The students participating in the dig will be exposed to all methods of archaeological work. The scientific team includes specialists in geology and seismology, archaeologists, archaeozoologists, specialists in molecular biology and ancient DNA, pre-historians and human anthropologists. No previous experience is needed but novices in the field should take into account that the dig involves strenuous work in very hot weather, five days a week (Sunday through Thursday) and eight hours a day. During the excavation season the weather in the Jordan Valley can easily reach over 300 C/860 F daily. Therefore the working day starts early in the morning (5AM) and ends at 1PM. We will work in the shade, and the refreshing waters of the Jordan River (figure 1) will always be available.
Classes (see below) will be held daily between 4PM and 6:30PM. Breakfasts and lunches will be eaten at the site; suppers will be served in the kibbutz dining room.
Students are required to arrange full health insurance coverage for their entire stay at the dig.

   
Fig. 1: The Jordan River

Accommodations
Members of the expedition will be housed at Kibbutz Gadot in 3-person air-conditioned rooms with showers, small kitchenette and comfortable front porch (figure 2). The kitchenette has a refrigerator and an electric kettle with cups, accompanied by stocks of tea, coffee and sugar. Formal room-service is not available but sheets, pillow-cases and towels will be replaced as needed.
For more information about Kibbutz Gadot and the Accommodations see Kibbutz Gadot website at:  http://www.gadot-lodging.co.il/index_en.html

 
Fig. 2: The country lodging at Kibbutz Gadot.

  4:20  Wake-up.  Light breakfast in your rooms.
  4:50  Buses leave for Vadum Iacob site. Don’t be late!
  5:00  Begin work on the site.
  8:30  Breakfast on the site from 8:30-9 am.
10:45  Second break from 10:45-11 am.
12:50  Quit work.              
13:00  Lunch on the site.
13:30  Buses leave the site for kibbutz Gadot.
FREE TIME until 16:00 pm
16:00 – 18:30  Classes/lectures
19:00  Dinner at kibbutz dining hall.
22:00  Bedtime. You need your sleep!

Free time is available for recreational activities such as swimming, socializing and visiting nearby attractions.

 
Academic Credit
The dig will be accompanied by an intensive 3-credit course on The History and Earthquakes. The course will be taught by Prof. Ronnie Ellenblum, Head of the School of History at HUJI and by Prof. Amotz Agnon of the Institute of Earth Sciences at HUJI.  
The course will deal with three parallel, yet coinciding themes: (a) the historical development of the philosophical and scientific understanding of earthquakes as emanating from actual events e.g. Plato (Timaeus), Aristotle, the story of Atlantis and the destruction of the Minoan culture in Crete; Immanuel Kant, Voltaire, Jean Jacques Rousseau and the earthquakes of Lisbon, 1755 (b) current plate-tectonics and (c) the development of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea Transform. The course will examine the contribution of history and archaeology to the understanding of seismicity and other catastrophic geological phenomena. The course will include a two-day tour along the Rift Valley on 2-3 July 2007.