to climb in and out, so a couple ladders have been brought in.
Day 7. The large ashlar stone has been purposefully dislodge so we can dig beneath it. A second course of stones is appearing on our wall!
Day 8. A couple more courses have been revealed! We’ve been hitting a lot of mud brick with a large concentration on the right (note the deeper red color).
Day 9 is our final day. Another, smaller wall has been revealed coming off the main wall with a doorway, too. Not visible here, but the wall continues under the Roman wall on the right into another hole dug. This is what we have to show for 4 weeks of hard work.
