Daniel Brauner (YC '27) reflects on his summer internship at the Israel Antiquities Authority.
What were the main tasks you undertook during your internship or fellowship?
During the internship, I worked with the Israel Antiquities Authority in archaeological digging at the Western Wall Heritage Center excavations, which are underneath the Kotel Plaza. The job entailed grabbing a pickaxe and a hand shovel and digging at the ground of different sites; we searched for pottery sherds, bones, glass, marble and metal, while discarding excess dirt and exposing the structures we dug. In addition, I washed pottery sherds and mosaic tiles.
What were your research areas or key work objectives? Please highlight the themes, topics, questions, or ideas you focused on.
We dug at sites from multiple historical eras. I started at a water cistern used in the Ottoman period; its dirt housed modern finds, but I also worked at an originally 3rd/4th century CE Roman bathhouse, an early Islamic fill of a ruined structure, and most excitingly, a mikveh and priestly storage area from the end of the Second Temple period. We learned to focus on the goal of digging layer by layer to gradually uncover the civilizations that called Jerusalem home.
Which skills did you improve or develop during this experience?
The internship helped me develop a keenness of eye; the need to survey surroundings to search for and be attentive to archaeological finds is something that I notice outside of work and I hope will transfer to other areas of life. Additionally, I learned of the importance of practice, not just theory, in academic work. In some fields, in order to engage in research and writing, someone has to do the manual labor that produces the relevant data; both aspects are equally important.
Describe one or two significant discoveries or accomplishments. Were there tasks that surprised or particularly challenged you?
Likely the most significant discovery came on the last day of the internship, when I found a piece of an Islamic soapstone vessel that would've held ritual objects. Other minor finds include a pair of pieces of a casserole dish handle from the Roman bathhouse, a large chunk of a camel bone, and two decorated sherds of Islamic oil lamps. I also especially appreciated working in the Second Temple-era sites. I feel privileged to have been able to literally become dirty in the dust of the sages鈥 feet (cf. Avot 1:4) and, in some small sense, experience what they did: 鈥淭he greatest of the sages would kiss the borders of the land of Israel, kiss its stones and roll on its dirt鈥 (Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Melakhim 5:10).
