King Solomon-era mines discovered in Israel - Telegraph.co.uk

Known as Slaves' Hill, the site is among thousands of copper mines scattered about the Timna Valley in the Aravah Desert, an area previously thought to have been mined by the ancient Egyptians in the 13th century BC. The discovery of an Egyptian temple at the heart of the site in the late 1960s seemed to confirm who presided over the ancient industrial area. But now a team of archaeologists from Tel Aviv University claim to have found items that showed mining activity in fact took place on the hill three centuries later during Solomon's reign. Analysis of 11 samples of metals, clothing, fabrics, ceramics and ropes as well as foods, like dates, grapes and pistachios recovered from the Slave's Hill site and carbon dated at the University of Oxford matched the period. The study, led by archaeologist and metallurgist Dr. Erez Ben-Yosef, suggests the discovery may confirm King Solomon – and with it King David's – place in history. Dr Ben-Yosef said: "The mines are definitely from the period of King Solomon. "The findings at the Slaves' Hill undermine criticisms of the Bible's historicity based on a lack of archaeological evidence. "It's entirely possible that David and Solomon existed and even that they exerted some control over the mines in the Timna Valley at times." His team say the artefacts of materials and scholarly work belonged to the Edomites, seminomadic tribes who warred with Israel and formed an early kingdom to rival David's kingdom of Judah. Evidence suggests the miners lived in a tented community based around the Slaves' Hill and operated furnaces to extract the valuable copper between the 3100 and 2900 years ago. via Science - Google News http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEFi59UJB5A9-tci8Ezo1BJ6MD0YQ&url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/israel/10287460/King-Solomon-era-mines-discovered-in-Israel.html

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