Show and 'Tel'

Ok, so at this point I'm probably the only one appreciating the lame joke in the title of this post. A 'tel' is a mound of land that has layers upon layers of city remains. In ancient times, when a city was conquered or abandoned, they would often cover the city remains with dirt and rebuild right on top of it! There are hundreds of tels throughout Israel and this past Monday we got to visit two.

To start off our second field trip day we drove south into the Negev desert and visited a women's organization called the Sidreh Weaving Center. It's a place where women living in harsh desert conditions can gain vocational skills in making, dying, and weaving wool. 

A woman weaving - it takes four days to weave one square meter of fabric!

Another shot of the dyed wool being woven into fabric that will be used for bags or pillows. 

Our guide Jaesmine showing us the products available for purchase.

Jaesmine comes from a really cool family with parents who support her in gaining valuable leadership experience and a formal education. Though times are changing, there is still a lot of opposition for women wanting to go to college in this part of the world. 

Next we went to Tel Arod, a place mentioned in the Old Testament! 

You can see it up on the hill!

Professor Anderson standing in what would have been the Holy of Holies in this ancient temple within the city.

Negev desert selfie with Hunter, Grace, Megan, and Ava.

Sitting on the steps of the Holy of Holies.

One last cool shot of the ruins...

We went to another tel called Be'er Sheva, near the city where Abraham built a well and from where he left to go sacrifice Isaac. It was amazing to see how much effort they had to put into finding and storing water in this desert area!

Everyone gathered around a well dug anciently to find water.

Lookin at the ruins of Be'er Sheva.

On the lookout tower with Hunter, Kasdyn, and Michael!

Heading down into the cistern built there to collect water.

Ava and I had to watch our heads since our average height is 6'3"...

It was a fun day. But really hot. And sunny. Kasdyn and I, as we melted in the hot Negev sun, kept joking about how we were taken to a tel where Abraham didn't build a well and where he didn't leave to sacrifice Isaac but from where you could see in the distance where those things actually happened. We just looked at each other and laughed. I guess you had to be there :)