Back at Abila

This is Gerald Dyson, KCU student in his square today. He has unearthed a mosaic floor which is in front of a 6th century Byzantine church. The object in the lower right hand portion of the picture is a basalt captial from the church reused in a later wall built on top of the mosaic floor.

Greetings from Harta,

I went out to the site today but I only staye about 3 hours then back to camp. I was tired, I think it is a combination of not resting well in the hospital and then working hard on my ARAM conference paper which is now about finished.

ANyway we continued digging and we are making some progess but I keep thinking that I only have 4 more days to finish.

Gerald Dyson is one of my students at Kentucky Christian University (KCU) he found a mosaic floor in his square today see the photo above.

All is well I leave for Amman Friday afternoon. I will stay at ACOR and then fly to London on Sunday morning.

More later,

John Wineland
Harta, Jordan

Greetings From Amman

A Drawing of the ACOR Building in Amman

Hello,

It is Sunday morning in Amman. Here in Jordan Sunday a work day because Friday is the Muslim day of worship. From an American point of view Thursday night is like Friday night, Friday is like Sunday, Saturday is much like Saturday at home, and Sunday is like Monday.

We will have an evening worship at camp tonight in Harta. They have asked me to preach a short sermon. We sing a few songs, Gerald Dyson brought his guitar so leads the songs, we have a prayer time and then a short sermon.

This is my last week in Jordan. I will leave a week from today, flying to London then a bus on to Oxford.

My toe is healing well. I was able to get some good bandages at the Safeway here in Amman.
I will have to be careful in the field this week. I want to go out to field each day but maybe only stay out for 2 or three hours instead of 7 hours. Anyway Tim Snow the photographer is taking some special photos of the squares so I can "see" how things are progressing. I hoping we can answer some questions about the Byzantine church in Area A.

Next Friday I will be back at ACOR for my last two nights in Jordan. Then I will make my way on to England where Connie will meet me. I am lloking forward to seeing England again.

I hope this week is less "eventful" than last week.

I will write again when I get a chance.

John Wineland
Amman, Jordan

Interesting end to the week

Greetings from Amman,

It is Friday afternoon in Jordan. I am current a resident of the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR).

I will be here for a few days finishing my paper/presentation for the ARAM Conference. ACOR has a wonderful research library and it also has rooms and a kitchen and laundry facilty so it is a home home away from home. I have spent several weekends here over the years.

==============================
Here is the official information about the conference I will be attending:
ARAM Society for Syro-Mesopotamian Studies: Twenty Fifth International Conference
DECAPOLIS: HISTORY & ARCHAEOLOGY
The Oriental Institute
Oxford University
07-10 July 2008

Here is my paper/presentation information:

TUESDAY, JULY 08 (Venue: The Oriental Institute, Pusey Lane)
10:10-10:45 Prof. John Wineland (Kentucky Christian University):
“Byzantine Ecclesiastical Organization in the Decapolis: Evidence from Abila.”

===============================================

Since my last update it has been an unusal few days. It has been quite hot here since we arrive in the high 30's and even the low 40's of course I am talking about centigrade not fahrenheit, 35 is about 95 degrees and 40 is 103 degress. In fact we ended work early on Thursday at noon because of the heat. Today work ended at 10:30 because of the heat.

I left the site on Wednesday about 11am to visit a hospital. It seems my new boots do not agree with my feet. Since it has been hot this was a factor, but also I must have damaged my big toe nail on the interior of the boot. This led to an infection under my big toe nail on my left foot.

I went to a local hosptial in northern Jordan actually it is in Samar, Jordan about 10 miles from the site. I knew I needed antibiotics because I had pain in my left leg coming up from my foot. My toe was quite red. The doctors examined it and xrayed it. They then removed the toenail and cleaned it. When they found I that I have diabetes they became very cautious. They gave me an EKG and then for a reason unknown to me a chest xray. The doctor wanted to admit me so I agreed. They gave me IV antibiotics. I stayed the rest of the day Wednesday and all day Thursday, I finally got out this morning about 9 o'clock.

There are many things I could tell about the hospital. I will limit it to a few. First I was placed in a room with 3 other men. All of them were about 70 or older. One man was blinded from diabetes, another had some type of wound from diabetes and he was receivibg treatment. The third I was told had a bleeding stomach.

It is the custom to have many family member visit so the room was fill until about midnight. One man's son stayed the night in a plastic chair.

I was the only "gringo" (American) in the hospital so I became a minor celebrity. I had a visit from the representative of the Department of Antiquites of Jordan, and also from several police officials even someone who I think is a General in the Jordanian Army. I was attened to by several doctors including the Director of the hospital. So I had the best care they could offer.

They did a good job, the redness is almost gone and I am feeling fine. I have to take antibiotics in pill form now and dress the wound each day.

They have some things that are quite different about their hospital. First you have to provide several things that you would not have to provide in a US hospital. Clothes (there are no gowns etc provided) your own kleenix, and toliet paper (if needed), also your own cup and spoon.

The rooms are not air conditioned and the only ventation is the window. You sleep on a vinyl covered mattress with just a thin sheet over it, so when it is 95 to 100 I tended to stick to the mattress. Also there is no TV or radio or lounge or any vending machines etc., so nothing really to do but look at the other guys in the room. I won't go into the bathroon arrangements they were better than the camp where I stay but not exactly great.

I was on a men's floor and most of the staff was men except for a head nurse that must have been a drill sergeant at one time, also they had younger women wheel in the meals but they did not bring them over to your bed you had to do that. Also they do not provide anything to drink or anyway to drink it. There is a water fountain near the nurses station outside your room.

The food was almost the same each meal. Sliced cucumbers and tomatos, plain yogart, hummus, and bread. Twice I got soup. I was glad to get some other food today.

The hospitals in Jordan expect a persons family to provide most of the "nursing" care; feeding, washing, fetching water etc. Oh, they do not provide any towel or wash cloth or soap either.

I spent my time reading a novel and the Bible and listening to my IPOD. I got to know patient who told me he was a retired health care administion with a PhD from the US. He said hospitals are much like prisons.

Well I have never been in a prison but I will say that I am glad to be out of the hospital. This was the first time I had been in a hospital as a patient since I was about 7 years old and had my tonsils out.

====================
Getting around Jordan is also different than home it can be difficult on Friday especially since this is the Islamic day of worship. Tim and I caught a ride with the cook in his beat up old mini pickup truck. Normally you would ride a local mini-bus about the size of a regulal van. They put about 20 or so people in the minibus which goes on a fixed route from surrounding villages to regional centers.

The cook dropped us at a corner in Irbid and we had to take a taxi to a bus station. Then we took a bus to Amman and a taxi from the bus station to ACOR. Of course taxi drivers usually know very little English, so we have to direct them in Arabic. Amman is a large city about 2.5 million. Irbid has a population of over 272,000 people.

Amman has grown a great deal since I last visited in 2001. There are many refugees from Iraq in the country now.

ACOR has a wonderful library which focuses on the Middle East, history, and archaeology. They have my dissertation and book here too. They have several of the specialized journals I need too. So this a great place for me to do some research and finish up my paper.

Tim and I have already got into our room, dropped off our laundry (which really needs washing) raided the kitchen for a meal and now working on the computer here in the computer lab.

I guess that is it for now.

I will post something else before I leave Amman.

John Wineland
ACOR, Amman Jordan

Excavation Begins

This is Falafel

Greetings from Northern Jordan,

We have begun our excavation now. We have completed our first 2 days. We get up about 4AM have some breakfast and dead to the Archaeological site about 5AM. We work until about 1pm. At 9:30 we take a 1/2 hour break called second breakfast.

For Breakfast we have cream of wheat, bread and sometimes cheese, and tea.

For second breakfast we have a hard boiled egg, bread, cheese, a tomato or cucumber maybe a plum.

When we return from the field we have lunch about 1:30 or 2pm it is usually the biggest meal of the day. We usually have rice with some "stew" to put over it. We also have a "salad" of chopped cucumber and tomato with parsley.

After lunch we can shower (in a make shift shower that is really a toliet with a hose hooked up). Then we can wash our clothes usually in a bucket and hang it up on a line. After that we try to take a nap and then work begins in the lab at 4pm and we eat dinner at 6pm.

The toliets have nothing to sit on they are a hole in the floor. You must put the paper in a small basket because it will clog up the plumbing.

We live in a small village about 2000 people just a few miles from Syria and the Golan Heights. It is a traditional village so we must dress in a modest way at all times.

Dinner is lighter and usually is bread and cheese and vegetables sometimes some falafel (a chick pea "hushpuppy").

After supper sometimes we have lectures or meetings then we have lights out by 10pm.

So it is hard work. We live, work and sleep in a Girls High School. It is not like our American High Schools. It is mainly a concrete block building with concrete floors. We sleep on foam mattresses which are about 3 inches thick. One main problem at night is the the heat and the mosquitos. If you open the windows which makes it cooler then you have many mosquitos. If you close the windows you dont have as many mosquitos but it is much warmer.

It is sunny and hot everyday. The tempatures have been about 95 or so each day, and in the 80's at night. The sun can be brutal as you work on on the Tell (excavation site) there is no shade to be found so you are in the sun all day from 5AM to 1PM.

We have about 30 people on the dig team most from the US many are college students who have no archaeological experience so we have to train them how to excavate and keep records int he notebooks.

I work in Area A on the main tell Tell Abil. I am mainly excavating a Byzantine Church which was built in then Late Byzatine period 6th century AD (in the 500 hundreds AD).

It has 3 apses in the front or east end of the church and an entrance way with 3 doors. Out in front of the building is a plaza or entrance way (outside) It is covered with a mosaic floor with a diamond shaped pattern. It is mostly white with black and red lines forming the the pattern.

We are excavating 7 or 8 squares this summer in Area A. I hope we can answer some questions so I can prepare a final publication of the church.

Well I better finish up for now and get back to camp. The internet cafe is about a mile walk from the school.

I will write more later.

John Wineland
Harta Jordan

Trip to Central Jordan

John Wineland and Gerald Dyson at a Roman milestone along the Via Traiana, in the Wadi Mujib

Greetings

Today we had a busy day. We traveled this morning from Amman with my good friend Adnan.
Since we could not get a car to rent, Adnan offered to drive us.

We left about 7AM and drove south from Amman. We drove along the Kings Highway. This is an ancient road that has been used since Biblical times. It was used in the Roman period too.
Still today a modern road parallels the ancient one.

First we stopped briefly at Hesbon, a long time archaeological site and home of the ancient
Ammonites of the Old Testament.

Then We drove on to Madaba, a city famous for its Byzantine mosaics. In fact a there was an ancient school which taught carftsmen how to make mosaics there. We visited the most famous mosaic in Madaba, the map of Palestine on the floor of the church of Saint George. The map is the most ancient map of Palestine. It dates to the 6th century AD.

We continued south on the Kings highway and stopped at ancient Dibon. It was the captial of the Moabites. In the 19th century the famous Mesha Stele or Moabite Stone was found
here. It is now in Paris at the Louvre Museum.

We then drove by the famous site of Khibert Iskander, (named for Alexander the great) which has a long occupation.

As we drove further we came to the edge of the huge gorge known as the Wadi Mujib which is called by the locals the "Grand Canyon" of Jordan. A new dam has been constructed here which is holding back precious water. We wound down the steep switchbacks until we crossed the top of the new dam. It was quite a constract to see the lake on one side and the dry valley on the other.

We then drove up the other side of the gorge and stopped to see the Roman milestones that are still along the side of the road.

After we left the gorge we drove on south and stopped at Raba and viewed the remains of a Nabatean temple and a Roman road. It is a modern village with the ruins in the middle of the town in an archaeological park.

Once we crossed the gorge we were in the heart of Moabite territory and what today is called the Kerak district. I wanted to revisit Khirbet Mudaybi were I worked from 1995-2001. We have not returned since the summer of 2001. We are hoping to return next summer.

We drove south to Mutah and then wandered through several villages towards the desert. We drove finally out a blacktop road then to a gravel and finally a dirt road. About 4 or 5 miles from the last village we reached the ruins of Mudaybi. It is an rectangular Iron Age fortress with a massive gate structure. You can find out more about it www.vkrp.org

Then we drove back towards Karak and stopped along the road and had a picnic lunch.

Then we headed into Karak and viewed the massive Crusader castle from a distance. The
castle was part of the Kingdom of Jerusalem. From the walls of the castle you can see the Dead Sea and Jerusalem. The last Crusader to rule this castle was the infamous Reynald who would force his victums to walk a plank over the wall of the castle. First he had a box built over their head so they would not be knocked out as they fell. He also kidnapped Saladin's sister who was on her way to Mecca. Saladin later attacked Karak castle in revenge and personally executed Reynald at the Battle of the Horns of Hattin.

After the visit to the castle we drove back to Amman and then later Adnan invited to dinner
in his home. We had Maklubey which means upside down because it is served by flipping over
the pot which has lamb and rice.

Tomorrow we head back to Abila.

We are looking forward to a nice sleep here in Amman. Next week we begin out 4AM days at Abila.

More Later

John Wineland
Amman, Jordan

Greetings From Amman

Hello

Gerald Dyson, Tim Snow and I are in Amman. We were able to have pizza tonight in Amman, Papa Johns. I have never seen this in Amman before, they are getting more American things here each year.

Tomorrow my friend Adnan will drive us to the Crusader castle at Karak castle and then we will visit the other archaeological site were I have worked Khirbet Mudaybi. This is a Iron age fort pictured above.

I will write more tomorrow. It is nice to able to sleep in a bed and have a real shower.

More later.

John Wineland
Amman, Jordan

Hello Again from Harta

Karak Castle

Greetings,

It has been quite hot here in Jordan in the high 90's. Sunny all the time, no clouds. We were out on the site this morning training people in excavation technique.

I gave a lecture at camp on archaeology practices and theory.

Tomorrow we finish the training and I will travel to Amman. I am planning on taking the KCU student Gerald with me to Amman and then on Saturday to go to Karak castle and on to the site where I excavate in the south of Jordan.

We are doing fine here.

I will write more this week end

John Wineland

Harta, Jordan

Greetings From Harta Jodan

This is a picture of the church at Area D at Abila

Hello Everyone,

I am in Harta Jordan. We have found an internet cafe here in the village. It is quite small but seems to work well.



We have set our camp at the school and got all of the equipment out of storage.



Today we had orientation to the site and some lectures.



I gave a lecture on the history of the site of Abila. We also had a lecture about Arab culture and adjusting to living and working in Jordan.

Tomorrow we head out to the site and train people on how to excavate. Also I will give a lecture on archaeological methodology.

We have about 30 people total working at the site.

I will be directing the work at Area A which is on the main tell of the site.



If you would like to know more about the site you can visit this website:

http://www.abila.org/


All is well here so far and we are adjusting well. Three of us will visit Kerak castle a Crusader castle on Saturday. We will also travel to the place where I have excavated in the south Mudaybi on Saturday. I will be taking the student from KCU, Gerald Dyson with me on this trip.

I will try and post again later in the week.

John Wineland
Harta Jordan

Greetings from Irbid

Hello

We have arrived in Irbid Jordan. It has really grown since the last time I worked at Abila in 1994.
We stopped the bus to eat lunch near the Yarmuk University.

In a few minutes we head to the Harta Jordan to set up our camp for the excavation.

All is well

I probably will not have any access until Saturday or Sunday

John
Irbid Jordan

Greetings from Jordan

Hello


I had a safe flight over and I was moved up to first class, for no extra charge. So I had plenty of leg room!!!





I am now at the American Center of Oriental Research (ACOR) in Amman. I am using the library getting ready for the England presentation.





Tomorrow we travel north to Irbid and then on to Abila.





I will try to post something as I can on this blog.





Here is the theater in Amman which was ancient Philadelphia and the Old Testament of Ammon.

I will check email as often as I can.

I have a cell phone and I will be able to contact Connie often this way.

John Wineland

Amman, jordan