Stories and Anecdotes
........ "She always
had a soft spot for needy students,
stray dogs, and old vehicles. Needy
students knew that once they got to
Jerusalem, "the Sitt" would provide
for them. And occasional stray dogs
in Jerusalem learned that they would
not be diven away hungry from
Watson House, the dig headquarters.
The most sentimental incident
I recall was the formal burial of a
1946 Pontiac station wagon that
somehow came to the British School
after it was worn out by the then
American School. During the
Jerusalem dig from 1961 to 1967,
the old vehicle was in its last days,
suffering from hardening of the
arteries, arthritis, and whatever other
ailments afflict aged vehicles. Finally,
it would not advance from low to
high gear, but since the end of the
dig was at hand, the old Pontiac
continued to transport staff members
and students the two miles or so
from the British School of Ophel
and the Armenian Garden sites.
At the conclusion of the dig in
1967, someone proposed that the
station wagon recieve proper burial
in the bottom of the Armenian
Garden excavation, south of the
Jaffa Gate, since the huge pit had
to be filled and restored for the
owners. Kenyon approved the
proposal, so with some fanfare and
much sentiment, the old vehicle was
tipped over the edge of a perfectly
vertical Kenyon Balk onto bedrock
below. The cloud of dust had barely
settled when a waiting bulldozer
impatiently revved up its engine and
began pushing Jerusalem stone and
soil into the pit, signaling that life
must go on. I do not know whether
Kenyon stayed and watched the
bulldozer do its job, since she had
an aversion to bulldozers on
archeological excavations. Thus
ended the Jerusalem excavations
and the career of Kenyon as a
field archeologist." (Callaway, Biblical Archeologist, pp 125)
by Joseph A. Callaway
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