The researchers found a smelting camp within the Timna Valley in Israel's Negev Desert, equipped with eight copper furnaces from the 10th century B.C. The archaeologists, from Tel Aviv University, date the camp to the reign of King Solomon, between 970 B.C. and 931 B.C., as described in the Old Testament.
"Our excavations demonstrate the existence of a massive copper industry during the 10th century BCE in the Arabah Valley, which probably corresponds to the mines of King Solomon mentioned in the Bible," said professor Erez Ben-Yosef, director of the excavation and head of the Institute of Archaeology at Tel Aviv University.
"We hope that further exploration of other sites in the Arabah Valley will shed more light on the dimensions of the biblical copper industry and its historical context."
King Solomon is widely considered to be one of history's wisest rulers, and his vast wealth and wisdom have become legendary. The biblical story of his reign is chronicled in the First Book of Kings, where he is described as building a magnificent palace in Jerusalem and acquiring an enormous amount of gold, silver and other precious metals. The Bible also mentions King Solomon's copper mines in the Arabah Valley.
The research team, which included researchers from Ben-Gurion University in the Negev and the University of Toronto, believe the Timna Valley was a hub of industrial copper production during the reign of King Solomon.
The eight furnaces that were found at the site were able to produce over 280 tons of copper annually, which would have been a substantial amount at the time. The researchers also found evidence of an early copper smelting industry in the area, dating back to the Chalcolithic period (4,500-3,500 B.C.).
