Highlights from Tel Azekah 2012

Posted on February 27, 2013 by bobcargill (@xkv8r)

Azekah alum Benjamin Sitzmann has put together a number of wonderful videos that captured daily life on the archaeological dig at Azekah last summer (2012).

If your German is up to speed, watch the video below:

Or, you can watch this shorter version, with brilliant stop-motion cinematography of Azekah and the many other holy, natural, and archaeological sites we visit on our weekend trips:

Of course, if you want evidence that this is truly an international experience, you can check out the video I made for my son MacLaren’s first birthday, which shows Azekah excavators wishing Mac happy birthday in 14 different languages:

If you or someone you know is interested in digging at Azekah this summer as part of a team of students from the University of Iowa, please feel free to contact me at robert-cargill@uiowa.edu.

Filed under: archaeology, University of Iowa | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Cargill 3.0 AND 4.0 are officially under development

Posted on December 4, 2012 by bobcargill (@xkv8r)

Two buns in the oven

Yeah. THAT just happened.

Roslyn and I are very excited. No knowledge of genders yet, although we do know they are fraternal (and not identical). Ros and the twins (it still sounds weird to write and say it) are all healthy, albeit tired.

Tali is excited and rooting for sisters. Mac is excited, as he wants playmates to climb on. Professor Tiggens, however, is not excited, as he will drop two more spots on the alpha male scale.

Twins

We expect the twins, codenamed: Azekah and Sochoh (for reasons unspoken) to be born toward the end of May or early June, just prior to the beginning of Season 2 of the Azekah archaeological excavation beginning mid-July, 2013.

Filed under: robert cargill, roslyn, things that rule | Tagged: , , , | 15 Comments »

Remembering Tisha b’Av (The 9th of Av)

Posted on July 27, 2012 by bobcargill (@xkv8r)
Destruction of Jerusalem

The destroyed remains of the Second Temple in Jerusalem

We are presently preparing for the Tisha b’Av (9th of Ab) remembrance here in Israel this weekend. The Azekah students have gone to the Dead Sea for a tour and I am alone here at Nes Harim, watching the Shabbat sun set over Bet Shemesh. All is quiet as it should be for a solemn remembrance of this sort.

The religious mourn the destruction of both the first and second temples in Jerusalem, along with other tragedies that are said to have taken place on the 9th day of the Jewish month of Av. (The defeat of the Bar Kokhba Rebellion and the subsequent leveling of Jerusalem are also attributed to the 9th of Av.) However, even the non-religious here remember with much solemnity the destruction of Jerusalem and its temples. They were tragic, defining moments for Jews in 586 BCE and 70 CE.

And as the state of Israel winds down for this Sabbath, commemoration, and associated period of fasting, I will read and write and reflect on both tragedy and hope for tomorrow.

Because it is good to remember. And it is good to lament for a time. For those who fail to remember the past tend to repeat it.

For more on the 9th of Ab, see here and here.

Dr. Robert R. Cargill at the Western Wall in Jerusalem

At the Western Wall in Jerusalem

Filed under: ancient near east, israel, judaism | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments »

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