Testimonials
Here you can find some testimonials of team members that have participated in our excavation. Maybe next year your testimony will be up here!
Ten years ago, as a sophomore majoring in Astrophysics, I signed up for a three week dig at Tel Hazor. I expected Hazor to be cool. I did not expect it to be life changing. Digging at Hazor is a singular experience. It cannot be replicated. While I was there, I found pottery, basalt bowls, small pieces of a wall fresco, more pottery…but more than that, I found myself part of something much larger than myself. I found passion, and lifelong friends, and professional direction. I found a greater understanding of who it is that I want to be and what it is that I want to be doing.
This last summer I went back to Hazor as part of the new and fantastically exciting Lower City dig. Part of me was worried that it wouldn’t match my initial experience, that the magic I felt 10 years ago would be gone. But what I felt at 20 years old is still there at age 30, because the magic is in the people, and the work, and the site itself. I can’t wait to experience Hazor’s magic again next year!
Taylor Gruesser, Ohio University
As a rising senior undergraduate student at George Washington University, volunteering on an excavation was not only a graduation requirement but also the fulfillment of a dream. This has been cultivated and fed through the help of my professors and my love of ancient Near Eastern archaeology and the Bronze Age. I had originally signed up to attend the Lower City Excavations at Tel Hazor for three weeks, but after experiencing not only a thrilling few days excavating in the squares but also meeting kind, wildly knowledgeable, and uplifting staff and other volunteers, I knew that I had to extend my stay for the full six weeks. The Lower City Excavations at Tel Hazor is my first excavation but I plan to return in the future thanks to the people I have met and the environment that has been nurtured here. I give all of my thanks to Dr. Shlomit Bechar, all of the staff of the excavation, the University of Haifa, and my professors at George Washington University. Archaeology is my passion and I have truly found my place in the ancient sediment of the Lower City.
Erin Anderson, George Washington University
As a boy, I dug holes in my backyard and dreamed of searching for pirate’s treasure when I grew up. Now I’m living that dream as a volunteer helping uncover the ancient city of Hazor. It’s an indescribable thrill to dig down two meters and find artifacts from the middle bronze age – 3,800 years ago. I have a countdown timer set on my watch to look forward to going again in summer 2024!
John Rinks
