Event: Prime Time Travelers' Trip to Explorations in Antiquity Center
Where: Lagrange, Geogia
When: April 29, 2010
Travel back to the time of Jesus! This outdoor museum full of replicas of true excavations is a must-see for any Christians in the South. The tour guides are very knowledgeable and really love what they are doing, and the Biblical meal really sets the Center apart.
Our bus left PUMC at 7:30 sharp, headed for Lagrange, GA. The route was all country highways that passed through charming small towns - no interstate at all. Snacks and drinks were served along the way!
[ All Photos: Flickr Photo Album Collection ]
For slideshows and explanations, see individual album links below!
A special thanks goes to Polly Mohr for organizing this wonderful event. Everyone enjoyed it very much and we were all quite impressed with this outdoor museum!
Lagrange Farmers' Market
[ Farmers' Market: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
We arrived ahead of schedule in Lagrange, so we stopped at a lovely farmers' market full of flowers!
Time Tunnel
[ Time Tunnel: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
When we arrived at the Antiquities center, the first thing you notice is the "time tunnel" across the front. They have examples going through 2500 years of Israelite places of worship, from early Canaanite through to early Christian.
Oasis Campsite
[ Oasis Campsite: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
Many of our well known Biblical personalities such as Abraham and Sarah lived a nomadic lifestyle in woven goat hair tents. This tough fabric was porous when dry, allowing breezes to move through. When wet, the fibers swelled, making the fabric water resistant.
A curtain separated the tent at night - men slept on one side and women on the other. Locations near oasis were desirable as water was scarce; it only rains for during two months of winter. Temporary sheepholds were created from bundles of sharp sticks to protect the flocks of goats and sheep from predators.
Sheepfolds
[ Sheepfolds: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
Nomads created temporary sheepfolds from sharp sticks, taking advantage of natural rocky formations offering protection.
In more permanent sheepfolds, the walls were built from stone and topped with sharp sticks to discourage predators. They were often built against cave openings, as the cave interiors stayed a comfortable 69 degrees year round. There were two sides, one for goats with much higher walls as they could leap out, and a side with lower walls for the sheep.
Mangers were made of stone, not wood as we have always imagined based on Nativity art!
Well
[ Well: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
Wells were essential centers of nomadic life, and are often mentioned in the Old Testement. Locations of wells would be known throughout the tribes. Heavy stone covers on the wells prevented individuals from stealing water and also protected against evaporation. Some wells were so deep that they had spiral staircases down to the wellhead.
The well is surrounded by troughs to water the animals. These would have to be filled by hand and it was hard work. Water was most often drawn and carried by women. Remember the servant searching for a bride for Isaac?
Genesis 24:44 and if she says to me, "Drink, and I'll draw water for your camels too," let her be the one the LORD has chosen for my master's son.'
45 "Before I finished praying in my heart, Rebekah came out, with her jar on her shoulder. She went down to the spring and drew water, and I said to her, 'Please give me a drink.'
46 "She quickly lowered her jar from her shoulder and said, 'Drink, and I'll water your camels too.' So I drank, and she watered the camels also.
Rebekah's effort takes on a whole new meaning when you see how much work that was!
Threshing Floor
[ Threshing Floor: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
The circular threshing area had a floor of bedrock, not dirt. It was used to separate the wheat or barley from the chaff.
First the whole floor would be covered with sheaves of grain. Then they would run a threshing sledge over the sheaves; a wood board studded with sharp rocks or bits of metal. This would be pulled around the circle, often by an ox. Weight would be placed on the sledge, either rocks or people who were driving the ox. Remember the Bible verse, "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain" (Duet. 25:4) The ox would be able to eat while he worked, reminding us that we need to provide for those who provide essential services. This is referred to twice in the New Testement:
For the Scripture says, "Do not muzzle the ox while it is treading out the grain," and "The worker deserves his wages."
-- 1st Timothy 5:18
For it is written in the Law of Moses: "Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain." Is it about oxen that God is concerned? Surely he says this for us, doesn't he? Yes, this was written for us, because when the plowman plows and the thresher threshes, they ought to do so in the hope of sharing in the harvest.
-- 1st Corinthians 9:9-10
Once the sheaves where cut up into bits by the sledge, workers would toss up the bits with the winnowing forks. The lighter chaff would be blown away by the wind, and the heavier grain would fall back to the floor.
Last, the remainder would be passed through sieves of varying coarseness.
Altars
[ Altars: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
The Judaic altars were always made of rough, undressed stone. The sole focus was to be the offering to please God, not to admire the skill of the altar maker.
In contrast, the Canaanite altars were made of dressed stone. What skilled altar makers they had!
Watchtower and Vinyard, Trees
[ Watchtower and Vinyard: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
Watchtowers helped to protect a community, crops and flocks from predators and raiders. In a country with almost no wood, even grapevines were propped up by stone trellises.
Cedars of Lebanon flank the watchtower. Other trees include figs and olives.
Wine Presses
[ Wine Presses: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
Grapes were stomped in large stone vats. The press on the left was for three people; see the ropes dangling from the overhead crossbar to help them keep their balance? The press on the right was smaller for one person.
The juice ran down into smaller stone-lined vats set into the ground. It was then poured into urns through a linen sieve. Do you remember Jesus' comment about the Pharisees? He was probably referring to this process of straining the grape juice through linen, a process that everyone in His audience was familiar with:
"Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former. You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel."
--Matthew 23:23-24
The strained juice would then be allowed to ferment into wine:
Then it would be put into goatskins to ferment. This would stretch the skin out. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.
-- Matthew 9:17
Olive Presses
[ Olive Presses: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
Olive oil was used for everything. The ripe black olives were first lightly crushed by the village millstone to break the skins open. Then they were loaded into a stone vat with a heavy flat stone placed on top. A weighted beam pressed down on the stone, and the oil drained into a stone trough, similar to the wine press.
There were four pressings. One stone weight would be hung from the beam for the first press, which produced the highest quality oil. This "extra-virgin" olive oil was considered first fruit and was used as an offering to God. Then another stone weight was added to the beam for the second pressing, producing "virgin" olive oil which was used for eating. The third pressing with another weight produced "light" olive oil which was used as lamp oil. By the fourth pressing, the oil produced was very thick and made great soap!
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First press - first fruit offering to God. We call this "extra-virgin" olive oil.
- Second press - for eating. We call this "virgin" olive oil.
- Third press - for lamp oil. We call this "light" olive oil.
- Fourth press - for soap.
Other styles of olive presses include this wooden model.
Water: Aquaducts, Water Wheels and Cisterns
[ Water: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
Water was terribly important as it only rained two months a year during the winter. Arched aquaducts carried water into the cities, and the water turned water wheels at the end of the aquaduct. It was collected in large underground cisterns in the city. The amount of water a city could store might mean the difference betweeen withstanding a seige and being conquered. Homes also collected rain water in large urns on roofs and in courtyards.
City and Village Life
[ City: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
Buildings, furniture, storage vessels, even utensils were made of stone. Wood was only used for roof rafters and small items. The mill wheel in the square was used to crack grain, with a pole that could be pushed by a donkey. The cracked grain was then put between two flat stones, and the top stone was spun around, grinding the grain into flour.
The city had walls and gates, and the arrow slits above the gate were called loop holes! The city gates were gathering places, and judges would deliver sentences from their stone seats near the gates.
Typical 4-Room Israeli Home
[ Israeli Home: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
All rooms opened onto the central courtyard, which also functioned as the kitchen.
Opening from the courtyard were a storeroom, which also functioned as a "kataluma" or guest room, a sleeping chamber which could also be used as living space during the day, and a storeroom. The roofs were also used, usually accessed by an outside staircase. This was usually called an upper room or a summer room. The space was used as another sleeping chamber or kataluma.
Upper Room Biblical Meal
[ Upper Room Meal: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
One of the highlights of the tour was a meal served in a Biblical style, containing many elements that would be included in a Passover meal in the time of Christ.
We were seated in a triclinium, a three sided arrangement. In the time of Christ this would have been a reclining triclinium, where you laid on your side, leaning on your left elbow and ate with your right hand. Go to the photo album to see. We had a choice of eating seated or reclining, and the decision was unanimous for seated! None of us wanted to think about how we'd get up again after we laid down!
It started with a traditional blessing where we thanked God for the bread and wine (grape juice).
Blessed are You, the Lord our God, King of the universe, Creator of the fruit of the vine.
Blessed are you, Lord, our God, king of the universe who brings forth bread from the earth.
There were no utensils, and food included unleavened bread, fruit, honey, nuts, grilled chicken on a skewer, hummus, artichoke dip, and more.
Some traditional elements were included. Hard boiled eggs were served, but in the time of Christ (or at a real Passover meal) this would have been roasted eggs, as water was too precious for boiling. Charoset was a sweet, brown, pebbly paste of fruits and nuts, representing the mortar used by the Jewish slaves to build the storehouses of Egypt. Parsley and salt water for dipping it was also served.
The bread was torn and pieces were folded and used as scoops for the softer food. Lentil soup was served, and we drank it directly from the bowls. Chicken was eaten on the skewer. As we passed each item of food to another, we offered it with the words, "You honor me."
The room was dimly lit, and our table was illuminated by traditional clay lamps that in the time of Christ would have burned olive oil.
While we ate, our guide took us through many of the stories about meals in the Bible, including the prodigal son and the last supper. Meals were very important, as you could not fight with someone you had broken bread with, hence the elder son in the prodigal son story refusing to eat with his brother.
Crucifiction Trees
[ Crucifiction: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
Wood was very scarce, so it is very unlikely that Jesus was crucified on the hewn cross we are used to seeing. Additionally bedrock was very close to the surface and it would have been difficult to "plant" such a cross in the ground.
In the Bible it just says that he was crucified - there is no special description of the crucifiction itself. This is because there were as many as 2000 crucifictions in a very short time with the Roman occupation. Everyone would have been very familiar with the details of this brutal process.
The stakes were usually passed through the ankle and wrist joints as this would hold the weight of the body without tearing free. The person dies by slow suffocation - the position means the person cannot completely expel a breath, so carbon dioxide builds up in the bloodstream. A second crossbar rest on the cross and the offer of a vinegar-soaked sponge were to extend the agony. Jesus' death actually came very quickly compared to the average crucifiction, no doubt speeded up by the dreadful scourging prior to the event.
Early Israeli Tomb & Burial Practices
[ Early Tomb: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
(Warning: Photos include skeletons)
Tombs were for families or groups, not for individuals. This replica of an early tomb from approximately 600 B.C. had spots for bodies to be laid out as in sleep, with hollowed out headrests. There was space for several adults, both single and double "beds" and also space for six shorter bodies, probably for children. Amber beads, rings, and other jewelry have been found in tombs. Also little bottles designed to capture the tears of the mourners, and pottery lamps.
Burial was a two-step process. First the body was wrapped in loosely woven cloth. Once the body was completely decomposed, one sign of which was the jaw bone sagging onto the chest, the bones would be placed in an Ossuary Box, which is much smaller than a coffin. Decompositon took only two years in the Jerusalem climate.
Garden Tomb
[ Garden Tomb: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
The garden tomb where they laid Jesus would have been designed for a family or group, not for an individual. These photos show how it may have appeared after use. Bodies were wrapped in linen, and the head was wrapped separately. This allowed them to check the progress of the decomposition at the neck opening. Once decomposed, the bones would be placed in an ossuary box.
Outside the tomb was a bench for mourners. A proper burial required a flute player and two weeping women! Mourners would catch their tears in little bottes designed expressly for this purpose; a sort of offering.
Agape Table and Early Catacombs
[ Agape Table: Flickr Photo Album | Slideshow ]
As the quarries reached areas of brittle stone, they would be abandoned and quarrying efforts would resume elsewhere. These abandoned excavations provided a place to develop underground catacombs, and early Christians suffereng persecution would often meet underground at Agape Tables. These recessed circular areas had a drainage trough to carry spilled food and wine to a container.
Decomposed bodies were often placed in sealed wall niches, more economical and space saving when compared to individual ossuary boxes.
In Summary
I think anyone who participated in this tour would highly recommend it. It certainly surpassed my expectations! It was an illuminating and moving experience. Each antiquity that was created in this outdoor museum was based on actual archeological excavations, with photos and details about the sites on plaques at each exhibit.
Although we have shared details about our tour, is does not compare to actually being there and experiencing this little slice of Biblical life for yourself. I hope you too will take a trip to Lagrange someday soon and visit the Explorations in Antiquities Center.
Thanks so much to the Prime Time group for including me on this trip!
by Lynne Phelps
