Duck and Cover
This afternoon, we headed to Israel's Beit Guvrin National Park for a really cool and unique experience. Dig-for-a-Day (a real archeological dig) is a hands-on experience that combines excavating, sifting, pottery examination, and exploration of an extensive archaeological cave system.
There were countless caves to explore, but our guide led us into one that had not yet been fully unearthed. Armed with buckets, picks, and trowels, we received instructions on how to use our tools and what to look for. I chose to venture into a newly opened chamber, untouched by previous explorers, where an ancient oil press was believed to have once stood.
The kids, Evan, and I split up and got to work digging. Theo struck gold first, uncovering a piece of pottery—and then kept finding piece after piece. In my unexplored chamber, I also had good luck, unearthing several shards of pottery and even a vertebra from an animal. Evan and Soph turned up bits of charcoal, pottery, and a few other unidentified objects. At one point, Sophie and I thought we had discovered a human head and called everyone over in excitement—only to realize it was a false alarm.
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All findings had to be put into a keep bucket which was labeled with the name of the cave we were in for archeologists to examine our finds later. We then made a bucket brigade to get all of the dirt and sand we dug up out of the cave and continued to sift through dirt once out of the cave.
From there, only the brave were recruited to go spelunking through a recently unearthed cave—and it was incredible. By candlelight, our guide led us through narrow holes and tight crevices that suddenly opened into vast caverns. One of the most fascinating features was the hundreds of small niches carved into the walls, each once home to a pigeon. These caves had been used to raise pigeons, one bird per hole. After plenty of twisting, turning, squeezing, and scrambling, we finally spotted a light at the end of the tunnel.
Our guide reminded us that many hostages remain in captivity, still waiting to see the light at the end of their tunnel, and urged us to keep them in our hearts with gratitude for our own freedom. Emerging from the tunnel into the bright desert air, we made our way to a set of benches to hear about the remarkable discoveries uncovered here.
Before we could continue, news came that a missile had been fired from Yemen, and we were instructed to lie flat on the ground with our hands over our heads. With so many kids in the group, the moment was chaotic, but our guide calmly reassured us that everything would be okay. There we were, in the middle of the desert, lying on the sand and waiting to hear whether Israel’s Iron Dome had intercepted the threat. A few minutes later we got the all-clear. Shaken, we took a moment to collect ourselves—an unsettling glimpse of what Israelis have endured for years—before resuming the tour. We even got to take home some of the pottery we had uncovered, then headed back to our van.
Between the digging, the spelunking and the duck and cover – we were filthy. We stopped at a gas station to clean ourselves up a bit and headed out to the Judean Desert to spend the night with the Bedouins.
After an exciting and emotional day, we thought we were done for the day. However, after getting to the oasis of Bedouin tents in the middle of the desert, we were instructed that there would be an "animal tour" after dinner at 9 pm followed by a bonfire. I don't think any of us were expecting what was in store for us.
In pitch black darkness, we were led through a rocky desert terrain with two ultra violet lights hunting for scorpions. Yes, that's right, we were in the dark in the middle of nowhere in search of scorpions.
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