A team of Tel Aviv University archaeologists has uncovered a gatehouse and associated livestock pens — dating to the reign of Kings Solomon and David (10th century BC) — at the Slaves’ Hill, one of the largest copper smelting camps in Timna Valley, Israel. The team’s research appears in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
Slaves’ Hill in the center of the Timna Valley (looking east); the black slag mounds on the hilltop are visible, as well as the only access path to the site; the arrow indicates the gatehouse complex. Image credit: Erez Ben-Yosef et al.
“While there is no explicit description of King Solomon’s mines in the Old Testament, there are references to military conflicts between Israel and the Edomites in the Arava Valley,” said Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef, one of the team leaders.
“According to the Bible, David traveled hundreds of miles outside of Jerusalem and engaged in military conflict in the desert — striking down 18,000 Edomites in the Valley of Salt.”
“Now, having found evidence of defensive measures — a sophisticated fortification — we understand what must have been at stake for him in this remote region: copper.”
The gatehouse complex is made of three main elements: the central passageway, two platforms and two gate rooms.
“The passageway was 2.9 m in width and paved by sandstone flagstone, including massive threshold stones one of which was found at the site,” the scientists said.
“The straight entrance passage is flanked by platforms, each found between the site’s wall and the gatehouse rooms. They were built on deliberately leveled surfaces from massive, partially dressed sandstones, and demonstrate the most concern with construction techniques in the gatehouse complex.”
“The platforms are about 1 m in height and are made of at least five courses of rectangular flat stones. These platforms probably represent the bases of towers or watch posts that protected the entrance to the site.”
“The two rooms flanking the gate’s passageway have different dimensions, the northern is rectangular (1.4 x 2.8 m) and the southern is roughly square (1.1 x 1.4 m).”
The two-room gatehouse in the Timna Valley. Image credit: Erez Ben-Yosef et al.
In the two-room fortification, Dr. Yosef and his colleagues found evidence of a complex long-distance trade system that probably included the northern Edomite plateau, the Mediterranean coastal plain and Judea. The complex featured pens for draught animals and other livestock.
According to precise pollen, seed, and fauna analyses, the animals were fed with hay and grape pomace — high-quality sustenance that must have been delivered from the Mediterranean region hundreds of miles away.
“The gatehouse fortification was apparently a prominent landmark,” Dr. Ben-Yosef said. “It had a cultic or symbolic function in addition to its defensive and administrative roles. The gatehouse was built of sturdy stone to defend against invasion.”
“We found animal bones and dung piles so intact, we could analyze the food the animals were fed with precision. The food suggests special treatment and care, in accordance with the key role of the donkeys in the copper production and in trade in a logistically challenging region.”
“The results of our study shed new light on the Iron Age society engaged in copper production in Timna (probably early Edom), further stressing its complexity and centralized organization, as well as its involvement in inter-regional trade,” the archaeologists said.
“The gatehouse and walls also indicate substantial investment in deterrence and defense, reflecting a period of instability and military threat in 10th century BC Timna.”
The copper smelting site was discovered in 1934 by the American archaeologist Nelson Glueck.
He called the site ‘Slaves’ Hill,’ because he believed it bore all the marks of an Iron Age slave camp, complete with fiery furnaces and a formidable stone barrier that seemed designed to prevent escape.
But in 2014 Dr. Ben-Yosef and co-authors debunked this theory, revealing that the diets and clothing of the smelters — perfectly preserved by the desert conditions — pointed instead to a hierarchical, sophisticated society.
“The historical accuracy of the Old Testament accounts is debated, but archaeology can no longer be used to contradict them. On the contrary, our new discoveries are in complete accordance with the description of military conflicts against a hierarchical and centralized society located south of the Dead Sea,” Dr. Ben-Yosef said.
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Erez Ben-Yosef et al. 2017. Beyond smelting: New insights on Iron Age (10th c. BCE) metalworkers community from excavations at a gatehouse and associated livestock pens in Timna, Israel. Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports 11: 411-426; doi: 10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.12.010
