Dig Day 7 - Tuesday July 3

Let me start by saying today was far superior to yesterday. Dr Bob had just a handful of us working on Square 95, whilst he would be supervising unearhing a floor mosaic in the southern aisle section of Area E, one that had been unearthed during the previous season. Most of the crew in the meantime would be working on the newly broken Square 96, just above us.




Now that most of the heavy lifting had been done in Square 95, and the pesky column had been laid to rest, it would be down to simply moving dirt whilst indulging in some careful sifting. For this Khaled and I were joined by Jennifer and Hannah, who by this stage were pretty keen get their hands dirty, after spending most of the time drawing up Top Plans, not the most exciting gig in the world. And can I say what a delight it was to have some female energy digging in the dirt. Not to mention all the pop music and new country coming from Jen's iPhone. Yes, I said New Country - at this stage I was pretty starved for any music from the west, to the extent that even the Dixie Chicks to my ears sounded like Radiohead!!!




So we dug. And we sang. And we laughed, oh how we laughed...

Anyway, now that the impending danger of an unstable column had been taken care of, Jennifer would focus on digging around the chancel screen, carefully collecting any shards that had loosened themselves from the unearthing. At this stage we were of the opinion that pickings in the area would be pretty slim (something that would be confirmed by our little find later on).




Hannah focussed on the area around the doughnut shaped stone artefact that Luke had unearthed the previous day. Once she'd done this, we were then faced with having to decide what the hell it was. Dr Bob was of the opinion that it was some kind of pivot used for a door, hence the half spherical shape with the doughnut hole in the middle.




I personally thought it was possibly a large pestle whose middle had been worn away to make the hole, although what something like this would be doing in a chapel would be anyone's guess. Hannah also managed to find some bits of pottery together that had once been part of the same bowl.




She also made a new friend in the dirt.




Khaled and I kept to digging on the other side of the mound. Apart from the odd bit of glass, pottery, and the odd nail, nothing much to write home about. Was starting to get a bit tedious, as you can tell from Khaled's expression. We kept digging in the southern direction, towards Square 96. We did unearth what would appear to be a makeshift limestone wall that was dividing this section from where Square 96 would be. Obviously it was too early to tell the significance of such a we all, we wouldn't know until the other crew had dug further into Square 96.








Not a lot was being found around the chancel screen. Jennifer did manage to find this. Dr Bob believed it to be a spindle wheel, probably used in the production of textiles. Not the sort of thing you'd find in a chapel, unless the bishop would keep some spare thread handy to sew up his robe.








But the most significant find of the day was this, which only proved to confirm our suspicions that nothing of any great significance would be found here. What you see here, dear reader, is the head of a heavily oxidized pick. The fact that it was found so close to the surface of the floor indicates that it probably belonged to the earliest "excavators" looking for anything of value, probably not so long after that earthquake hit in 749. Anything of value to be found had most likely been found and taken long before we got here. Nevertheless, the fact that Luke found a heavily oxidized coin yesterday still spurred us on - after all, there was still that holy grail of the inscription that Dr Bob really wanted to get his hands on.




In the meantime, Dr Bob was busy digging in the aisle to the south of the (formally cross baulk now ceremonial pool). The 2010 excavation had previously unearthed a beautiful mosaic floor covering the aisle, a remnant of the previous church prior to its extension. In order to protect it, he'd left it filled in, and on his return was keen to unearth some more of it.




Come 12.30, and it was time to quit for the day. Head home, wash, lunch, laundry, try and get a sleep in. Pottery reading that afternoon to examine the previous day's finds. Area A had uncovered these unusual pieces, very beautiful I thought. Almost looked like someone was practicing doing different designs in the one piece, almost like a practice piece.




Had a few of these circular pieces crop as well - apparently it was common practice to use old bits of pottery for tokens of some sort, for some game or other. Cards anyone?
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Dig Day 6 - Monday 2 July

Today was not a good day. Despite starting with a hearty breakfast - pita bread, jam, eggs, coffee (you can see I'm wrapped with the pita bread and jam), come lunchtime after the days digging, Cheryl was asking if I was okay, so I must have looked really despondent.



After my little mishap on Friday, I was obviously not in any condition to be getting fully into it as far as the digging was concerned, and Dr Bob was keen to have me a little less hands on and operating more in a supervisory capacity. No big deal, but I've already expressed my minor frustrations with the hired help.


In any case, obviously some progress was made in my absence on Friday (despite the fact that Friday's are "half-days", where the locals finish around 9.30 - 10 O'Clock and head up to get paid). I'd be supervising Square 95, Jennifer and Hanna would be assisting Dr Bob with some top-plan work, and Aaron was to do some photo work around the site (he with the big sexy camera), and Luke would later be helping me out.

We were off to a slow start to begin with, so it was one of those mornings where it took us ages before actually "getting to work". Within about an hour though, I had my first crisis. Mahmood was moving some limestone blocks (yes those bastards!!) onto a wheelbarrow, caught his finger between a rock and the far east marble column, and crushed his finger. Same finger as mine, similar injury. He comes to me, quite calmly, showing me his finger, which looked pretty mangled. What was so creepy was how calm he appeared, and didn't appear to be in much pain - in fact he was almost laughing at it, and only flinched when I poured some water over it to clean the wound. So once again, grab Dr Bob, grab a phone, call David, and another worker is off to the clinic.

But that was enough to set me off, and for the rest of the day my mood was foul, Dear Reader. Every five minutes I'd be mouthing off to myself - why aren't these guys more careful? Why didn't he get someone to help him? Why aren't these guys bringing their own gloves for protection? I never asked anyone else, but I suspected that I wasn't a nice person to have around.



So after all that, I'd naturally be thrilled with the prospect of having to dig around the West Column , hauling those rocks, getting rid of the dirt holding it up, and allowing the column to be lowered safely. From what we could ascertain, in the earthquake the column had shifted significantly from its base, digging around the back of it and shifting it back onto the base (without any heavy lifting equipment) was not going to be possible.


In addition to this, from what little we could see of the column's base under the rubble and dirt, it was hardly level, and would require a bit of work getting it back into a position of stability. The thought of an unstable column erect on an equally unstable base whilst people are on their hands and knees sifting around it - the OH&S issues were too much to even think about, and after two injuries on site we weren't going to risk a third - a column horizontal was less hazardous than one "erect".


Basically our strategy would be to carefully dig around the column and let it "fall forward", gracefully onto a bed of dirt that we'd have built up. With the use of some rope and some able bodies, we managed to get this done, and would worry about getting it standing once we'd taken care of the base.




Dr Bob had also measure up a square next to hours (to the south of us), and today Square 96 would begin excavation, with Fazel the machine getting to work on that.




After the column work, Luke and I got to work sifting through the mound behind where the column had "stood". We cleared around the column base - missing edges aside it was still in relatively good nick.





Behind it, Luke began to uncover a circular object about 20cm diameter.




Also uncovered was what was left of another chancellery screen (what little was left of it). This would have extended to the edge of the east wall, as can be seen by the grooves cut into the wall here.



Other than that, a pretty lackluster day all up, and as I'd previously stated, my mood was pretty dark. Hopefully tomorrow would prove to be a bit more fruitful.

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Sunday 1 July - Dar As-Saraya Museum, Irbid

Today we would visit the Dar As-Saraya Archaeological Museum in Irbid. Originally a castle built by the Ottomans in the mid 1800's, it was acquired by the Department of Antiquities in 1994 with the intention of creating a museum that would have on display ancient artifacts originating from archaeological sites located in the Irbid Governorate, including Abila.


It currently houses many of the works that have been found at sites around Abila, mainly pottery, glass, metal objects, and the odd bust. After our visit we would be left to our own devices for the afternoon, which would include getting back to Hartha on our own steam, or ingenuity, depending on how confident you felt in your mastery the Irbid public transport system.

After we'd finished at the museum, I opted to spend the afternoon checking out the surrounding area. The museum is located in Downtown Irbid, a completely different area to that where Yamouk University is located, and definitely the cooler part of the city in my opinion. You'll get a lot more of your souk's and markets here, if you're after that more Middle Eastern flavoured "shopping experience" (words cannot express how much I hate that phrase, or even the whole concept of the "shopping experience").

Decided that I was very much in need of some local olive oil, basically to bring back as gifts. Of course this couldn't be your garden variety olive oil that one could get at the local Safeway (which do exist here in Irbid). Oh no, I had to get it from the more "authentic" places, markets such as this.

Plenty of olive oil was to be found, problem was it was either in those industrial size tins, which wouldn't be an option for a backpack, or in flimsy plastic bottles, which of course would probably burst in the backpack on the trip home, covering everything with the stuff. So I was on the hunt for bottles of "authentic" Jordanian olive oil. Did find one place that stocked awhole assortment of goodies - heaps of different flavoured coffees, spices, and of course the oil, which I promptly purchased, along sith some coffee, cardamon seeds, and some honey (thought I needed a break from flavouring y tea with sugar). It was only after getting home home that one reads the fineprint on the back (the fineprint that's the ONLY thing that appears to be in English). Olive Oil - product of Syria. Honey - product of Australia. So much for buying local...

Did my usual wrangling with the buses - found directions to the South Bus station (a walk of about four blocks), and from there attempted to find a bus to the North Bus Station. Everyone I would ask (once we got passed th language barrier) indicated that I was better off catching a taxi. Oh no, I would say, I want the bus. Taxi will be quicker. Doesn't matter, I want the bus. I want to master this sucker, get the authentic Irbid experience.

My new guides would generally look at me like I was retarded (something I was getting used to), shrug their shoulders, and would put m on the nearest bus that "looked the part". No, that's not quite true - was led on to a bus, given a seat, and waited about 15 minutes before the bus would depart for the North bus station. I suspect its a situation where they wait for enough people to get on to make the trip worth their while, as opposed to buses leaving at a certain time to a particular timetable. No dramas, I was in no hurry - hey man, this is the Middle East - time to shake off that rigid structure we rely on in the west, Man...

Can I say that I do love catching buses in Irbid. Great way of seeing the city, plus it keeps you on your toes (sometimes literally). Made it to the North Bus Station (I even recognised it, didn't need a homeboy to tell me that we were here). And got the first bus I could find that would be heading to Hartha. The driver did look kinda familiar, and he greeted me like he knew me. For five minutes I found this rather disconcerting, until he showed me the driver ID's that were affixed above his window. As it worked out, this was in fact Barakut, who shares this bus with Abu-Nassar, our regular driver in Hartha. Then of course I'd noticed the 'I Love You' fuzzy dice and other little knick-knacks - I was sitting in the same bus that takes us to the site every morning - even the same bus that took us to Jerash and Ajloun yesterday. So much for powers of observation...

So did the trip back to Hartha, taking note of the 'tap on the window with a coin' technique I'd noticed from last week's getting home exercise. Just outside of Hartha we stop outside someone's place, Barakut gets out, and is replaced with someone else. That someone else gets in the drivers seat, turns around to me and gives me a "Hello Mr Rich". Happens to be Nassar, who works as part of our local crew for Area E - Abu-Nassar's his old man - obviously does a bit of bus driving on the side when he's not digging in the dirt with us. I should point out that, as I understand it, Abu-Nassar owns the bus. Similar situations to Taxis at home - someone will generally own the cab that they drive for the company, or will lease it our to someone who will drive it for them.

In any case, we drive for about five minutes before Odey gets on into the fron seat. He's also on our crew, a bit of character. "Hello Mr Rich" he says, in that particularly wicked way he says it. All right, lets get the rest of the crew on board!! Rest of the crew never shows (I'll be seeing them soon enough tomorrow morning bright and early).

Nassar drops me at the school, won't take my half dinar coin, or any money for that matter. "No please, friend..." he says, and shoos me off the bus, refusing any payment and ignoring my protestations. Oh well, what can one do, certainly you can't argue with Jordanian hospitality.

Saturday 30 June - Jerash and Ajloun Castle

After five days of getting up at 4am, "sleeping in" till 6.30 is quite the luxury. Today on our day off we'd be heading to the "Roman" city of Jerash, about an hour and half's drive away. Though it would appear to have evidence of human occupation going back about 6500 years, its "heyday" was during its Roman period, pretty much from the time Pompey conquered the region in 63 BCE. Its Arabic name of Garsho was later changed to Gerasa, and would later be a part of the Roman Empire, with its membership as part of the Decapolis following.

I was still smarting a little from my injury the previous day, but still had managed to get a decent night's sleep, 3.30am call to prayer withstanding. Showering was proving to be difficult, since I was forbiden to get the finger wet, under any circumstances. Any contact with untreated water could lead to pretty nasty infection, but I wasn't ready to do the plastic bag over the hand in the shower treatment just yet. Sadly, Dear Reader, I was stuck with a bucket of water and face washer for the next couple of days (actually, try the next week). Follow that with a hearty breakfast from Ibrahim and Raad, and by the time the bus came at 8am (driven by Abu-Nassar our trusty driver), we were ready to rock.




Gerasa's status as a Roman province was solidified in 129 CE with a visit from the Emporer Hadrian, and in honour of this visit, the city erected the structure that became known as Hadrian's Arch, at the south end of the city, and it is this structure that greets you when you first enter the site. An inscription on the arch reads,

"In commemoration of Emperor Hadrianus August, the great priest, father of the nation, for his happiness and the salvage of his family. The city of Antioch, located on the river Chrysorhoas Jerash, by recommendation of Flavius Agrippa, presents the Arch with the statue of triumph."

In its heyday, Gerasa had a population of about 20 000 people, and its imposing structures and colonaded streets bare testament to this.




First thing I came across when going for my little wander was these guys, busy excavating. This was a group from the University of Copenhagen, so I promptly said my hellos, and inquired as to how they were going. I mentioned I was from the Abila dig, and was greeted with a "Lucky you" - not sure if they were being genuine or facetious. One of them inquired if we were there to check up on them. "Not today mate, this is strictly my day off" was my equally facetious answer. The dig was huge, not that I was counting numbers or anything, and they were going to be there for the next 4 or 5 weeks.

Walking up the colonade street, it wasn't long before I was grabbed by a local who wanted to show me something. Musical stones, he mentioned, or something along those lines. He then led me to an area that was once part of the many market places that dotted the area. Showing me one of several colonnade headstones, he grabbed a rock and lightly hit it against the headstone, which promptly rang out with a pleasant metallic sound, different pitches on different sections of the headstone. Homeboy was telling me that, due to the loose nature of the colonnades, these headstones would ring out when tremors would occur, essentially making it an earthquake warning system. Sounded feasible, but deep down I suspected he was yanking my chain, a fact which Dr Bob later confirmed.

To top it off, dude wouldn't leave me alone once we left the area, and soon as he introduced me to his mate selling lapis lazuli jewelry, I knew that it was part of the hustle, confirmed when I showed no interest in buying, and upon walking away he asked me for a tip. Come on mate, I never hired you in the first place, and quite frankly, unless you were showing me all this out of the kindness of your own heart...I had asked him if he was a part of the dig happening there, and of course his answer was yes.




One thing he did show me which I thought was interesting (assuming he was genuine), was the layout of the main colonnade street. Basically the main colonnade was laid in a North South Axis, and this particularly area was laid so that to the North was Damascus, South was Philadelphia (modern day Amman), to the East was Baghdad, and West was Jerusalem. Thinking back, one wonders why they didn't have a street facing in the general direction of Rome, but these sorts of questions never pop up in the heat of the moment. So much for "All roads leading to..."




Incidentally, The 'Cardo' or Colonnade Street, starts from the Oval Plaza and goes up towards the southwest. In the Northern part, on both sides of the street, a huge number of columns were erected in 550 CE. Of the original 520 columns, only about 71 exist today, standing on solid bases.




And in those ancient times of colonnaded streets and Roman roads and the like, it was interesting (and perhaps a tad reassuring) to see that the humble manhole was still a necessity...

Anyway, some fixtures of Jerash one must check out when there...




The Temple of Artemis
Built between 134 and 178 CE, Artemis was recognized as the protecting Goddess of the city. its located on top of the northwestern hill, as was customary for Roman temples of the period.




The Nymphaeum
I always get excited by buildings called the Nymphaeum. This one ws built during the reign of Comodius in 191 CE. Supplied with water through an uncovered canal that links the spring of the Two Pools, this particular temple occupies two floors, and was dedicated to the water virgins. Naturally.




The North Theatre
The smaller of the two main theatres of Jerash, it had a capacity of approx 2500 spectators. It's central alley (the good ol' vomitorium) separates the upper and lower floors, and is decorated with seven niches, each 1.8 metres. Some vaults are located under the front seats, apparently used to keep wild animals for bouts against prisoners.




As you can see here, preparations were under way for the theatre to be used as a venue for the upcoming Jerash Festival (?) in August.




Temple of Zeus
The foundation of this temple goes back to 22 - 69 CE, and like most Roman Temples, is situated on a hill overlooking the city. It is believed that the temple ws built upon the remains of a more ancient one, recent excavations having exposed remains from the Hellenistic period.




The temple itself these days is probably in need of a bit of conservation, as you can see by the remains of various columns and bases surrounding its exterior.




South Theatre
The larger of the two theatres, this one holds about 3000, and is built on top of a hill dominating the whole antique city. The stage area at the front (the scaenae) is linked to side recesses, and also has gates that lead to the actor's rooms.




Apparently the acoustic refelctions of the theatre are precise enough so that the last row in the upper seats can hear the action on the stage easy enough without amplification. This theatre is the place where the most important events of the Jerash Festival are held.

[Just as a small disclaimer, my info regarding Jerash has come from a local guidebook. Having checked the Wikipedia entry for Jerash, I noted that the text was lifted pretty much word for word from said guidebook. Wouldn't want you thinking that my research was completely lazy now, wouldn't I?]




After finishing up at Jerash, we were back on the bus and off to Ajloun to visit the famous Ajloun Castle, one of the many crusader castles that can be found around Jordan. Built in 1184-85 by Izz ad-Din Usama, commander of Salah ad-Din al-Ayyuby, it functioned as a small fortress protecting the trade routes between Syria and southern Jordan, and controlling the iron mines of the Ajlun.




It was enlarged in 1214 by Aibak Ibn Abdallah, and later conceded to Salah ad-din Yousef Ibn Ayoub, King of Aleppo and Damascus. Sections of the castle were destroyed by the Mongols in 1260, later to be restored by Sultan al-Dhaher Baibars as a storehouse for crops and provisions. In 1812 the Swiss traveller J.L. Burkhardt found the castle inhabited by around forty people of the Barakat family.

After Ajloun, it would be off home, probably for an early night. Even Abu-Nassar was looking a bit sleepy...