The crisis war between Israel and Hezbolah has caused a great deal of death and destruction on both sides. While we should all remember people on both sides in our prayers, especially the civilians, I have a few updates from archaeological digs in the area that I thought I would share.

The dig at Tel Kabri has been hit several times by Katyusha rockets according to Eric Cline. None of the archaeologists were injured, and they have since closed the dig. No word on the amount of damage caused to the antiquities there.

Amnon Ben-Tor reports that they have shut down the excavations at Hazor. When hostilities began, they closed the dig and gave the situation ten days to resolve. When that deadline had passed, they decided to cease operations for this season.

Ilan Sharon says that the dig at Tel Dor is still going on, at least as of July 22nd. This was their first major season since the Intifada caused digs to cease in 2000. They were three weeks into a six week season when the fighting began.

According to David Ilan at Tel Dan, they shut down their dig on July 14th, right after hostilities began. They went into bomb shelters on a few occasions, then decided it was best to clear out.

Finally, David Ussishkin and Israel Finkelstein are still up and working at Megiddo, although some of the volunteers have left. Eric Clines says it has been interested to actually be at Megiddo during a battle. He will have to add this experience to the next edition of his book, The Battles of Armageddon.

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