Dig Scholarships

BAR offers travel scholarships of $1,000 every year to a few people who would otherwise not be able to volunteer. In 1997 the three women shown below—Melody Knowles, then finishing her dissertation on the Hebrew Bible at Princeton Theological Seminary, Jessica Redford, a philosophy student who would soon graduate from the University of Southern California, and Mary Eierman, a homemaker with four grown daughters—benefited from the scholarships. To apply, simply send a letter to BAR Dig Scholarships, 4710 41st St., NW, Washington, DC 20016, stating who you are, where you want to dig and why, as well as why you need financial aid. We require your address and phone number and the names, addresses and phone numbers of two references. The deadline is March 6, 1998.

“Every day was filled with much hard work, but there was also an overwhelming wonder of the history and beauty of this region. I thought of the account in 1 Samuel referring to this very place where the Ark of the Covenant had once stopped. It amazed me that I was standing on the same ground. I remember how hot and dry it was at Beth-Shemesh and how the grey dust settled over everything. I’ll never forget the people I encountered, the unusual food consumed or even the pigeons cooing at the kibbutz. I have to go back.”