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I Volunteered for This?! Life on an Archaeological Dig

Courtesy Badè Institute, Pacific School of Religion
William Frederic Badè’s excavation of Tell el-Nasbeh in the
1920s.

Courtesy Badè Institute, Pacific School of Religion
With pith helmet, vest, tie and argyles, William Frederic Badè
embodied the vanguard of archaeology—and fashion—in the
1920s, when he dug at Tell en-Nasbeh. Badè found that the
innovative and exacting archaeological methods he chose to
employ during his excavation required a new breed of diggers,
and he initiated archaeology classes at the Pacific School of
Religion to train the seminarians. The most accomplished and
enthusiastic students received invitations to participate on the
dig—at their own expense.

lem of past excavations was overcome. This approach proved so successful that teamwork is the rule on almost
all excavations in the Near East today.
The greatest impetus for volunteer involvement in archaeology originated in Israel with Yigael Yadin. In
1961, Yadin invited students from the United States, Canada, Norway and Germany to join his expedition to
the Nah\al H|ever cave in the Judean wilderness. This marked the first time that foreign volunteers with no
background in archaeology were asked to participate on a dig.16 Preparing to excavate Herod the Great’s
palace-fortress on the remote summit of Masada, overlooking the Dead Sea,b Yadin placed a brief announcement in local Israeli papers and in the London Observer in 1963. Thousands of replies came to him from students and others all over the world, ready to join the excavation of the site of the famed Roman siege
immortalized by the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. The announcement clearly stated the conditions of
acceptance to the expedition: All volunteers were to pay their own travel expenses both to and from Israel and
were required to stay on the dig for a minimum of two weeks. The harsh living conditions, advertised as tents
with ten beds, accompanied by spartan camp food, did not dampen the spirit of volunteers. This system
enabled Yadin to operate 23 two-week shifts averaging 300 participants each.17 During the excavation, the
archaeological staff gave lectures and offered thorough five-hour tours each Sabbath. Yadin acknowledged his
debt to his volunteers by dedicating his book on Masada to them and writing that only because of them had
the expedition succeeded.18
With the ever-increasing costs of paid laborers, volunteers, at first an option, became a necessity. The
excavation of Gezer, an important Biblical city that included a major Solomonic gateway and an imposing cultic high place, was initiated by G. Ernest Wright and later directed by William G. Dever and H. Darrell Lance.
The Gezer project was deliberately planned as the first summer field school for volunteers, who constituted
the entire labor force.19 The volunteers received firsthand experience in archaeological excavation techniques,
attended daily lectures and field trips and, in exchange for their labor, could receive academic credit.20 This
“Gezer Field School” model set the standard for the majority of excavations in the Middle East today.
© 2006 Biblical Archaeology Society

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