We dig Israel

Here in the cradle of civilization,  the ruins of some culture of other lie buried beneath the surface of almost every square mile. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to be an amateur archeologist in Israel. Today was my chance. Piling ourselves into the car, we headed north, to Bet Guvrin-Maresha National Park, to get the dirt of history under our fingernails.

Our very lively tour guide Missy explained that Bet Guvrin-Maresha encompasses a set of about 5000 caves, dug out from the a soft limestone layer just below the land's surface, in the 4th century BCE (that's "Before the Common Era", the reference used often by Jews in place of "Before Christ"). The caves were used for as reservoirs, places for making olive oil and other goods to sell, and as storerooms. When the area was conquered centuries later, the victors trashed the caves by filling them with dirt. It was this dirt, that has been covering the artifacts of civilization for 2000 years, that we were digging into.

Miriam shows off our finds.

The cave we were in must've been well-stocked with dishes and vittles, because it took us only seconds to start uncovering shards of broken pottery and bones from meals eaten long ago. One person in our group of about 20 actually asked whether all the artifacts were planted, to give us participants a feeling of satisfaction. Missy assured us this was all for real. One team of people in the group uncovered a few steps in a hallway. Missy encouraged them to "be the first people to set foot on those steps in 2000 years," and they proudly trod their toes on the newly excavated stones.

Missy shows us an ancient olive oil press.

After the dig, Missy showed us a cave that contained an ancient olive oil press. The process of extracting the oil, she described, was a matter of "mush, smush, and gush." First, the olives were mushed in a large mortar using a wheel of limestone driven by a long wooden lever. Then the olive paste was transferred to bags that were smushed under massive weights using a rather sophisticated pulley system. Finally, the oil extracted from the smush was put into vessels for storage and sale. Olive oil was the petroleum of the past: it was the main source of fuel in the Mediterranean. Olive oil was also essential in making soap, conducting rituals, and of course, cooking. Today, it's still made through a similar "mush, smush, and gush,"

Crawing through the tunnels of the past.

After the tour, Missy invited us on a special expedition, to crawl along the  path through an unexcavated cave. Candles lit our way as we wiggled through holes barely big enough for adults, and entered mysterious chambers which might hold hidden treasures under their packed dirt floors. We emerged back into the sunlight dusty, happy, and feeling like we'd been led on a very special tour through the modern unearthing of ancient history.