We start our new season of excavations at Ein Gedi in January 2018. This season will last 4 weeks and we expect 20 volunteers for each week, each staying for a minimum of one week.

The sunny winter months at this lowest point on earth reach 18–20 degrees centigrade, making work outdoors especially attractive at a time of year when most of Europe and North America is freezing cold.

Please put the Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations in your calendar. We look forward to your joining us for a new season of exploration and revealing another hidden part of Ein Gedi’s past.

The nature of the work

Archaeological work, though not easy, is both stimulating and great fun, and affords an opportunity to meet people from all over the world. Much of the work entails clearing rocks, soil, and debris with shovels, buckets, and wheelbarrows; however, the human occupation levels are carefully dug and sifted with the aid of smaller, more delicate tools. Other than this, there is also plenty of washing and registration of pottery to be done.

No prior background is required, though all volunteers should be in good physical health and of good cheer. There is no age limit – we have teenagers working alongside octogenarians, and all ages in between.

Safety

According to the Hebrew University instruction each volunteer have to sign on 

SUMMARY OF RISKS AND WORK SAFETY GUIDELINES AT AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE   that will be given to him before entering the site.

The 2018 season will be held from January 14^th to February 8^th  inclusive. 

Minimum participation: 1 week. Fieldwork is conducted from Mondays through Thursdays, from 7.00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. In the evenings there are often lectures and presentations about the history and archaeology of the area and previous seasons of our excavations.

Fridays and weekends are free. Optional after-work activities include swimming in the Dead Sea, walking through the oasis, socialising with old and new friends among the volunteers or just relaxing and enjoying the landscape – the most beautiful in the world, in my prejudiced opinion!

Ein Gedi Youth Hostel on the shore of the Dead Sea, a short walk from the excavation site

Please approach Rachel (excavation camp manager), by the reception desk on Sunday afternoon upon your arrival.

Each room has 4 beds (the 4^th one is upper one), a toilet, a shower, 1-2 wash-basins and most have a small private terrace with a glorious view of the Dead Sea. An electric kettle is provided in each room.

Rooms must be vacated early Friday morning. Luggage may be stored in designated rooms over the weekend. 

Participation costs include room per a day: a single volunteer will pay 80$, a couple in a room, each will pay 45$; three volunteers 35$, four 30$. Breakfast 15$, lunch/dinner 20$.

Pay attention – we have only 5 rooms and expecting for up to 20 volunteers per a week, therefore we cannot obtain single room, unless there will less volunteers. 

Weekends (Friday–Sunday morning). Volunteers wishing to remain at the Youth Hostel over the weekend will make arrangements to do so at the Youth Hostel reception desk. 

Those wishing to set up their own tent will participate in the cost of meals.

1.   Ein Gedi Hotel – Accommodation can be arranged by:  

Telephone no: 972-8-6594222; Fax no.: 972-8-6584328

yoellala@ein-gedi.co.il                  

Please note that the Kibbutz Hotel is some distance from the excavation site. Transport is not provided.

Food 

Breakfast wibe servedved on the site, among the date palms, Lunch at the Kibbutz dining hall, a hot dinner in the Youth Hostel dining hall in the evening (open only when they will have groups).

Room per day: a single volunteer in a room $70, two volunteers in a room $45 each, 

Please return the completed application form, together with a non-refundable registration fee* of 35$ (or your local equivalent) in cash or by personal cheque, payable to “Israel Exploration Society, Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations directed by Gideon Hadas,” no later than  December 13, 2017.

Eurocheques, bank cheques, money orders, and bank transfers are not accepted. 

In order to avoid confusion and to ensure your accommodations, we stress that your registration fee & application form must arrive by mail or Email before your arrival at the excavation. (Dr. Gideon Hadas, Kibbutz Ein Gedi, Mobile Post Dead Sea 86980, Israel). 
 *Returning volunteers are exempt from the registration fees.

Mode of Payment: Payment for room and board will be made at the beginning of each week to Rachel, the camp manager, by cash, traveller’s cheque, or personal cheque payable to “Israel Exploration Society - Ein Gedi Oasis Excavations directed by G. Hadas". Credit cards will not be accepted.

For more information and application form see our website

The Central Timna Valley (CTV) Project is a multi-year project of the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University, focusing on copper production sites in the southern Aravah Valley at the transitional period between the Late Bronze and Iron Ages (1300-800 BCE).

The excavations are aimed at addressing social, technological and chronological aspects of the ancient copper production industry. Students and volunteers will excavate in two sites: the extensive 10th century BCE smelting site of the "Slaves Hill" (Timna 34), and an Egyptian miners' camp.

The hilltop village of Shikhin is located a short walk from Sepphoris, the largest city of Hellensitic Galilee. Referred to as Asochis by the historian Josephus, Shikhin was a wealthy Hellenistic production center closely tied to its larger neighbor.

Excavations since 2012 have revealed that the kilns at Shikhin were producing most known Galilean pottery forms, including oil lamps, and they were doing so at a volume that suggests they produced a surplus for trading. Also uncovered were the remains of Shikhin's previously unknown synagogue.

In order to prepare for a full and expanded excavation in 2019, the Directors of the Mt. Zion dig have decided to take a hiatus from full-scale digging in 2018. There will be some work but only on a very small scale in order to complete the excavation of a few unfinished features from last season as well as to sort post-excavation materials.

ECTS credits can be arranged with the Universities of Bern, Helsinki and Leiden. For more information and application see website.

Abel Beth Maacah is a major tell in the Upper Galilee, at the northern end of the Huleh Valley, just west of Dan, and at the ancient juncture of Aram, Israel and Phoenicia. The site contains remains from the third through first millennia BCE, as well as from the Classical and Medieval periods.

Sunday June 24 – Friday July 20, 2018

The basic cost for a unit with kitchenette, toilet and shower that accommodates 3-4 people is $550 per week (7 nights) for full room and board for the first three weeks and $400 for the fourth week (5 nights). 

The weekly cost includes transportation by air-conditioned bus to and from the tell each working day and the evening lectures. All other transportation arrangements and costs must be made by the individual team member.

Students may arrange to receive academic credits through the Rothberg International School of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem . The cost is US$80 for the registration fee and US$120 per academic credit paid directly to the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Participants will receive 4 credits for participating during the entire season. Students opting to receive academic credits must fulfill the requirements set by the field school directors (attending all field trips and lectures, tasks in the field and writing of an academic paper relating to the project).

Official website

The site of Tell es-Safi/Gath is located in the Shephelah region (the Judean foothills), approximately half way between Jerusalem and Ashkelon. One of the largest archaeological sites in Israel, it is identified as Canaanite and Philistine Gath, Medieval Blanche Garde, and modern Tell es-Safi. During biblical times this was one of the five major cities of the Philistines, the home of Goliath and Achish according to the biblical text. As of 1996, a team of archaeologists, led by Prof. Aren M. Maeir of Bar-Ilan University initiated a long-term project at the site. Excavations have uncovered impressive remains, including the worlds earliest known siege system, rich finds from the Bronze and Iron Age periods, Philistine temples, inscriptions and art, and evidence of the destruction of the city of Gath by Hazael, king of Aram Damascus, as mentioned in II Kings 12.

In the upcoming 2018 season, we will focus our excavations in various areas in the lower city, both in areas that were opened in previous seasons, and hopefully, in new ones as well. Thus, most of the finds will be from various stages of the Iron Age, with perhaps some from the Late Bronze Age as well.

Khirbet El-Eika – also known as Hellenistic Galilee – is situated on an isolated mountain overlooking the Arbel Valley and the Sea of Galilee, above an ancient route that crossed the Lower Galilee. The site contains remains from the fourth to second centuries BCE. Our knowledge about the Galilee during this period is extremely limited, and these excavations could provide essential information.

June 24 - July 27, 2018

The excavation team will be based at Arbel Holiday Homes (right below the site, 7 km from Tiberias) in wooden cabins with a kitchenette, private bathroom, air-conditioning, TV and a porch. Volunteers will stay 3 per two-room cabin.
Swimming pool, sauna and TV room are also available.
The prices include full room and board from Sunday morning check in through Thursday afternoon check out from the cabins as well as all excavation related activities, field trips and lectures.

Price list:
One week: $550;
Two weeks: $1000;
Three weeks: $1470;
Four weeks: $1880;
Five weeks: $2250.

Weekends: Volunteers who are planning on staying at the Arbel Holiday Homes over the weekend (Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights) may stay in the cabins at the rate of 750 NIS per cabin, per night (regardless of the number of people who stay in the cabin). Another option is to stay in the staff's cabin, (which has much less amenities), for free. Please let us know as soon as possible if you will require extra nights in the regular cabins.

Contact: Roi Sabar, Institute of Archaeology, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Mt Scopus, Jerusalem 91905, Israel.
Tel: +972 528282963
Email: roisabar@gmail.com

See website

The ancient city of Hippos, one of the Decapolis, was erected upon the plateau of Sussita Mountain overlooking the Sea of Galilee which stretches west of it. The Hippos dig is one of the main Classical Period excavations being conducted during last decade in Israel.

This season's excavation plans:

•  Excavation of the Roman-Byzantine southern bathhouse
•  Excavation of the Roman period theater
•  Excavation of the Roman Sanctuary
•  Excavation along the west decumanus maximus

Two weeks (one session) participation = $1,400 or Four weeks (two sessions, full season) participation = $2,500 (may be paid in your own currency).

This cost includes full board and lodging in the Kibbutz in air-conditioned rooms including weekends (3 meals a day, expedition tours, leisure activity, lectures, etc.).
Participants should fill up and submit the Application Form, and send the registration fee of $220 (the registration fee is deducted from the full payment).
The full payment should be made no later than 31st of March 2018.
All payments can be made ONLY by personal or bank check or wire transfer, in the applicant's national currency (e.g. US in $, Europeans in € etc.).