ADVERTISEMENT
  • Contact Us
  • security
  • About Us
  • social
  • Celebrity
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Developer
  • Livescore
Saturday, March 25, 2023
FacetvNews
  • Login
  • Register
  • Home
  • world news
  • Online Radio
  • Ghana News
  • Africa News
  • Music
  • Videos
  • Entertainment
  • Religion
  • Fixtures & Standings
  • Livescore
  • Home
  • world news
  • Online Radio
  • Ghana News
  • Africa News
  • Music
  • Videos
  • Entertainment
  • Religion
  • Fixtures & Standings
  • Livescore
No Result
View All Result
Morning News
No Result
View All Result
ADVERTISEMENT
Home Featured featured

Wanted: More Christians to Dig in Israel | News & Reporting – ChristianityToday.com

Facetvnews by Facetvnews
October 16, 2022
in featured
0
0
SHARES
0
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT

Biblical archaeology is back in full swing in Israel—after a two-year pandemic delay—and now the digs across the country are going to get a new boost from tourist-volunteers.
Israel’s Tourism Ministry has launched a new initiative aimed at getting Christian tourists involved in excavations. And a group affiliated with the American Society of Overseas Research (ASOR), the largest organization for professional American archaeologists working in Israel, is starting a 13-day tour with visits to 27 sites.
American archaeologists working in Israel welcome the new programs. Encouraging “archaeotourism” is good for archaeology—boosting the local economy, cultivating interested in the ongoing academic work, and supplying archaeologists with a steady flow of volunteers.
“We couldn’t get anything accomplished without them,” said Steve Ortiz, director of the Lanier Center for Archaeology at Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee. Ortiz co-led a 10-year excavation at Tel Gezer, and is now a codirector of the Tel Burna Archaeological Project.
Getting tourists involved in archaeology isn’t a new idea. Israeli archaeologist Yigael Yadin sought out and recruited volunteers for the excavation of the famous site of Masada in the 1960s. Ever since, a stream of people have paid their own way to the Holy Land to dig, haul, and sift dirt, spending part of a vacation contributing to the grunt work of scholarship and the chance to touch a little bit of biblical history.
Every year, until travel was halted for COVID-19, hundreds of tourists visited archaeological sites in Israel. Archaeotourism is also promoted in neighboring Jordan and Turkey.
Cynthia Shafer-Elliott, a religion professor at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, first went to Israel as part of a college class. The class connected students to a program called Dig for a Day, which promises “authentic archaeology adventures.” For Shafer-Elliott, it sparked a passion that became a career.
Now she leads Israel tours in the summer that go to archaeological sites such as Abel Beth Maacah in northern Israel. Some in her groups are students getting class credit for digging. Others are people passionate about archaeology. Some are just curious about the physical remnants of biblical history.
“Most digs, I think, are happy to have volunteers from any kind of background,” Shafer-Elliot said.
John DeLancey, of Pittsburgh-based Biblical Israel Ministries and Tours, has been leading Israel tours with an archaeological component for years. (Disclosure: The author has co-led three archaeology-focused tours with DeLancey.) Recently, DeLancey took three volunteers to Tel Dan, in northern Israel, where they spent a week helping with the excavation.
DeLancey brings years of experience, but the volunteers were newer to the process of careful digging. All were welcome on the site.
“We enjoyed having them as part of the dig,” said Jonathan Greer, visiting professor of archaeology at Grand Valley State University in Michigan and codirector of the excavation. “They worked hard.”
Some of DeLancey’s tours also give people hands-on experience at the Temple Mount Sifting Project in Jerusalem. The project has relied on tens of thousands of volunteers since it began in 2004, including schoolchildren, who sift through dirt removed from the Temple Mount. Most work for an hour or two—enough time to get a feel for it and sometimes make important discoveries.
“People come in, they have a short training session, [and] they have supervisors watching them, so they're able to participate and contribute to the project," said Ortiz, at Lipscomb.
Not all of Ortiz’s experiences with volunteers at excavations have been positive, however. Sometimes, people don’t take the experience seriously.
“That doesn’t help archaeological research,” he said. “Normally, we put them in areas where they’re not going to do damage. But we’re still for it, because people have a great time.”
There are also occasional conflicts between volunteers and archaeologists. Some of the Christians who show up to help have a narrow view of archaeology and are only interested in a dig if they think it confirms a particular view of the Bible.
Greer, at Grand Valley State, says he has had to push Christians to embrace a broader view of what we learn from archaeology. It’s too simple to say excavations always just confirm Scripture.
“Archaeology illuminates the world of the Bible,” he said. “Archaeology oftentimes clarifies or complements our understanding of the Bible. But there are other times it complicates our understanding of the Bible…. We don’t have to have this narrow view.”
There can also be political issues, as tourists find themselves interacting with Israelis and Palestinians who have different views of the disputes that have roiled the region for generations. For Christians, though, the experience of interacting with the people who live around biblical archaeology can be very rewarding, Greer said. The ASOR initiative, he noted, included a wide variety of viewpoints among its participants, and included visits to Jewish, Christian, and Muslim sites.
Despite the occasional conflicts, most archaeologists are happy to have more volunteers. Over the years, they’ve even come to admire these tourists who give part of their vacation to an excavation.
“A lot of these tourists are lifetime learners,” said Shafer-Elliott. “They want to learn how this all interacts with the Bible, with history, with archaeology. I think it's an untapped market, and I think it's a great idea.”
Gordon Govier is editor of Artifax, a quarterly biblical archaeology newsmagazine, and hosts a weekly biblical archaeology podcast The Book & The Spade.
Subscribe to CT for less than $4.25/month
Sign up for our newsletter: Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily.

source

READ ALSO

Nana Tornado reveals how Adom TV declared him missing at age 15, when he absconded to Philippines.

Existing heart medication may help treat alcohol use disorder – Medical News Today

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Like this:

Like Loading...
Tags: @facetvnews

Related Posts

Nana Tornado
Celebrity

Nana Tornado reveals how Adom TV declared him missing at age 15, when he absconded to Philippines.

January 10, 2023 - Updated on January 11, 2023
8
featured

Existing heart medication may help treat alcohol use disorder – Medical News Today

October 21, 2022
0
featured

Why Is Ghana Turning to the IMF? – Foreign Policy

October 21, 2022
0
featured

Bill Squadron featured in ABC News report on transparency of NIL deals – Today at Elon

October 21, 2022
0
featured

Warning signs posted after box jellyfish spotted in Waikiki – Hawaii News Now

October 21, 2022
0
featured

No tax hikes, fee increases in Barlow's $55 million budget for 2023 – oswegocountynewsnow.com

October 21, 2022
0
Next Post

Reimagined | News, Sports, Jobs - Warren Tribune Chronicle

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

I agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

POPULAR NEWS

Meet the great chef from Zimbabwe who has been around the world

Meet the great chef from Zimbabwe who has been around the world

December 12, 2022 - Updated on December 13, 2022
252
The young Ghanaian woman who became CEO at a tender age.

The young Ghanaian woman who became CEO at a tender age.

December 15, 2022
202
Meet the young vibrant Ghanaian dancehall artiste making waves in Accra Ghana.

Meet the young vibrant Ghanaian dancehall artiste making waves in Accra Ghana.

January 5, 2023 - Updated on January 9, 2023
94
Meet Beebu a talented Nigerian popular Yoruba musician 

Meet Beebu a talented Nigerian popular Yoruba musician 

January 5, 2023 - Updated on January 9, 2023
71
support our own – Black Sheriff

support our own – Black Sheriff

December 5, 2022 - Updated on December 6, 2022
36
ADVERTISEMENT

EDITOR'S PICK

Trump taps firm to handle his Jan. 6 committee subpoena – POLITICO

October 21, 2022
0

Is Erling Haaland playing today? Latest Man City injury news – Ghanasoccernet.com

October 29, 2022
0

Ghanaian lawmakers have finally approved the e-levy bill that caused a fight among them in December – Business Insider Africa

November 1, 2022
0
World Cup 2022 kit ranking: Who has best jerseys in Qatar? – ESPN

World Cup 2022 kit ranking: Who has best jerseys in Qatar? – ESPN

November 9, 2022
0

About

Facetvnews

News $ Entertainment

We bring you the best new and entertainment, etc. Check our landing page for details. Download the app

Follow us

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Davido set to release his “Timeless” album on March 31
  • Shatta Wale gives conditions for VGMA return
  • Divorce: Causes and Effects on Children
  • Agnosticism and Gnostism
  • Manage Blood Sugar
  • Fixtures & Standings
  • Livescore
  • Contact Developer
  • Contact Us
  • Online Radio

© 2022 FactvNews -all rights reserved | Powered by Mcperry Imaginations.

No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
  • Politics
  • National
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Opinion
  • Science

© 2022 FactvNews -all rights reserved | Powered by Mcperry Imaginations.

Welcome Back!

Sign In with Facebook
Sign In with Google
Sign In with Linked In
OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Sign Up with Facebook
Sign Up with Google
Sign Up with Linked In
OR

Fill the forms below to register

*By registering into our website, you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.
All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
This website uses cookies. By continuing to use this website you are giving consent to cookies being used. Visit our Privacy and Cookie Policy.
%d bloggers like this: