Pre-Season Tour and
Field Courses 

Arrive: Saturday, June 15th Tour: 16-20 June June 21-22: Free time before reporting for Megiddo on the evening of June 22nd. Pre-Season tour will be lead by Matthew J. Adams and Margaret Cohen ​ Overview This 5-day preseason tour is intended to provide participants with a regional overview of archaeological material in Israel, focusing on the northern region. The tour includes visits to numerous sites that represent a broad chronological range from the Early Bronze Age to the Early Islamic and Crusader eras. Visits to the sites are accompanied by historical, archaeological, and geographical lectures given by JVRP staff members. This program will provide an enriching experience for all participants and contextualize the excavations at Legio within the regional and chronological framework of the area. Included in the Tour Cost Rooms:   Three nights at Kibbutz Mizra Two nights at Avitan Guest House (Moshav Ramot Naphtali; home of the Tel Kedesh Excavations) Food: Breakfast and Dinner every day. Lunch is at your own expense each day. Transportation: Bus from airport on June 16th and throughout tour. ​

This course will survey selected topics within the archaeology and history of ancient Israel and its neighbors, with case studies and examples taken particularly from the site of Megiddo. Lectures will be delivered by members of the senior staff, and will address a number of the most current research questions and methodologies in use. The course will concentrate on the historical, cultural, and economic processes and events that affected ancient Israel, primarily within the Bronze and Iron Ages, though some issues of larger chronological scope will also be addressed.

The Megiddo Expedition’s Field Techniques in Archaeology course will train the student in the methods and practices of modern Near Eastern field archaeology, using the site of Tel Megiddo, the Jezreel Valley, and the larger region of Israel as case studies. The course will enable the student to acquire and develop the skills required for proper stratigraphic excavation and technical archaeological recording. In addition to field skills, the research questions and excavation strategies of The Megiddo Expedition will be discussed and used as an example to help students contextualize the work they will do on-site. Emphasis is placed on basic field technique and strategy, stratigraphic analysis, documentation, and chronological tools. Students will gain these skills from lecture presentations, in workshops and hands-on experience as they participate in primary research during the excavation of Tel Megiddo.