A new artifact storage container was christened this Wednesday in an afternoon ceremony attended by friends of the excavation as well as the students, supervisors, and directors. It is a true testament to the endurance and productivity of the Omrit excavations that we have already filled the kibbutz’s old industrial chicken coop and a shipping container to the brim with our finds, and are ready to fill another space. In lieu of a bottle of champagne, a grey slip fine-ware (read: supermarket) vase was duct-taped and zip tied to a piece of shade-pole rope and filled with the excavation’s libation of choice in the field, lemon-lime Gatorade. Jennifer Gates-Foster, resident ceramicist, did the honors. Our kibbutz liaison Grete, the Grossmarks, and other invaluable associates of the project cut the ribbon on the container, and afterwards everyone took to the inside of the container with markers to leave varying inscriptions ranging from simple signatures to extensive inside jokes. In addition to toasting the new container, the ceremony also celebrated the publishing and printing of The Temple Complex at Horvat Omrit, Vol I: The Architecture by directors Michael C. Nelson, Andy Overman, and Dan Showalter, a work that has been 16 years in the making. As we finish up the season waking up at odder hours than usual to take final photos, it is heartening to see the awesome things that will be produced by our labor.