"Walk before me": What I learned about gender while excavating at Tell Qarqur (Part One)

It was the summer of 1983. I was slated to do two things: go to Syria for six weeks as part of an archaeological équipe under the leadership of John Lundquist and James Flanagan, and go to Adelfia on the coast of Sicily thereafter, to hang on the beach and lead Bible studies for youth, in the middle of the storm that was brewing across Europe at the time. Missiles were going in left and right. West and East were in confrontation mode. The peace movement was about to peak.

My mother fretted about me going to Syria. “It’s dangerous there.” I knew it might be more dangerous in Sicily following. And it was. One fine summer morning, along with hundreds of other demonstrators, Paola and I blocked as we had for weeks the construction of the Cruise missile base in Comiso, Sicily. We passed panini and shared water with kids our age on the other side of the barricades, Italian soldiers. The order was suddenly given to break up the demonstration. All hell broke loose. We were charged and beaten. Many ended up in the hospital.

But that’s another story.

In this set of posts, I want to reflect on gender construction. Everything I know about gender I learned in Syria from Syrian teenagers who became part of my life while excavating Tell Qarqur. Not everything, but you get the idea.

John Lundquist put me in charge of excavations on the acropolis, the high point of the tell. A great privilege. I loved the view. It’s a breathtaking experience to survey a Levantine valley from atop an ancient tell: Some of my readers will know what I mean. Perhaps, as I do, they remember the view from the top of Megiddo, “Armageddon” of biblical fame. Or from atop Hazor.

A forewarning. I am going to describe everything from a specific, gendered point of view. It’s my own, as I remember it, only lightly censored.

Before I headed off to Syria, I had had a conversation about gender with a high school friend I very much respected. The daughter of a famous math professor at the university, she was a gentle and caring person, soft-spoken and knowledgeable. There was an understated beauty about her that I found attractive. She was also a feminist. That intimidated me. “In the Muslim world,” I said, “things are really bad for women.” Or something to that effect: I was trying to gain her sympathy. “No, they’re not,” she said, looking me square in the eye. “They’re just different.”

Two teenage boys and three teenage girls worked with me on the acropolis. My Arabic is minimal, so I had to rely on an interpreter to engage in conversation. Whenever the interpreter paid us a visit, it was a party. So much to ask. So much to understand.

The older girls, all of sixteen, were polite and sociable, but they avoided eye contact with me or any other male.

There is something unique about having a conversation with someone who is listening carefully, but doesn’t look you in the eye. You learn to read them by other means, by how they shift their hands and move their shoulders and how they look away from you. They enjoyed chatting, I could tell. But they wanted to set a good example for the youngest of the girls, all of 12 or 13.

Syria is not Saudi Arabia. The girls wore a kerchief on their heads, dressed modestly from head to toe, though not in a loose-fitting burka. They wore pajama-like clothing that adhered to their skin. It was a sight to watch the girls walk. As they carried gone-over dirt in baskets on their heads to the designated dump on the side of the tell, they walked with a strong and dignified gait, as if on air. Having flown to Syria from Italy, a relatively “loud” culture, I was struck by the understated grace of my new friends.

One way to listen to a culture is to watch people walk. The gait and dress of the Syrian village girls spoke to me of the moderate Islamic culture that serves as their natural habitat.

I’m going to switch horizons for a moment, and turn to the Bible. Isaiah was a people-watcher, too. A prophet, someone who speaks from God’s side, needs to be a careful observer of the human side. Isaiah watched the girls of Jerusalem of his day walk. He did not like what he saw. This is the message from YHWH he received (Isa 3:16-17):

וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה 

יַעַן כִּי־גָבְהוּ   בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן

 וַתֵּלַכְנָה נְטוּיוֹת גָּרוֹן   וּמְשַׂקְּרוֹת עֵינָיִם

הָלוֹךְ וְטָפֹף תֵּלַכְנָה   וּבְרַגְלֵיהֶם תְּעַכַּסְנָה 

וְשִׂפַּח אֲדֹנָי קָדְקֹד   בְּנוֹת צִיּוֹן   וַיהוָה פָּתְהֵן יְעָרֶה

יהוה said:

Because the maidens of Zion,     high and mighty,
with neck thrown back     and roving eyes,
mince along as they go,    and jingle with their feet –

My Lord will expose the scalp   of the maidens of Zion;
יהוה, he will bare their butt.         

As a note in NJPSV indicates, “To bare a woman’s head in public was an intolerable humiliation. Cf. Mishnah Baba Kamma 8.6.”

 YHWH, when we walk, what does he see?

To be continued.

Tel Qarqur series:

Walk before me
Two wives are better than one
Coming of age
Law and Gospel

Comments

[Stephen (aka Q)]

What a fascinating series. Tales of another culture, coupled with biblical exegesis. Thanks for this, John.

[Jenelle]

Ahh...I see I was supposed to begin here. I started on Part 3, I think!

[JohnFH]

I hate that about blogs. When I first began blogging, I made sure that the first post to read was at the top, and that the others followed.

Peter Kirk was kind enough to point out to me that just isn't the way it's done. But there are tradeoffs.

[True Grit 1]

After reading this post and remember what was mentioned in lecture, I understand how other cultures differ in even the most simple ways of life. I am truly inspired to visit other countries and just observe. Such an interesting point to consider. A walk can be carried based on numerous things. This includes the confidence, gender, attitude, respect, and the situation of the walker. I have never paid any attention to how an American walks in public and observed the male and female differences before, but now it may be something I would like to take the time to note. And then of course visit other countries to compare. What a lesson in observation.

[True Grit 2]

Cultures are very fascinating to me and I liked this post because it shows how you can learn new things from any circumstance. I feel that it is important to travel and learn about other cultures and how different people are.

[True Grit 3]

I had known prior to seeing the you tube video of the Tell Qarqur, that women were treated very different in other cultures. It was a bit of a shock to hear the boys say that they just had sex with their girlfriends and didn’t really have a relationship. It was also a surprise to me that if there was more than one wife, the other wife really didn’t seem to mind. Personally this bothered me because I believe women should be treated much better than that and shouldn’t have to share a husband.

[JohnFH]

TG3,

The BBC video clip relates to polygamy (polygyny) among the Masai, an African people. Tel Qarqur is in the Syrian countryside, where polygyny is also widespread.

[Nell 4]

I liked this post! This post kind of relates to taking this class, because one has to be open-minded to all views just as we should be with other cultures.

When I look at other cultures, I sometimes don't agree or understand the way a certain culture does things, it's just the fact that one shouldn't judge. We all just need to learn and adapt the ways of how unique every culture is even if it’s hard to.

[The Truman Show 4]

This was very interesting to me. It's just amazing to me how different two cultures can be from one another. I agree with N4, we have no need or reason to judge a culture very different from ours, just like they have no right to judge ours.

[Chariots of Fire 2]

I find it interesting that the women and girls avoid eye contact with the males. I have heard about this in other cultures from some of my previous classes. Is it out of a sign of respect or do the men not look each other in the eyes too?

[Praying with Lior 2]

After reading this post, it inspires me to submerge myself in another countries culture to compare their traits to ours. For my whole life I have only known the lifestyle and practices of those in the Midwest. For the most part, everyone that I have encountered practices have been somewhat similar, with exception to the Amish. It would be so interesting to experience a culture that is completely different from ours. When you told about having a conversation with someone, but they could not look at you, I want to experience that and then understand why the children do that. Going to a culture like the one you visited would be very beneficial when trying to learn about gender, because rules for men and women are very different. It would be interesting to see all of those differences first hand and then understand the philosophy behind it.

[True Grit 2]

This post was fascinating to me. The fact that children cannot look adults in the eye would be so different from my culture. For many people in the United States, it is disrespectful not too look someone in the eyes when you talk to them. Talking to people that are not looking at me would be a very hard concept for me to understand because I use eye contact to read a persons mood. Other cultures are still so fascinating from their clothes, food, language, and customs. I went to France a year ago and I loved just being somewhere completely different and learning all about the French culture.