{"id":111,"date":"2013-07-16T14:52:26","date_gmt":"2013-07-16T11:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/altarchorg.ipage.com\/en\/?page_id=111"},"modified":"2016-09-25T12:10:38","modified_gmt":"2016-09-25T12:10:38","slug":"in-israel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emekshaveh.org\/en\/in-israel\/","title":{"rendered":"Community excavations"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Community excavation: Mamilla<\/h2>\n

A community excavation is an excavation in which professional\u00a0archaeologists excavate an ancient site together with local\u00a0residents. Its goal is to empower the community through the\u00a0experience of researching the past, and to encourage conservation\u00a0of the site as a significant public space in the local landscape.<\/p>\n

During the months\u00a0May and October 2012, an archaeological community excavation \u00a0was carried out in the old water cistern located in the Mamilla cemetery, today part of the Independence Park in Jerusalem. This was a joint project of Emek Shaveh, Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME) and the Experimental School in Jerusalem under the academic sponsorship of The Nelson Glueck School of Biblical Archaeology at the Hebrew Union College.<\/p>\n

In two weekly sessions, groups of middle school\u00a0students from the Experimental School took part in the\u00a0excavation. The children donned protective helmets, took up\u00a0their small hammers, builders\u2019 shovels and brooms, and tried\u00a0their hand at the process of working on the foundations, all\u00a0with a level of patience that one rarely encounters during an\u00a0ordinary classroom lesson.<\/p>\n

\"\u05d4\u05de\u05e2\u05e8\u05d4<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0\"\u05ea\u05dc\u05de\u05d9\u05d3\u05d9<\/a><\/p>\n

During the excavation, artifacts\u00a0were discovered that concretely exemplified the story of the\u00a0Independence Park area during different periods: packaging,\u00a0documents from stolen wallets, syringes, eating utensils,\u00a0pottery, and even antique marble and an ancient nail. \u00a0During\u00a0the second stage (the October excavation), a large portion of the\u00a0cistern floor was exposed, from which many pottery shards were\u00a0collected.\u00a0While they were working, the participants discussed\u00a0the changes in the local environment and in the way of life, as\u00a0reflected by the artifacts remaining in the field, as well as the\u00a0relationship between these factors and the changing function of \u00a0the findings over hundreds and thousands of years.\u00a0The activity enabled the participants to become better acquainted with the space in which they lived and its history, and to feel that they were part of it.<\/p>\n

Download flyer as PDF<\/a>\u00a0\"pdf\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Video about the excavation and the exhibition that was held in the cistern:<\/h2>\n