by Tony W. Cartledge | Jul 5, 2023 | Feature, Opinion
Susan and I have been digging at Tel Shimron for more than a week, and every day brings 10 hours of hot and dirty and very tiring work – but we asked for it. I admit there are times, when I’m sweating at the bottom of a deep excavation square or carrying heavy buckets...
by Tony W. Cartledge | May 10, 2023 | Feature-, Opinion
It came as a pleasant surprise to hear a knock at the door and see two friends and former neighbors who had stopped by just to chat. They live in America but have roots in East Jerusalem. They have trouble enough visiting family there as it is, so I’ll call them Samir...
by Tony W. Cartledge | Apr 26, 2023 | Feature, Opinion
Our sense of smell is a powerful thing, keen enough to save us from a smoky fire, attract us to an inviting meal, or even transport us to another time and place. The scent of baby powder can leave parents awash in memories of cuddles and giggles – and diaper changes,...
by Tony W. Cartledge | Mar 29, 2023 | Feature-, Opinion
Early this month, on the eve of Purim, the Israeli Antiquities Authority announced with some fanfare that an inscription from the time of the Persian king Darius I had been found at Lachish, once a major city in southern Israel. During the Persian period (c. 550–330...
by Tony W. Cartledge | Feb 1, 2023 | Opinion
Back in November, I wrote about the discovery of an ancient lice comb that was engraved with the oldest known sentence written in a very early version of the proto-Canaanite alphabet. The comb, found in the southern city of Lachish, was dated to around 1700 BCE. What...
