“I usually go to work after sunset,” says Navot Rom, an archeological inspector from the Israel Antiquities Authority. “What most people do after work, I do before. I eat, I read, and I go for the night shift in the Old City of Jerusalem.”
The 35-year-old Rom likes to work at night.
“Many people try to avoid working at night; I’ve always volunteered.”
Often, the excavations at night are dictated by the logistics (such as not blocking roads during the day, or hours that are good for contractors who help on digging). But Rom also finds other reasons for working at night. As the archeological inspector, he must check all the sides during his shifts. This gives him a chance of walking on empty streets of Jerusalem under the moon.
“There is something magical and Gothic about it,” he says.
Depending on the phase of the moon, the light is different, and he can simply enjoy what he sees. Usually, there is quiet, too. He can focus on work and distance himself from everyday problems: politics, community or anything personal.
“Archeology shows things in perspective,” he says.
Just a passion
He was born in Sydney to Israeli parents. At the end of 2010, after graduating with a BA in classical studies and archaeology in Melbourne, where he was living at the time, he decided to follow his Zionist dream and move to Israel.
“I wanted to live in the indigenous land of the Jews,” he says, “Jews for many years were stateless, finally there is the country and I wanted to be a part of it.”
His parents spoke Hebrew at home, he has relatives in Israel, so aliyah was a natural step to him.
He came to Israel already speaking Hebrew well, but regardless, like many new immigrants, he started his new life at Ulpan Etzion in Jerusalem. Ulpan might not have been the linguistic necessity for him, but it provided the social bonding function in Rom’s aliyah story.
“Most of my friends are from Ulpan Etzion,” he says, “and I met my future wife, Shayna, an olah hadasha from the US, also at the ulpan.”
Initially, archaeology was only a passion, something he studied to fulfill his interests, but he didn’t plan it as a career.
“I was always interested in history, archaeology and ‘everything that was old.’ I’ve always liked working outdoors, but I thought that after the university I will decide what to do professionally.” Fortunately for him, moving to Israel let him use his knowledge and to unite his passions with work.
Rom continued his archeological studies at the University of Haifa, became a specialist in prehistoric archaeology (before the advent in human history of agriculture and writing). Shortly after making aliyah, he started to work in Jerusalem’s Old City as an archeological inspector. Working for the Israel Antiquities Authority, he cannot share any information about findings.
“They are not my personal discoveries; everything we find belongs to the IAA.”
But he is proud to be part of the team; for a few years worked at the famous “Stepped Street” and City of David but nowadays he continues to explore other parts of the Old City. “I feel very lucky and privileged. We are exploring our heritage – the country, people and the land.”
Indiana Jones in Jerusalem
He feels a little bit like his childhood movie hero, Indiana Jones. Although he starts his work by opening a computer (which seems far from a romantic image many might hold), he says his job still reminds him a lot of Indiana Jones.
“Every boy, who saw this movie at least once, wants to become Indiana Jones,” says the 35-year-old archaeologist, “and despite what people might think, my work is very adventurous. It involves going to exotic sites, and can be dangerous if a rock is about to fall – exactly like in a movie scene.”
Saying that however, he adds that security always comes first – rocks and rockets that might fall are taken into consideration. If the situation in Jerusalem is tense or there are clashes, then the security department informs where the team can and can’t work.
His work demands lots of imagination.
“I see things not just in space but also in time,” says Rom. “I must imagine how something looked, or might have looked in different surroundings; how climate change affected the sites.”
He must place certain pieces in the accurate distance, and must draw them.
“We use computers, but there are still some things we must draw by hand.”
Being a scientist, Rom doesn’t find contradictions in Zionism, Judaism and archeology.
“In my understanding, Zionism is an extension of Judaism, and one of the things attractive in Judaism is how things are old. So my interest in history and archaeology overlaps with Zionism in this sense.”
But he also strongly underlines that an archaeologist should not be influenced by any political or religious agenda. Besides archaeologists, on the excavation site there are also workers and contractors who help digging.
“Jews, Muslims, Christians – all professionals, far from politics,” says Rom. “It is very dangerous to link science with a political position or any personal beliefs. Any scientist must be objective in his discoveries and research.”
Saying that, he also doesn’t hide his excitement about things we can read in the Bible.
“Torah is not a historical document, however it is rich in many historical details,” he says. “It is fascinating that in the Bible the geographic sites are so precisely described that we can actually find these places in Israel. For example, you read about Megiddo in the Bible, and you can visit the place.”
Judaism became very important to him. Rom was raised in a secular home, but since last year, he has started to keep Shabbat and other mitzvot. He describes himself as baal teshuva (one who becomes religiously observant). Surprisingly, the book that catalyzed his personal change was not the Torah or any other religious sources, but Tolstoy’s Confession. He could relate to the story, and that got him closer to Jewish traditions. Being religious, he also experiences a deeper understanding of Hebrew, which seems to be his next step in the aliyah process. Other than that, he dreams of moving one day to a moshav or a kibbutz – closer to nature and “the real Israel,” as he says. (Until two years ago he lived in Jerusalem. Now, due to his wife’s work, he lives in Tel Aviv.)
Israel – the natural place for archaeologists
Asked about his next dream, he tells me about underwater excavations in Atlit.
“There is a site that reminds me of Stonehenge, but it is underwater, but that would require additional diving skills and funds,” he says. The sky is the limit.
Rom feels lucky to be an archaeologist in Israel. He says he could never have found such opportunities in Australia.
“There is a jump from the prehistoric period to modern times in Australia, when Europeans arrived. So there are no archaeological records, as there are here,” says Rom.
Israel is the natural ground for archaeologists.
“What is old in the US or Australia, here is modern, but even if something is only 300 years old here, it has to be checked.”
For the archaeologist there is a wider picture.
“There were borders that looked different a thousand years ago, and probably in a thousand years they will look different from now, but archaeology allows seeing the reality of the place, despite current times,” says Rom, as we finish our conversation just before the sunset, and just before his next night shift on the empty magical streets of Jerusalem. ■
NAVOT ROM, 35 FROM MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA TO JERUSALEM, 2010