Pikeville man’s excavation trip to Israel cut short amid conflict with Iran

LEXINGTON, Ky. (FOX 56) — Tommy Chamberlin’s latest journey from Pikeville to Israel marked his sixth excavation at the site of Tel Shiloh—unearthing history in the heart of the biblical landscape.

Tommy Chamberlin is a square supervisor at the Tel Shiloh Excavation, sponsored by the Associates for Biblical Research.

“Our site has remains running from the Bronze Age through the Islamic period. It is best known, of course, for its references in the Hebrew Old Testament.”

But he never thought he would be caught in the literal crossfire of two nations at odds.

“From all indicators, it was actually a good time to be there and working. And obviously, you don’t have to know much to know that there were tensions between Israel and Iran, but any thoughts of that would come to a head while we were there, just, you know, wasn’t something we would expect,” he told FOX 56.

After weeks spent digging up the biblical site, he had just one day left before he was set to fly home.

“It was Thursday night, and we had one day of work left. And I was actually just sitting in my room at our hotel in Jerusalem, and I was talking on social media to a friend back here in the States, and he was like, ‘Oh my gosh, let me send you a link to this news report.'”

That is when Chamberlin learned of the air strikes Israel launched on Iran, which would soon lead to days of retaliatory attacks between the two countries.

Chamberlin said, “You have concerns being in a place where a war zone is occurring and thoughts of, how does this impact your family, your friends at home.”

His next plan of action was how to get home. To no surprise to him, his flight was cancelled.

He described that time as “stressful.”

But luckily, a film crew Chamberlin knew was scheduled to leave early, and they had room for one more.

Chamberlin detailed the conversation between himself and the film crew to FOX 56 via Zoom. He said, “I told them, ‘If you’ve got room for me, I’ll go.’ And they said, ‘We don’t have room for your luggage.’ I said, ‘that’s all right. I just need my passport in my wallet, and I can leave.’ You know, that’s just stuff.”

They traveled to Cairo, Egypt, where they were able to get a flight home. About 30 members of Chamberlin’s excavation team were not far behind him. He said they all crossed the Egyptian border together, despite him leaving a day before them.

“We knew that given the defense capabilities there, that statistically you’re probably going to be okay. But that’s still hard to deal with knowing that, you know, the circumstances—to be in a location where violence of that nature is going on is unsettling,” said Chamberlin.

As the conflict between Israel and Iran rages on, Chamberlin said he is holding on to hope that one day he’ll return to Israel and continue unearthing the pieces that bring ancient history and the Bible to life.

He said, “I love the work. It’s a passion. And, you know, it’s something that I hope to continue to do the rest of my life.”