Between this and my last post I went to Cyprus. This was my first trip and in the five days, I hope I saw it all and never need to return, unless it’s for a vacation on the beach. (Maybe more on that trip in a future blog.)
Today we took our students to participate in the ongoing work on the Pool of Siloam. I wouldn’t call it the most productive day, but it was enjoyable (including the sunshine and beautiful blue skies, after a week of rain). I’ll narrate with the help of photos. The first one shows a general view of the excavation area. The previously excavated steps of the pool are hidden under dirt on the left side. I was working with a crew in the distant left, near the minaret. Another group was excavating in the Siloam Channel, just off to the right. (More orientation: the Old City walls are barely visible in far left; the rocky escarpment in the center is the southern end of the City of David; the minaret is above the traditional Pool of Siloam.)
My team worked on exposing and cleaning the pavement on the northern end of the (presumed) plaza. On the right is the temporary drainage channel (moved recently, but to be moved again). On the lower left is a Byzantine aqueduct, slated to be photographed and removed tomorrow. More important – look up. The guy in the center is nearly at street level until a few weeks ago. Some of the pavement had been exposed in small squares on the right side, but the street removal makes work much easier.
The site is being supervised by Eli Shukrun, who is always on the site, and Ronny Reich, who has various other responsibilities. Ronny stopped by today to see the progress and we chatted some on break.
At the end of the day, here’s what my area looked like. It’s significantly improved from the beginning. You might note the darker stones in the foreground. Those are indeed dirty and nearly impossible to clean – this is because they are a different kind of stone than the other “clean” stones; the dirty ones are a softer type of limestone.
Most of the group spent the day excavating inside the southern section of the Siloam Channel.
We’ll see what tomorrow brings!