Ancient History Faculty of Arts MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY NSW 2109 AUSTRALIA Phone +61 (0) 2 9850 8833 Fax +61 (0) 2 9850 8240 Email
[email protected] Tel Azekah 2012 Excavation report detailing the activities of the Australian team By Mr Andrew Pleffer – PhD candidate & Area Assistant Supervisor, and Dr Gil Davis – Program Director Picture: Entrance to Tel Azekah Summary: Macquarie University has joined Tel Aviv University, Heidelberg University and a consortium of other institutions in the joint scientific inquiry of Tel Azekah - one of the great archaeological sites of ancient Israel. The project is designed to integrate archaeological fieldwork and historical knowledge derived from the Bible and inscriptions. It will shed light on this important fortress city in the Judahite Lowland Region (Shephelah) in the second and first millennia BCE. In July-August, 2012, the team of students from Macquarie University travelled to Israel to participate in the opening season of excavations. They were led by Andrew Pleffer (doctoral candidate and Area Assistant Supervisor on the excavation staff team), doctoral candidate Gareth Wearne, masters candidate Catrina Henderson, honours 1 Ancient History Faculty of Arts MACQUARIE UNIVERSITY NSW 2109 AUSTRALIA Phone +61 (0) 2 9850 8833 Fax +61 (0) 2 9850 8240 Email
[email protected] student Lydia Gore-Jones, and undergraduate students Blake Wassell, Peter Dean, Naomi Bouskila, Rachael Downey, Anna Krautbauer, Natasha Langley, Naomi Simmons, Alexandra Starling, Alexandra Wrathall, and Matthew Williams. Volunteers Dr David and Jill Saffron also participated. The 2012 season was an amazing success with many rare and important finds. The Macquarie students were highly praised by the Directors of the excavation for their dedication, enthusiasm, and hard work.