Dig Scholarship: Khirbet Yatir

Joanne Besonen’s letter to us began typically enough: “I am a graduate student in classical archaeology at Tufts University … This summer I plan to dig at Khirbet Yatir, which is codirected by my advisor, Jodi Magness. My goal is to study and photograph the subject of my thesis, the mosaic floor of Yatir’s Byzantine monastery.”

But it was the next portion of her letter that caught our attention: “I am not the typical graduate student. I am the mother of six children, who has found the challenge of a new vocation and career in the second part of my life. I count myself extremely fortunate to have taken my education this far while helping to put my four older children through college … To be part of the excavation at Khirbet Yatir and to have firsthand knowledge of the mosaic, its environment and history is exactly the type of growth experience I envision.”

We awarded Joanne Besonen one of three dig scholarships to enable her to join the Yatir excavation, west of the Dead Sea. Excerpts from her report to us on her experience follow:

What a reward awaited us at the top of our laborious climb! We would arrive at the crest of a rocky hill just as the sun was rising above the hills around Khirbet Yatir. From our vantage point at the site’s Byzantine church, we could watch the golden line of the sun spreading across the valley and hills. Some mornings we had an even better treat. We would watch a low-lying mist, which filled the Beer-Sheva valley, lift and clear in the early morning light. It was almost magical, like the enchanted village of Brigadoon coming to life from out of the brume.