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

[Eddie01]

lol. stupid fun on Sunday afternoon waiting for the thunderstorms to roll in

[SunkenCiv]

I want to get a walk in, but may be seeing the same sky you are. :^)

[bigbob]

Inna Gadda Dav Edom, honey...

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

1. Confirms existence of Biblical kingdom of Edom
2. Denies Biblical origin for our calendar

It’s so much fun to be a doublethinking liberal.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks ransomnote.

[SunkenCiv]

...a result of the military invasion of Pharaoh Shoshenq I of Egypt (the biblical “Shishak”)...

One of *those* topics. Thanks ransomnote.

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In the chapter dealing with the sack of the Temple of Jerusalem, it was demonstrated that the biblical Shishak, its plunderer, was Thutmose III of the Eighteenth Dynasty, and the objects of his loot, depicted on the bas relief at Karnak, were identified as the vessels, utensils, and furniture of the Temple. His heir Amenhotep II was identified as the Biblical Zerah who invaded Palestine in the days of King Asa at the beginning of the ninth century. Thus they could not have been the Libyan kings Shoshenk and Osorkon. These Libyans reigned later, and the entire duration of that dynasty was shorter than is conventionally assumed.

But we shall also show that Osorkon could not have reigned in the beginning of the ninth century and that Shoshenk could not have been the biblical Shishak because he was the Biblical Pharaoh So referred to in the Scriptures during the closing days of Samaria, in the time of King Hezekiah.

The Sequence of Dynasties | Immanuel Velikovsky

[Hostage]

I have absolutely zero objection to Jewish researchers using the Hebrew calendar and wonder why a decision is made to infringe on the establishment of a Christian calendar.

The original Christian calendar, the one that preceded what we have today, was flawed as it did not account precisely for the imprecision of marking the time of Earth’s revolution around the Sun. This gave us leap years which is still off but not enough to make a difference over a very long time span.

The addition of leap years caused Christ’s birth to be moved from January 7 (old calendar) to December 25.

The Eastern Catholics, the Orthodox still have large sects among their followers that continue to observe the old calendar but even they adopted to include leap years to keep seasonal parity.

The Hebrew calendar is similarly flawed and that might be a reason Jewish historians avoid using it but I know from experience that some, not all and not even most, some Rabbis get ‘offended’ by the usage of BC/AD. I once told such a Rabbi that if he was going to change history so that he would not be offended, then he was condoning others to traverse a slippery slope. The offended become the offenders.

From a scholarly approach, the usage of calendars that are embedded in historical scriptures could be avoided entirely if associations of historians were convened to adopt a universal calendar that established a reference point such as say the date Caesar crossed the Rubicon or some such. People like me will continue to use the Christian calendar but will learn to cross reference a historical universal calendar to follow historical publications.

[gibsonguy]

Good strategy. BCE is an attempt to remove Christ from the date differentiator. It’s a red flag you are probably dealing with leftists.

[seowulf]

...wonder why a decision is made to infringe on the establishment of a Christian calendar.

I suspect it is the same reason why the article was written in English; it is what can most efficiently transfer the information to the widest audience because of worldwide usage.

I certainly didn't know this was year 5779 in the Hebrew calendar without looking it up.

Sometimes there are no motives. Sometimes it just becomes common usage. Someone seems to always be offended by something, so whatever you do or say, it's wrong; kind of like the PC culture.

This guy is just guilty of cultural appropriation, I suppose.

[GreyFriar]

A map would have been nice to show where the Arava Desert is located on the Israeli-Jordanian border.

[jjotto]

http://image.slideserve.com/404208/edom-map29-l.jpg

[Hostage]

I knew an editor of a scholarly journal where historians submit manuscripts hoping to get published (because getting published is the bottom line for academics and researchers).

He was secular but he would have none of the few that wrote BCE in their manuscripts, He and his staff would review and tell authors to use the established annotation. In many cases, he and his staff prevailed but the persistence of certain authors overcame the convention and proceeded to establish their own convention.

The usurpation is still ongoing. There are still many more journals using the conventional annotation than the one slipped in to cover up the reference point.

English is prevalent and so is the BC-AD convention. Those writing in English can just as well write their calendar references in BC-AD. There is no stigma and no obligation for such writers to believe the history underlying the scriptural calendar convention.

Yes, Aaron is likely a lemming but the point is that Aaron can be swayed to do the bidding of his masters and that will most assuredly carry over into how he connects the dots on the data from the digs. That’s the point.

[GreyFriar]

Thank you for posting the map showing Edom’s location.

[seowulf]

I agree totally. Give the guy a break and don’t think he’s behind some grand conspiracy to subvert the Gregorian calendar.

Communicate knowledge to the widest possible audience.

Scientia est potentia.

[CJ Wolf]

Common era? Eh? When that begin? Oh Christ!

[Robert DeLong]

Brie golly I wasn’t aware of that.

[missnry]

BCE eh?

CE .. CHRISTIAN ERA

BCE .. BEFORE CHRISTIAN ERA

pass it on...

[Zionist Conspirator]

The Edomites eventually moved into Europe and became the ancestors of the first Romans.

[SunkenCiv]

The lack of cheese knowledge is something I camembert.