More on Solomon’s Mines

This report was in the San Diego news a couple of days ago:

Thomas Levy, a UCSD professor of anthropology and Judaic studies, has
pioneered three highly sophisticated digging excavations in an area
called Khirbat en-Nahas, located in southern Jordan, attracting the
attention of NOVA/National Geographic Television, which sent a crew to
Jordan with him last fall.

Levy, also the associate director of the Center of Interdisciplinary
Science for Art, Architecture and Archaeology (CISA3), wasn’t looking
for King Solomon’s mines at first. He was actually researching the
role of ancient technology on the evolution of society. But what he
found in Jordan was groundbreaking — thousands of tons of slag, a
by-product of smelting ore, and different types of blowpipes. Using
the process of radiocarbon dating, his team discovered there was
industrial-scale metal production of copper precisely in 10th century
BC.
“It would have been like the Pittsburg of Palestine,” said Levy.

There are two sides to the King Solomon debate, he said. First, there
are those who “minimize the historicity of the Old Testament, saying
there was no Solomon because during the 10th century there were no
societies capable of creating a kingdom, only petty nomads.” On the
other side, there are those who maximize the content of the Old
Testament, he said.

“We don’t have proof that we have found Solomon’s mines, but what we
have proof of is that there were kingdoms in the 10th century,” said
Levy. “I think he existed.”

You can see a preview of the movie here:

HT: Jack Sasson

Update: The “Quest for Solomon’s Mines” is being streamed (53 minutes) at PBS, but in the UK you can’t see it, for a message says: “We’re sorry, but this video is not available in your region due to rights restrictions.” Sad …

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