Spray Paint and Stencils in Jerusalem's Old City

When I was walking through Jerusalem's Old City this past July-early August, I was intrigued by the bright spray paint and stencil work I saw. One of the reasons was the juxtaposition of modern, sometimes flouro, spraypaint with the old white(ish) stones of Jerusalem's Old City. Another reason is that some of these images were of trees, and I'm studying tree-cult in my PhD, so I tend to collect tree images (check these out). In fact, speaking of trees, there is a really interesting book on the use of trees within the Israeli-Palestinian conflict called 'Planted Flags' by Irus Braverman (Cambridge 2009). OK, obviously these examples here are probably political, being Arabic (which I cannot read), or else records of the Haj - and I was after all, staying in the Muslim Quarter. I'm not, however, meaning to insult any of my darling Jewish and Israeli friends or associates by exhibiting these photos. This is simply my record of an aesthetic reaction to colour and shape, and the surprise of it being on what I might consider 'heritage' buildings. (If you want to see the Magen David in spray paint, go and look at my Israel and Jordan photos on my Facebook site.) Yes, us tourists do, no doubt, expect Jerusalem to be all ye-oldey Biblical and not have any modern concerns or behaviours jutting in to awaken us from verging on Jerusalem Syndrome - I certainly do... But good luck with that, because it is 2010 - even in Jerusalem's Old City.

Who has time to blog?

Who has time to actually blog? Not me. I often think of things to blog about when I'm in bed - the computer is turned off and I'm not planning to get up again until the morning. Then I forget what they were. Recently I was thinking of topics like 'How short people are evil (under the guise of cuteness) and tall people get the blame for everything', 'How institutionalised learning (university) is privileged over DIY study from both inside and outside the university and how annoying that is/can be', and 'How I hate people in my street who cut down trees (why don't they cut themseves down?)'. But those topics are really rants - well not the short people one. That's a fact. I have come across some amazing blogs though, by people who obviously do have time to blog. I'll show them to you, so you don't get bored when you visit my hardly-ever-updated blog. There's arty archaeologist Michael Shanks, with its downlaodable books and interesting pics and links, Egil Asprems' Heterodoxlolgy, British Mage, Jake Stratton-Kent's Underworld Apocathery, Jim West's Zwinglius Redivivus, there's effort gone in there... Neurologica, Epiphenom, Mary Beard's blog (she'd get paid for doing that), the incredibly prolific The Wild Hunt, and there's the fabulous Morbid Anatomy. So, people do have time to blog, some blog a lot and I assume people read their blogs. One day I'll have time to blog again. I'm sure I will.

Yisrael

Lotsa (OK, some) pics from Israel. First, me above the Dead Sea, before we'd got there and I discovered that the water was hot! Hot!!! Hot sea is intolerable! Second, me and the smouldering Erin. Third pic, sitting around outside our kibbutz room, fourth, being strangled by Jo, fifth standing round watching the Australian Ambassador do some digging, and sixth, some sort of mysterious non-working, sitting around pic. Can't imagine what we're doing there. Picture credits Amanda and Erin, I believe. Some of mine will eventually appear when I get them off my camera. Meanwhile get an update on Tell es-Safi/Gath the dig here.

Find Me on Facebook

Just a note to anyone who wants to talk to me (apart from comments here) to come find me on Facebook. I recently had a guy email me about my interest in Spiritual Egyptomania - Keith from the USA, it was you - but when I replied to you, your email address bounced. So I can't follow it up. So... come find me on Facebook. More interesting posts here to come, as soon as I get the photos of Israel and Jordan off my camera.

Digging at Gath

Some pics from the dig at Gath. First, me digging, second me and sometime controversial archaeologist, Israel Finkelstein, and last a group pic of the Australian team for 2010. Check out this pot I excavated here. I haven't dug up an Ashdoda figurine however, but I have dug up a lot of sherdy floor. Hm, I wonder who it is that Aren Maeir on the Gath blog is talking about in regards to being excited about Finkelstein's visit? Could it be me the shameless groupie?

I dig Ashdoda

I want to dig up an "Ashdoda" figurine at Gath (see above picture). Or an Astarte plaque, that would also be good. Or... perhaps I'll just have to settle for seeing them at a museum, I know Ashdoda is in the Rockefeller Museum in Jerusalem. I could spend ages writing up stuff about Ashdoda on this blog, but it's really easier for me to point you in the direction of Aegaeum 22 "Potnia: Deities and Religion in the Aegean Bronze Age" and its free pdf's, one of which is "The Mother(s) of All Philistines? Aegean Enthroned Deities of the 12th - 11th Century Philistia." which will give you more information on Ashdoda than I could. Now... back to pre-dig reading.

Off to the Monotheism Theme Park

Well, it's that time of year again - digging season in Israel. I'm off to work at the site of Tell es-Safi/Gath, which is the Philistine city of Gath, for a month. Not only will it involve incredibly strenuous manual labour in the form of digging up pottery and bones and lugging rocks, causing one to have to eat halva for energy (see the above pic), but there will be some respite in the form of afternoon pottery washing and nightly lectures. Plus, field trips to other sites. Weekends will no doubt be spent recovering, then browsing the antiquities market in Jerusalem, which, from what I can gather is almost entirely looted or fake, bustling amongst the monotheistic religious sites, visiting other ancient (monotheistic and pre-monotheistic) sites in regional Israel, and eating. After the dig I'm spending five more days in Israel, during which I'll hit the museums - particulary the Israel Museum (if the archaeological wing is open) and the Bible Lands Museum, possibly the Eretz Israel Museum, then five days in Jordan. Then back home to icy winter.