Going Down From Jerusalem

Late tonight my daughter Kalypso, my student Roy DuBose III, and I all leave Israel. We're currently staying at the Albright Institute in East Jerusalem. We'll stay for tea at 4PM and then head to the airport at 5. It will be good to be home. Things are growing pretty tense here with the Gaza withdrawal set for mid August. More than anything else in the world, I hate going through Israeli security at the airport. They have it in their computer database that I once had two passports (1 for Israel, 1 for Syria and Lebanon), and that means they go through everything I have and even make me take my clothes off. I feel more sorry of course for the Palestinian families subjected to the same demeaning treatment. The season at Zeitah was fantastic. We found something really great in my square, O-19, in fact it was by far the coolest thing I've ever seen discovered on a dig in which I participated. But, I am sworn to secrecy as to what it is, so give me a few months and I'll let you know.