I have to stop now for the better part of two weeks, but I have finished writing the “meat” of my first chapter (actually “Chapter Five” in the finished work). I had hoped to finish adding intros and conclusions for each section along with an overall conclusion by today, but that did not happen. I also did not proofread and I have some reference checking to do. Nevertheless, I consider this progress.
The allowed word range for the final product is 50,000-75,000 words. I’ve made a dent in that. The subject of this (certainly the longest) chapter is archaeological sites, and I’ve specifically been looking at what they tell us (or don’t tell us) about the Aramean oppression in the reign of Jehu. I consider 35 sites in what I think is more thorough and up-to-date than has been done before. It is important that I finish this dissertation quickly, before any more data is published. :-)