From an exhibit called "Gaza at the Crossroads of Civilization" at Geneva's Musee d'Art et Histoire to reconstructed memories of divorce and its aftermath, this essay travels far and wide. Available on Amazon at http://tinyurl.com/3wbmbrw or through the publisher at www.ashlandcreekpress.com/shorts/archaeologies.html  

"On the over-simplified map before me, the dunes are the color of sour milk, invaded by mint-green “antique oases” and peach colored settlements. In those wet, unstable areas objects occasionally wash up, like the marble statue of Aphrodite found in 2002 near the ancient site of Blakhiyah-Anthèdon. She is displayed like a new doll among doll-size oil lamps, water-damaged coins, Roman glass bottles, and clay pots once filled with sand and piled helter-skelter to construct a seawall.

Here among objects spanning 6,000 years—bracelets, bottles, hair pins—my eyes settle on a bronze-age pot. At least a third of the body is missing, though the handle on one side allows us to deduce what would be on the other side, if the other side existed. This handle is what archeologists call a “diagnostic shard” because it renders some understanding of what is not there. Other broken pieces are mere “body shards.” Chips and slabs found everywhere, like blank faces suffering from amnesia.

What the mind must absorb, in this visual encounter with the history of Gaza, is the fine line between total destruction and the possibility of reconstruction. In this sensuous diversity of objects—some discolored by years or centuries underwater— it is possible to see the sediment of time, to read the impact of commerce and war, to feel the shift and sway of religious traditions. It is even possible to trace the success of Gaza’s export economy through its distinctive amphorae, those two-handled vessels with long necks and full bodies so common in the ancient world. Some were made with a solid base to support weight. Others, like those from Gaza, are cone-shaped and taper to a pointed “foot.” Like ballerinas in the desert, they were made to be “parked” in sand, to stop on a moment’s notice. Always in perfect balance."