Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Ancient copper mines date to Solomon

|
|
 
  
Published: Oct. 29, 2008 at 12:26 AM
Advertisement

AMMAN, Jordan, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- An ancient copper mining site in Jordan could be linked to the time of the Old Testament's King David and his son Solomon, researchers say.

Thomas Levy of the University of California-San Diego said industrial smelting debris, or slag, from the copper production center at Khirbat en-Nahas in northern Jordan dates to the 10th century B.C. -- which is in line with biblical narrative on the rule of David and Solomon.

The new data pushes back the archaeological chronology about three centuries earlier than the current scholarly consensus, the university said Tuesday in a news release.

Levy said researchers used radiocarbon dating on date seeds, sticks of tamarisk and other woods used for charcoal in smelting to determine the age of the mines. The mines were found in the desert, south of the Dead Sea, in what was once Edom and is today Jordan's Faynan district. The Old Testament identifies the area with the Kingdom of Edom, the report said.

The findings are published in in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

Topics: King David
© 2008 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Notable deaths of 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee AmfAR Cinema Against AIDS gala
Indianapolis 500 Presidential Medal of Freedom Memorial Day around the nation
Additional Science News Stories
1 of 32
Marilyn Monroe Cupcake Portrait at Madame Tussauds in New York
View Caption
A one-of-a-kind 8 x 4 foot portrait of Marilyn Monroe made from 2,100 bite sized stuffed cupcakes stands in the lobby next to her wax figure on the eve of Marilyn Monroe's 86th birthday at Madame Tussauds in New York City on May 31, 2012. UPI/John Angelillo
fark
I fap, you fap, we all fap *fap fap fap*
The "Miami Zombie" case has "spread to various social media outlets and a wave of dark humor has...
Man, the price of Bunga Bunga has really gone up
Funny Pictures Thread. Woohoo
Since pressuring banks to make loans to insolvent minorities worked out so well, the feds are now...
Drew's getting shiatfaced, so here are some women in bikinis