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USF Excavations at Sepphoris (long) (fwd)





---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Sun, 9 Feb 1997 17:00:21 -0500 (EST)
From: Thomas R. W. Longstaff <t_longst@colby.edu>
To: First Century Judaism Discussion Forum <ioudaios-l@Lehigh.EDU>
Subject: USF Excavations at Sepphoris (long)

Following Jay Treat's example, IOUDAIOS readers may find the
following announcement interesting:


The University of South Florida Excavations at Sepphoris, Israel, 1997

     Sepphoris is a major Roman and Byzantine city only four air miles
from Nazareth.  It was founded in remote antiquity but is mentioned in
the writings of Flavius Josephus in an incident just before 100 BCE.  It
is strikingly situated on a hilltop high above the Valley of Asochis, a
major throughway of lower Galilee that provided the route for the Roman
road from Ptolemais-Acco on the coast to the Sea of Galilee.  At the
death of King Herod the Great the city revolted and was in turn
destroyed by the Roman Legate Varus.  Herod Antipas, son of Herod the
Great, immediately rebuilt the city, as our excavations confirm, as his
capital in Galilee.  He made the rebuilt city "the ornament of all Galilee"
and "the strongest city in Galilee" according to Josephus.

     Sepphoris was first excavated for one season in 1931 by the
University of Michigan.  It has been under excavation since 1983 by the
University of South Florida Excavations at Sepphoris and since 1985 by
the Joint Expedition to Sepphoris.  That two major expeditions would
work the site is an index to its importance in the Roman and Byzantine
history of Palestine, early Christian Origins, and Jewish history.

     Sepphoris remained a loyal Roman city of largely Jewish population
through the First and Second Jewish Revolts against Rome.  In the
second century CE it took the name Diocaesarea and became a great
Jewish intellectual center.  Judah the Prince lived at Sepphoris the last
seventeen years of his life beginning about 203 CE and edited the
Mishnah there.  In the fourth century there was an attempt to build a
church at Sepphoris, precisely when many famous Jewish sages were
active at Sepphoris.  Later, Marcellinus, Bishop and Patriarch of
Diacaesarea, participated in the Council of Jerusalem in 518 AD.  A lintel
stone with Greek inscription from his church has been found.

     From ancient literary notices we know that Sepphoris had a theater,
ten synagogues, several churches, a Council Chamber, an Archive, two
market places, temples, a city wall, a mint (Sepphoris minted its own
coins), an extensive aqueduct system, and a cemetery.  In our
excavations since 1983 we have excavated a Jewish villa first excavated
by the University of Michigan in 1931, a bathing establishment, and an
enormous market building or basilica with stunning mosaics built in the
first century CE and going out of use 350 years later.  We have
recovered thousands of sherds, hundreds of coins, many fragments of
glass, and other traces of the material culture of the city.

     From May 29 to June 24, 1997, a team under the direction of Dr.
James F. Strange of the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida will
continue excavations in the Early Roman to Byzantine basilical building.
The excavation team is assembled from colleges, universities, and other
institutions throughout the United States.  Associate Directors are
Thomas R.W. Longstaff, Crawford Family Professor of Religious Studies
at Colby College in Waterville, Maine and Dennis E. Groh, Professor of
Humanities and Archaeology and Chaplain at Illinois Wesleyan University
in Bloomington, Illinois. These excavations offer participants a unique
opportunity to be trained in field methods, participate at the actual level
of data gathering, and to learn with others of all ages from many states
and several foreign countries.  No previous experience or archaeological
training is necessary.

The full season of excavations includes:
*Pre-dig orientation in northern Israel.
*Continuous field instruction.
*Evening lectures in history and archaeology of the region.
*Two weekend tours of the area.
*Accommodations at Kibbutz Ha-Solelim.
*A swimming pool, tennis courts, and basketball courts.
*Room & Board for a full seven day week, but digging for five days.
*Round-Trip airfare at Group Rates.
*Use of Kibbutz Laundry once a week.

COSTS AND CREDIT:  For applications write the address below.  Full
cost for the dates above is $2,750, which includes full room & board
and laundry, round-trip fare from New York, two Saturday trips around
Galilee, the bus to and from the site daily, transportation of breakfast to
the site, laundry, and lectures by the staff of the expedition.  Tuition for
credit is NOT included.  Credit is arranged through the Overseas Study
Program of the University of South Florida and will cost about $400.00
for three credits and about $600 for six credits.

THE PROGRAM AND ITS PREREQUISITES

     Full participation in the University of South Florida Excavations at
Sepphoris includes daily excavation at the site five days per week,
presence at lectures on the site, taking part in dig chores most
afternoons, attendance at evening lectures several times per week, and
two group side tripes to other sites in the area.  Participants should be
at least 18 years of age, high school graduates, and should be in good
health.  Our most common reasons for rejecting applicants are related to
health problems.  There is no upper age limit.  Participants receive
college credit or audit (auditors do no tests or papers) in cooperation
with the IAC-Overseas Study Programs at the University of South
Florida.

THE EXCAVATION DAY

4:00 Wake up call and first breakfast
4:30 Leave for the site by bus
5:00 Begin excavation
8:30 Second Breakfast at the site
10:15 Fruit Break
12:30 End field work
1:30 Lunch at the Kibbutz
4:30 Pottery wash etc.
6:00 Supper
7:00 Lectures three or four times per week

COURSE DESCRIPTIONS

REL 3936 Field Methods in Archaeology requires the learning of all field
skills used in field archaeology.  There is also a reader, a daily log
requirement, and a final field examination.

REL 4936 Palestine in Late Antiquity is a survey of the history and
archaeology of Palestine from the Hellenistic period to the late Byzantine
period.  There is a reading list, a take-home exam, and a paper
requirement upon return.

Graduate credit at graduate tuition levels can be arranged.  Students
must make sure that their own graduate program will accept this
graduate credit.

ACCOMMODATIONS

     Accommodations are at a kibbutz, a small collective settlement, west
of the site.  Participants are assigned two or three to a room in a youth
hostel environment, sometimes with a bath down the hall.  The Hostel
and the Annex both have common rooms with hot coffee or tea
available.  In addition, the kibbutz has a common dining room, tennis
courts, basketball courts, grass and trees, a swimming pool, a telephone,
and an outdoor lecture area for our lectures.  Horseback riding and
donkeyback riding are available in the vicinity for a fee. The kibbutz sets
aside times for the expedition members to shop for snacks and drinks in
a kiosk.  The modern cities of Nazareth and Nazareth Ilit are hardly six
miles to the east by bus; Acco and Haifa are about 18 miles to the west;
Tiberias is on the Sea of Galilee approximately 20 miles to the east.
Participants can rent cars for the weekend and are free to travel
Saturdays and Sundays, though those taking courses for credit are
expected to join the weekend tours.

NOTE:  As a general rule, the IRS has allowed as a federal income tax
deduction actual expenses incurred by an individual serving as a
volunteer in qualified scientific research expeditions.  On the other hand
the cost of "Study Missions" (study for credit) may not be eligible.  Your
expenses incurred within the provisions of a "volunteer worker" in the
Excavations at Sepphoris may be eligible as a deduction from your
Federal Income Tax.

For further information contact:

          Dr. James F. Strange, Professor
          Department of Religious Studies CPR 107
          College of Arts & Sciences
          University of South Florida
          Tampa, Fl 33620-5550

          Office:  813-974-1859
          FAX 813-974-5911
          Internet: strange@chuma.cas.usf.edu

or me:



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  | And the child said,  "Look, the Emperor isn't wearing any clothes!" |
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  | Dr. Thomas R. W. Longstaff         | EMAIL  :  t_longst@colby.edu   |
  | Crawford Family Professor of       |                                |
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  | Colby College                      | DEPT # :  (207) 872-3416       |
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