Rothenberg expedition (1959-1990)
In 1959, Professor Beno Rothenberg, director of the Institute for Archeo-Metallurgical Studies at University College, London, led the Arabah Expedition, sponsored by the Eretz Israel Museum, and the Tel Aviv University Institute of Archaeology. The expedition included a deep excavation of Timna Valley, and by 1990 he discovered 10,000 copper mines and smelting camps with furnaces, rock drawings, geological features, shrines, temples, an Egyptian mining sanctuary, jewellery, and other artifacts never before found anywhere in the world. His excavation and restoration of the area allowed for the reconstruction of Timna Valley's long and complex history of copper production, from the Late Neolithic period to the Middle Ages.[12]
Ben-Yosef expeditions (2009-)
The copper mines at Timna were considered by most archaeologists to be earlier than the Solomonic period until an archaeological excavation led by Erez Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv University found evidence indicating that this area was being mined by Edomites, a group who the Bible says were frequently at war with Israel.[8][13]
Renewed archaeological investigations of copper exploitation at Timna began in 2009 when a team from UCSD led by Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef examined smelting camp Site 30. This site was first excavated by Rothenberg and dated to the Late Bronze Age (14th–12th centuries BCE) based on findings at the Shrine of Hathor; however, new results obtained using high precision radiocarbon dating of short-lived organic samples and archaeomagnetic dating of slag showed that major smelting activity occurred in the early Iron Age (11th–9th centuries BCE).[14] This distinction is extremely important as the dating shift puts activity in the time of the United Monarchy of Israel—often referred to as the time of Kings David and Solomon.[15][16]
The Central Timna Valley project (also directed by Ben-Yosef of Tel Aviv University), which began in 2013, continues this previous work and "includes new excavations and surveys designed to address a number of critical issues in the Late Bronze and Iron Age archaeology of the southern Levant.[17] These include the history of copper production technology and the introduction of iron, historical issues concerning the nature of 13th- to 9th-century BCE desert societies and the impact of the intense copper production on social processes, regional and global political interactions and the economy of the southern Levant at that period.[18]
Research and excavations during the first two seasons focused on smelting camp Site 34 ("The Slaves' Hill", "Giv'at Ha'avadim) and two mining areas in the park. The team secured dating of major copper production at Site 34 to the early Iron Age (11th–9th centuries BCE) as well, confirming a larger picture of activity during this period.[19]
The team also used optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) to date mining activity in the area of the "Merkavot", or "Chariot" rock drawings. Multiple forms of mining technology are exhibited there and span a period of approximately 6,000 years. No dateable material culture was found in or around most of the mines, necessitating a new type of research technology to establish dating for each technique.[17]
In 2019, Ben-Yosef published a paper entitled, The Architectural Bias in Current Biblical Archaeology,[7] as a critique noting the limitations of archaeological methods frequently relied upon to interpret findings in that region,[20] and asserting how they affect understanding of the subject matter.
.JPG)
.jpg)
