Archaeology Activity

I took the time yesterday morning, to review what we had learned to date about the Jewish linear concept of time, and the Rabbinic understanding of history as a progression of events which were direct consequences of Israel's ethical choices based upon the Covenant of Sinai. Per that Covenant between God and Israel, God promises to bless us and make us a holy nation of priests if we follow God's commandments; if we don't, God promises to punish us and, in the Rabbinic interpretation of history, this means that God will send our enemies to conquer us.

With this in mind, I asked the students to define the word "history" for me. After a brief discussion, where all agreed that history had to do with past events, I asked, "How do we know what these past events were?" At this point, we honed in on the exact definition of history - "The written record of past events." After further discussion about who wrote these records and where we could read them, I asked if we could always believe that what was written was true, especially records we have from ancient days. We then discussed how many recorders of historical events were writing for a particular audience they wanted to please, or how one event could easily be interpreted in different ways by different participants or observers. If this is the case, I asked, how can we go about verifying if what was written actually occurred as described in the account? Several students quickly came up with the solution - we can compare several written records relating to the same event. So, for example, when we read in the Bible that King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia destroyed King Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, do we have any Babylonian records sharing their side of the story, and, if so, does their story match ours? 

This led us to the subject at hand - Archaeology. Since the early 1700's, this science has been developing at a faster and faster pace. During the past century, thanks to scientific discoveries in other sciences, archaeology has become a powerful tool for historians. Every day, new discoveries are made from multiple excavations going on around the world. In the world of Biblical Archaeology, the interaction between historians and archaeologists has resulted in significant finds. We discussed certain procedures used in archaeology to determine where one level of culture ends as they dig down, and where another begins, and how to dig in such a way as to be sure the exact site of the find is recorded for future reference, and how archaeologists must take careful notes  and write reports, including any interpretations of their finds.

At this point, I introduced the activity of the day: I set up 3 stations, each of which would introduce the students to certain aspects of archaeology and its finds, and would, hopefully give the students a taste of how difficult the process of unearthing artifacts and interpreting them can be.

One station introduced an object used first by many ancient kings in Mesopotamia and later in Israel and Egypt - the Cylinder Seal. In this station, students were asked to learn how to write the initial letters of their first and last names in the Paleo-Hebrew script .  

Since the charts I gave the students only compared Hebrew block Aramaic letters to the Paleo-Hebrew letters, they had to first find the Hebrew Aramaic letters that made the sound of their English initials. To do this, they used a "Handy Hebrew Alphabet Chart" I gave them, which shares each Hebrew letter, the sound it makes, and the English letter equivalent. Only then could they find the Paleo-Hebrew letter equivalents for their initials.

Already, the students were looking and sounding like researchers.

Once they knew how to write their initials in the Paleo-Hebrew alphabet, they were asked to use a pencil to carve these initials onto the side of a thick piece of carrot.

This took a lot of focus...

... and a good deal of dexterity - it's not easy carving letters onto a piece of carrot!

Once the carving part of the exercise was completed, the students rolled the carrot onto a flattened piece of Play-Doh, and the resulting raised initials could easily be read. The cylindrical seals unearthed by archaeologists didn't only include names - often, they included images of the King and the King's chief diety as well as lengthy texts referring to the King's victories in battle.

A second station involved more deciphering of letters, but this time working in the other direction - beginning with the Paleo-Hebrew letters found on unearthed artifacts, then finding the equivalent Aramaic block letters and finally, the English equivalent letters, in order to translate words written on a stele and on a Roman coin.The stele in question has been called "The Mesha Stele" by archaeologists. Carved on this stone column is an account in the first person by Mesha, King of the Moabites during the reign of Ahab, King of Israel. He recounts his rebellion against the Kingdom of Israel very soon after Ahab's death. There is an account of this rebellion in the Bible, in the Second Book of Kings, Chapter 3, verses 4 and 5. Both accounts agree on what happened. 

Students were asked to read the English translation of the Mesha Stele, then translate 5 paleo-Hebrew letters spelling a very important word found on the Stele. 

This task was accomplished successfully by all 3 groups of students. The important word was ISRAEL.

Students were then asked to read the two verses from the Second Book of Kings, to compare what was written on the Mesha Stele with the Biblical account. All agreed that both accounts similarly described a Moabite rebellion led by King Mesha.

The final task of this station asked the students to translate a word composed of 6 paleo-Hebrew letters on a Roman-issued coin found in Israel. The word was JERUSALEM. Since no vowels were used on any of these objects (the Stele and Coin), the students had to infer what the names they decoded were from the consonants. 

The final station related to pottery finds in archaeological sites. Since so much pottery is found in most excavation sites, archaeologists began to amass enough information to create  "Pottery Typology Tables" for different areas of the world. The easiest way for archaeologists to determine if they are beginning to dig in a new level as they excavate further down is when they begin to find different styles and materials used in the pottery. Using the Pottery Typology Table for the Middle East region, students were first asked to determine the age and era of 4 actual ceramic artifacts unearthed in Israel.  After this task, they were asked to re-assemble a small, broken ceramic planter pot using Elmer's glue.

Each student wore disposable latex gloves to protect their fingers.

Like a jigsaw puzzle, they began to piece the pot together.

This was definitely a group effort, and a successful one at that.  

I kept reminding each group of students at this station that the pot they were asked to piece together was a very simple one, broken into fairly large pieces. I asked them to imagine what it was like for archaeologists who had to first determine which pieces belonged to which pots or oil lamps, etc. in the excavation, then, after sorting them, try to fit together artifacts that had been smashed into small bits. 

I'm hoping that my students came away from this exercise with some understanding of how historians and archaeologists work together to determine events and influences on different cultures, and that the information I've been sharing with them this year about the ancient history of the edot (Jewish Diaspora communities) comes from interpreting historical documents and archaeological artifacts. These interpretations may or may not "hold water," as time passes, depending upon new documents and artifacts which are constantly being unearthed at many excavation sites in the Middle East, which may change current interpretations. 

During our Hebrew Through Movement session yesterday, we focused on the map of Israel, learning to recognize the Hebrew names of its major cities and bodies of water, as well as of its surrounding neighbors, in preparation for Israel's Independence Day - Yom Ha'atzma'ut - which will be celebrated this coming Thursday.

As usual, we started with warm-up exercises such as the one above: "Koolam la'shevet al ha'shoolchan." ("Everyone sit on the table.") To make it more interesting and fun, I had the students following silly commands, such as sitting on the floor and turning around on their bottoms (La'shevet al ha'tachat al ha'reetzpa, v'l'heestovev al ha'tachat. Sit on your bottom on the floor, and turn around on the bottom.) 

Then we began to focus on finding areas on the map, using the Hebrew commands "leen'goa b..." (touch) or "l'hatzbee'a al..." (point to...)

This coming Tuesday and Wednesday, we'll be focusing completely each day on the modern State of Israel (Medinat Yisra'el), first preparing an Israeli vegetable salad under the tutelage of Karen G., together with the other 5th and 6th graders in Shira and Y'tzira tracks. Then I'll be sharing a "Heritage" lesson focusing on the return to Israel of many members of edot from around the globe, and the cultural influences the different Jewish immigrants had on Israeli culture. We'll also be discussing what Israel means to those of us living in the United States, and each student will have an opportunity to share what Israel means to him/herself.  Stay tuned!