Day 8

A half day of work today: 5am to 8:30. (Whose idea was that?) Most of our work involved this amazing inscription. It was found down the hill from temple in a small valley, a mostly dry creek bed called a wadi. So this big slab of basalt had to be moved uphill and then into a pickup. Took over 2 hours of careful work.

Then into the storehouse back at the kibbutz. This is as close as you will allowed to see the slab for a while:

It has a number of lines of inscription and mentions the emperor Diocletian, who ruled from 284 CE to 311 CE, and also his co-emperor Maximian, among others. I think this little guy is destined to go straight to the Israel Museum. (After proper study, of course.)

This afternoon we're off for a little touring in Banias. Pictures later.