On the second day of our dig Yigal took us to some archaeological sites in the desert that do not show up on any public maps. Yigal excavated these sites over 10 years ago and collected many interesting items from them. The settlement of Ein Rachel (Rachel’s spring) was situated on top of a hill surrounded by farmland with the spring nearby. The other site we visited was a short walk away from there.
The smelting site was very interesting. It was used by various people groups for a long time (hundreds or thousands of years). The amount of slag and ash at the site is amazing.
One of the ideas for next year's trip is for some or all of the group to go out into the desert and camp, taking a day or two to dig at a site like these, many of which date back to the 10th century BCE.
