El Araj Archaeological Excavations Season 7 - Week 2 Day 2- Today was another good day of important finds. Area D uncovered portions of stone vessels which are distinctive to Jewish communities. These reinforce the identification of the site as a Roman period Jewish fishing village. The Hong Kong team dug through Byzantine floors and are now excavating into the Roman level. They uncovered a large stone threshold and certainly will discover important finds in the coming days. Those digging on the northern wall of the basilica have begun to find Roman pottery and coins, as well as the foundations of what appears to be the earlier northern wall of the church. A small team of three moved to the basilica floor to clean and uncover the mosaics that were under the dirt mound removed last week. Once again, the beautiful colors and designs made their way to the sunlight for the first time in 1400 years. The team also had a surprise encounter with a snake that had to be safely removed. For those working in the apse we are at a point where the conservationist will need to remove the mosaics in order for us to dig down (likely in October) and understand the beginnings and development of the church. Before doing that, we needed to prepare the area (brushing and cleaning) for photographs. We wet the mosaics so that the vivid colors could be realized. Finally, every morning we enjoy "second breakfast" on site as a result of Sunya organizing it and bringing it from Tiberias.
