There are, of course, numerous archaeology blogs today, including some for archaeological projects, such as Wessex Archaeology, which includes podcasts during excavations. The weblog of the Tell es-Safi/Gath project, called the Official and Unofficial Weblog is the first outreach blog to track both field and laboratory work as it progresses. The site of Tell es-Safi is the location of biblical Gath of the Philistines, one of the largest Tells (ancient mounds) in Israel, and an archaeological site with occupations dated between Proto-historic through Modern times. Recently, About Archaeology chatted with the director of the excavations, Professor Aren Maeir of Bar-Ilan University in Rabat-Gan, Israel, concerning the new blog project.
Professor Maeir, can you tell us what the purpose of your new blog is?
Aren Maeir: Our main purposes are: outreach in general to the public (one of any archaeologist's ethical calling), to show the "behind the scenes" workings of an archaeological project and its various aspects and angles; outreach to potential volunteers and supporters, as well as past volunteers and participants; and finally (and as always, very importantly), to have some fun…
How did you decide to use blogging in this way?
Nathan Fain, who is the partner of one of our staff members, and an experienced blogger, suggested this, and claimed (and I see now, quite truthfully) that this would have a very impressive reaction and interest from many people throughout the world. He also pointed out, that to the best of his knowledge (and webcrawling), there was no blog in the world that does this.
Most blogs are operated by a single user (although there are exceptions). Who will be posting journal entries at the Tell es-Safi blog?
This is what we thought: During the year, several of the regular members of the staff will regularly put in comments, about what is going on in the project, thoughts about the project and related stuff, profiles of staff members, future plans, etc. During the summer excavation season, we plan to open it as well for the volunteers. The "Official/Unofficial" part of the title is a (slightly...) humourous manner in which we hint that we will be posting both serious and irreverent material on a regular basis (as you can see from the posts so far).
Excavations at Tell el-Safi are held each summer in July and August. How will you report on the field work?
This is very important! During the season we will have the staff members contribute on a regular basis and we would like to "open the blog" to the volunteers as well, so that they can write posts as well. This surely will enable various "lay armchair archaeologists" to get the feeling of what it is like to excavate. We have even discussed the possibility of inviting a "professional blogger" to participate in the season.
Do you have any plans to integrate podcasting or other media?
Yes, we are thinking of trying out a webcam during the excavation, but have not finalized how to do it.
Will you be posting just in English? Do you have any plans for a Hebrew language blog?
As of now, we don't have plans for this – but due to the success of the English one – perhaps it is a good idea!
More archaeological blogs are being developed each day, as people become comfortable with the capabilities and potential of this new medium. Browse through the list of Archaeology Blogs compiled for this feature, and you will discover the wide variety of inventive uses developed by bloggers of late.
Prof. Aren Maeir (PhD, Hebrew University) is the director of the Tell es-Safi/Gath Archaeological Project, and chairman of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel. He has excavated at numerous excavations throughout Israel, including Hazor, Yoqnean, Beth Shean, Qasile, Jerusalem, etc. He has directed the excavation project at Tell es-Safi/Gath since 1996. Excavations are conducted as the site during the summer months and volunteers and students from Israel and all over the world are invited to participate.
