Another fun week! We spend most of our week in and around Jerusalem in the little orbit of school, shopping, and small side trips, but at least once a week we try to break out and visit some of the cool sites around us, often with the student field trips. Here are some memories from the Shephelah outing. This means the low hills between the high hills of Jerusalem and the plains along the coast.
This particular day started with a huge spider in the corridor outside our apartment. We gave it a better home outside.
The low hills are divided by several valleys which provided some defense for Jerusalem over the centuries of conquest. Each valley had one or two fortified hilltop cities to guard them, and these hilltop forts usually had elaborate gates, storage for provisions in case of seige, often a holy place for worship, and some means of communicating with each other, whether couriers or signal fires. Also, these fortresses show evidence of changing hands, as the Israelites and Canaanites or Philistines battled back and forth. Now these hilltop forts are called tels, which basically means they were built up in elevation over the centuries but now they are a confusing jumble of rocks only anarchaeologist could love. Like the back of my closet at the moment.
Here is a holy place at Tel Bet Shemesh, not a very big hill, but it overlooks the area where Sampson's exploits took place. At one point the holy nature of this site was oscured by covering the altars with earth and stabling animals there.
On top of Tel Azekah the students had a great view of the valley and distant hills. There is an ancient message written on a scrap of pottery about watching for the signal fires of Azekah and Lachish. So the students divided up, one bus traveling to Azekah and one bus to Lachish with mirrors. These forts are 15 miles apart, but when the students angled the mirrors just right, they could reflect the sun's rays at the other group like a tiny pinpoint of light on the far horizon. Over a cell phone, we could hear the cheers of the other group when we got it right.
Tel Mareshah is always a favorite spot (probably because of the gift shop selling ice cream bars). This was an industrial site rather than a strategic site. Its chalky limestone was quarried out in bell-shaped caves whichhave great acoustics and also large colonies of bats.
We, as well as other tourists, enjoyed the students' singing there.
In other areas of the site we saw olive processing equipment, dove " apartment buildings," and water storage cisterns. One of the primary uses of the soft limestone was to coat the inside of cisterns to keep them watertight. The plaster had to be maintained or the water would drain out of the cistern. Here is the olive oil factory.
Modern stairs sometimes have to be creative to fit in the tiny places.
...with an occasional hint of daylight. 
This room was like an M.C.Escher print come to life. A stairway sheared off at an odd angle and now rests sideways on the floor of this chamber.
Amanda poses beside the entrance to a Greek-style tomb.
I think I have started a new tradition of running out of bread just before a holiday, of which October is chock full. So what else to do but make some? This is Roxanna's no-knead recipe.
http://itsaprontime.blogspot.co.il/?m=1
And here is a wheat bread version. 
Seeing all the ancient creativity made us want to get a little artsy ourselves.
This makes me want to come visit you!
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