King Solomon’s Mines? A Re-Assessment Of Finds In The Arabah -- By: John J. Bimson

Journal: Tyndale Bulletin
Volume: TYNBUL 32:1 (NA 1981)
Article: King Solomon’s Mines? A Re-Assessment Of Finds In The Arabah
Author: John J. Bimson


King Solomon’s Mines? A Re-Assessment Of Finds In The Arabah

John J. Bimson

The Tyndale Biblical Archaeology Lecture, 1980

My aim in this lecture is to reopen the question of the date of copper-mining operations in the southern Arabah. Until the 1960’s it was believed, on the basis of Nelson Glueck’s investigations, that mining and smelting camps in the Arabah, at Timna and elsewhere, were worked primarily during the time of Solomon and later, from the 10th century to the 6th century BC. In the 1960’s, the Arabah Expedition, led by Beno Rothenberg, produced evidence for a much earlier dating. Dr. Rothenberg’s book on the excavations at Timna, published in 1972, exploited the popular biblical associations of the site in its title -Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines - but it actually refuted that title by redating the supposedly Solomonic mining activity to the 14th-12th centuries BC, and affirming: ‘There is no evidence whatsoever of any copper mining or smelting activities in the western Arabah later than the twelfth century BC until the renewal of the industry in the Roman period.’1 This paper will question the accuracy of this statement, and will urge greater care in dating the finds from the Arabah. It will indicate various lines of evidence which strongly imply occupation and mining activity between the 10th and 6th centuries BC.

I. A Brief History Of The Debate

The Timna Valley lies 30 km due north of modern Elat, on the west side of the southern Arabah. This region of the Arabah was identified as a copper-smelting area as long ago as 1861. It was explored by F. Frank and N. Glueck in the 1930’s, and it was Glueck’s interpretation of the mining and smelting activities which prevailed until the

1960’s. On the combined basis of historical probability and the pottery which he found at some of the Arabah sites, Glueck believed that the mines had been exploited from the time of Solomon onwards, down to the 6th century BC.

Glueck’s convictions concerning the dates of the pottery which he found were derived largely from his excavations at Tell el-Kheleifeh. This site, which lies about 500 metres from the shore at the head of the Gulf of Aqabah, was identified by Glueck with both biblical Elath and Ezion-geber, Solomon’s Red Sea port.2 The latter identification has been strongly challenged,3 and Glueck’s interpretation of part of the site as a copper refinery has definitely been proven incorrect,You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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