ISRAELI RESEARCHERS IDENTIFY BIBLICAL KINGDOM OF EDOM

jpost.com ^ | September 19, 2019 | AARON REICH

[ransomnote]

he biblical kingdom of Edom has always been a significant puzzle for biblical archaeology. Although evidence is supplied in the Bible, the archaeological record has always had trouble interpreting the text, which said that it existed as a kingdom long before the kings of Israel.

But research has uncovered the untold story of a thriving and wealthy society in the Arava Desert – in parts of Israel and Jordan – that existed during the 12th-11th centuries BCE.

 

Collecting slag and charcoal samples from “Slaves’ Hill”, Timna Valley, Israel. The fine layers of technological waste – well-dated by radiocarbon – provide a detailed record of technological change in biblical Edom (Credit: E. Ben-Yosef and the Central Timna Valley Project)

“Using technological evolution as a proxy for social processes, we were able to identify and characterize the emergence of the biblical kingdom of Edom,” explained Tel Aviv University’s Prof. Ezra Ben-Yosef, who led the study with Prof. Tom Levy of the University of California, San Diego. “Our results prove it happened earlier than previously thought and in accordance with the biblical description.”

According to the study, which was published on Wednesday on the site of the scientific journal PLOS ONE, the kingdom’s wealth appears to have been built on a “hi-tech network” of copper, the most valuable resource in the region at the time. Copper was used in ancient times to craft weapons and tools, and the production process for copper is incredibly complex.

“Copper smelting was essentially the hi-tech of ancient times,” Ben-Yosef told The Jerusalem Post.

Using a methodology called the punctuated equilibrium model, the research team analyzed findings from ancient copper mines in Jordan and Israel to create a timeline of the evolution of copper production from 1300-800 BCE. The investigation found a significant decrease of copper in the slag – the waste of copper extraction by smelting – at the Arava site, implying that the process became more efficient and streamlined.

Researchers say the more efficient process was a result of the military invasion of Pharaoh Shoshenq I of Egypt (the biblical “Shishak”), who sacked Jerusalem in the 10th century BCE. Rather than result in destruction in the region, the researchers argue that it instead sparked a “technological leap” in copper production and trade.

“We demonstrated a sudden standardization of the slag in the second half of the 10th century BCE, from the Faynan sites in Jordan to the Timna sites in Israel, an extensive area of some 2,000 sq.km., which occurred just as the Egyptians entered the region,” Ben-Yosef said. “The efficiency of the copper industry in the region was increasing. The Edomites developed precise working protocols that allowed them to produce a very large amount of copper with minimum energy.”

However, as Egypt was a weaker power at this time, it is unlikely that it had control over the copper trade, allowing it to remain a local enterprise. Ben-Yosef explained that Egypt was primarily an importer of goods at the time, so it had an interest in streamlining efficiency in the region.
MORE AT LINK-Includes photos

[billorites]

"The biblical kingdom of Edom"

That's like a kinda cheese, right?

[mjp]

After American archaeologist Nelson Glueck explored the region in the 1930s, he announced he had found the real-life "King Solomon's Mines" in the biblical kingdom of Edom

[jjotto]

Interesting treatment of Edom from early Christian and later Jewish standpoints:

https://www.thetorah.com/article/esau-the-ancestor-of-rome

[SunkenCiv]

I cheddar to think how many cheese jokes are going to emerge.

Of course, puns have proven to be a large source of amusement fromage to age.

[Jim W N]

Isn't that part of where Petra is, where the remnant of Israel escapes form the world Ruler (the beast)?

these shall escape from his hand: Edom, Moab, and the prominent people of Ammon.

Daniel 11:41.

[Hostage]

> “But research has uncovered the untold story of a thriving and wealthy society in the Arava Desert – in parts of Israel and Jordan – that existed during the 12th-11th centuries BCE.”

BCE eh?

No thanks Aaron, I’ll stick to BC/AD. No matter how much you try to cover it up, the more you do it the more people like me will ignore anything you have to say.

Because if you are going to cover up the origins of a calendar to suit your view, you’ll do the same to history in general.

I don’t care how many publications have been pressured, mandated, coerced to follow the cover up, it’s still a cover up and everyone who knows real history can see it.

So go ahead and lie, it alerts the community of truth seekers.

[Eddie01]

Edom spelled backwards is Mode.

[Eddie01]

It’s digs like this that threaten to awaken Godzilla.

[jjotto]

Gotta take the gouda with the bad...

[SunkenCiv]

This is going to be a nice long string, er, thread.

[seowulf]

I cheddar to think how many cheese jokes are going to emerge.

Of course, puns have proven to be a large source of amusement fromage to age.

Excellent. You are gouda.

[Blue Highway]

To Brie or not to Brie, that is the question.

[SunkenCiv]

I’ll rennet right out of town.

[Robert DeLong]

Just make sure they are Gouda ones.

[SunkenCiv]

Godzilla spelled backwards is Allizdog.

Hmm, that’s not really anything though...

[Crapgame]

Yeah I use BC and AD as well. I tell my students that when they go to college to use the older style. However, if a professor insists on BCE and CE, I tell them to say sure....”BCE just means Before Christian Era and CE means Christian Era”...

[Crapgame]

Yeah I use BC and AD as well. I tell my students that when they go to college to use the older style. However, if a professor insists on BCE and CE, I tell them to say sure....”BCE just means Before Christian Era and CE means Christian Era”...

[seowulf]

I think that would be 2460 to 2960 in the Hebrew calendar.

He is Jewish after all.

You will often see BP (before present) too.

[SunkenCiv]

Havarti used that one. /rimshot