S9 — Week 2, Day 3: Another Good Day with Significant Progress
- Bethsaida-Julias Staff
- Aug 5
- 2 min read
Another good day with significant progress. As is typical towards the end of the our dig sessions the number of visitors to the site grows. Today we were visited by the National Parks Authority to discuss future possibilities. In addition Dr. Steven Fine and Dr. Jill Katz visited the excavation with their students from Yeshiva University. Briefly on the ongoing work, the Russian workers are making very good progress in their three squares. They found a marble portion of a cross that belonged to a Byzantine chancel screen. At the base of their southern square there very large boulders which belonged to a large, but as yet unidentified structure. The team working east of the church continues to unearth remains prior to the building of the basilica. The square within the church penetrated down through the stone floor in the morning and spent most of the day digging further down finding several coins. It seems that we are digging in the Roman period and at the end of the day came upon another floor but this one from plaster. Tomorrow we hope to penetrate through it. In the evening both the staff and volunteers enjoyed a lovely evening boat ride on the Sea of Galilee. A perfect ending to a good day.
