The Tel Dor Archaeological Expedition

UC Berkeley Department of History of Art | UC Berkeley Archaeological Research Facility | UW Seattle Department of Classics

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Volunteer Information
The Working Day | Field Trips | Living Conditions
Application and Scholarship Information

The 2007 Season

Area H, 2nd week of excavation, 1999 season

The Tel Dor expedition will resume excavation at Dor in June 2007, and is now actively recruiting volunteers for a five-week season between June 26 and July 28. All welcome! Volunteers must be over 18, reasonably fit and willing to work and learn. The Dor project offers a unique opportunity to learn the techniques of modern field archaeology from experienced excavators; no previous archaeological training is necessary. The Dor consortium will focus upon the Roman, Hellenistic, and Persian remains on the south side of the site, paying specific attention to its urban development, monumental buildings, and dwelling houses; will undertake limited excavation and scientific sampling of the Iron Age remains at the center of the site; and will continue preparing previously-excavated areas for publication.

The Working Day

Volunteer excavating a mosaic during the 2000 season

Participants will take part in all aspects of field work, in order to gain an understanding of everything that is involved in the archaeological research process. The main work will be that connected with excavations on the mound from early morning to the middle of the day. This may involve any or all of the following: clearing of brush and weeds to prepare the area for new or continuing excavation; large scale earth moving with picks, large "hoes" and buckets; finer work with small picks, trowels and brushes to delineate features and artifacts (chiefly pottery); washing pottery; taking levels; and various record-keeping activities. Day-time temperatures in Israel will usually fall between 80 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit during July and August. For this reason, work will be concentrated in the first half of the day, and outdoor work ends at 1:00 p.m. Afternoon work will include sorting pottery, classifying and recording artifacts, and the preparation of daily reports. Instruction in methods for all of the above procedures will be given prior to and during the work as needed. Participants will work closely with the expedition leaders to assure ample opportunity for questions and instruction.

Field Trips:

Individual team leaders may also organize weekend field trips on an ad hoc basis to a selection of the following sites:

Belvoir - A Crusader fortress built by the Knights Hospitallers in A.D. 1168. It commands a magnificent view of the Jordan
Valley.

Beth Alpha - A 6th century A.D. synagogue famous for its mosaics showing a zodiac, the Sacrifice of Isaac, and the Shrine
of the Law.

Megiddo - One of the most fought-over cities of ancient Israel, it is the site of Armageddon, the battle to end all battles.
First fortified around 3000 B.C., it was a major fortress for both Solomon and Ahab.

Beth Shearim - Best known for its catacombs and sarcophagi, this was a great center of Jewish learning from around A.D.
200, and was the residence of Judah ha-Nasi, compiler of the Mishna. It was also the site of an important glass industry.

Beth Shean - The site of a major Canaanite citadel and shrine, and Roman/early Byzantine town, with a well-preserved
theater, baths and city center.

Tabgha/Heptapegon - The Church of the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes has been restored to its 5th-century plan. It
contains exceptionally fine mosaics, and recreates an early Byzantine church it all its glory.

Kfar Nahum/Capernaum - The 3rd-century synagogue built of white limestone and the house of St. Peter.

Hammat Tiberias - This 4th-century synagogue contains what many consider to be the finest synagogue mosaic in all
Israel.

Zippori/Sepphoris - The capital of the Galilee in the later Roman period, Zippori contains the most beautiful synagogue and secular
mosaics in Israel.

These trips are offered by individual team leaders; itineraries and costs will be published at the beginning of the excavation.

Living Conditions

The teams will live in the "Country Living" section of the Nahsholim Seaside Resort Hotel (at the
left of the aerial photograph shown above), a 5 minute walk from the site and beach. Accommodation will be in multi-room cabins, 3 to a room. Doubles or singles may be arranged if space is available: for information please contact the US recruitment co-ordinator, Professor Stewart (see below). Each room has a private bath/shower, unequipped kitchenette, air conditioning, and TV; most cabins have an outside patio with picnic table, chairs, and sunshade. Our fees include room and board (hotel food) for seven days per week (weekend lunches excepted). Hotel amenities are available.

Iron Age (ca 1000-700 BC) Phoenician anchors found at Dor

Application

To apply for participation in the Tel Dor Archaeological Expedition, please print the following application form (MS Word format, if you have problems left click the link and "Save Target/File As...") and mail it to the US Tel Dor recruitment co-ordinator, Prof. Sarah Stroup, Department of Classics, UW Seattle, Seattle WA 98195-3110. http://depts.washington.edu/clasdept/

Coin Hoard of 10 Ptolemy I Soter of Egypt tetradrachms, minted under PtolemyII, Philadelphos, (reigned 281-246 BC)

Scholarships

We regret that no Dor scholarships are available for volunteers/students outside the organizing U.S. institution (The University of Washington, Seattle). Students of this institution should contact professor Sarah Stroup, listed below, for information about scholarship opportunities (if any) offered through various departments at that school. Students from other institutions should contact their own departments and colleges for scholarship information; in addition, entities such as the Biblical Archaeology Society and the Dorot Foundation do offer a limited number of scholarships for summer travel and/or archaeological excavation in Israel.

For more information, please contact the US Tel Dor recruitment co-ordinator, Professor Sarah Stroup, Department of Classics, Box 353110 , University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195-3110; tel. (206)543-2276; fax (206)543-2267; scstroup@u.washington.edu.; or (as appropriate) the other group leader:

Professor Professor Elizabeth Bloch-Smith, Villanova University and St. Joseph's University; (610) 664-7829; bloch-smith@msn.com.