S9 — Week 2, Day 1: Today We Began the Second Week...

Today we began the second week of our two week session. The heat continues but we are beginning to see good results from our efforts. This week in the area of the former front yard of the Ottoman building we received a new crew of Russian immigrants who work for the Israel Antiquities Authority. They replaced the previous team of local labor that had not been very effective last week. Immediately we saw a difference. They are working in three squares. One square is already down to the Byzantine level and making steady progress. They found an intact Early Islamic oil lamp and other important finds. In the area east of the church, they are working through the Byzantine level and have some interesting cut stones. These usually belong to a public building. They have four days to identify what that structure is. In our square within the church we are making significant progess as it grows steadily deeper. A couple of worked stones and plaster indicate that they likely belonged also to the wall of an earlier structure. In the morning we had a special visit from the leadership of the Museum of the Bible who generously support our work. We uncovered the medallion inscription found in 2022 with its mention of "the chief of the Apostles and the keeper of the keys of heaven." Our conservator Yeshu Drey also paid a visit. We talked of future possibilities for the site. All positive parts of a good day.

Peter inscription

Yeshu found something

Early Islamic oil lamp

Sunrise over the Golan

cut ashlar stone

Yeshu with his metal detector