Timna Valley Copper Mines
Egyptian-run mines in the Aravah, later worked by Edomite and Midianite smelters
Found 1959 — Beno Rothenberg (Arabah Expedition, from 1959); re-dated by Erez Ben-Yosef (Tel Aviv University, from 2009)
Where Timna Valley, southern Aravah, north of Eilat (Israel)
Dates from c. 1300–900 BCE (Egyptian phase c. 1300–1150; peak c. 1000–900) · Late Bronze Age–Iron Age IIA · Wilderness and Edom/Midian; later David and Shlomo
Now at Timna Park (site); finds in Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, and the Israel Museum
How Timna Valley Copper Mines was found
Rothenberg surveyed and excavated mines, smelting camps and the Hathor shrine, dating the industry to Ramesside Egypt. Ben-Yosef's radiocarbon dates from 'Slaves' Hill' (Site 34) moved the main smelting activity to the 10th century BCE.
What it is
Thousands of mine shafts and galleries cut into sandstone, with smelting camps, slag heaps, furnaces and an Egyptian shrine. Textiles, food remains and pottery survive in the dry climate, including Midianite (Qurayyah) painted ware and, from 2021, purple-dyed wool.
Why it matters for the Bible
Timna shows Egypt's reach into the Aravah in the 13th–12th centuries and the presence of Midianites and Edomites, the very peoples Israel met in the wilderness. Ben-Yosef's redating showed that nomadic peoples could run a large industry without cities, which changes how archaeologists judge the biblical accounts of Edom and early Israel. The copper snake found in the shrine is a striking parallel to Moshe's bronze serpent.
The Hebrew word: ne-CHOH-shet
נְחֹשֶׁת
נְחֹשֶׁת is pronounced ne-CHOH-shet and means copper, bronze (Strong's H5178).
People this discovery connects to
- Moses — מֹשֶׁה (moh-SHEH) — drawn out
Places
- Edom — אֱדוֹם (eh-DOHM) — red
- Midian — מִדְיָן (mid-YAHN) — strife
Events
Israel skirts Edom in the Aravah · The bronze serpent
Timna Valley Copper Mines in Scripture
Genesis 25:30 First mention of Edom in Scripture.
Numbers 21:8-9 The bronze serpent; a small copper snake was found in the Timna shrine in the same Aravah region.
Deuteronomy 8:9 A land 'out of whose hills you may dig copper'; Timna is the largest ancient copper mine in the land.
Questions people ask
What is Timna Valley Copper Mines?
Thousands of mine shafts and galleries cut into sandstone, with smelting camps, slag heaps, furnaces and an Egyptian shrine. Textiles, food remains and pottery survive in the dry climate, including Midianite (Qurayyah) painted ware and, from 2021, purple-dyed wool.
When was Timna Valley Copper Mines discovered?
It was found in 1959 by Beno Rothenberg (Arabah Expedition, from 1959); re-dated by Erez Ben-Yosef (Tel Aviv University, from 2009), at Timna Valley, southern Aravah, north of Eilat.
Where is Timna Valley Copper Mines today?
Timna Park (site); finds in Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv, and the Israel Museum.
Which Bible verses does Timna Valley Copper Mines relate to?
Genesis 25:30, Numbers 21:8-9, Deuteronomy 8:9.
Related discoveries
- אַרְגָּמָןTimna Valley Copper Mines and 'Slaves' Hill'Tenth-century smelting camps and a scrap of royal purple cloth
- גָּמָלCamel Domestication and the PatriarchsAn honest look at when camels reached Canaan
- מִשְׁכָּןTimna Hathor Shrine and Midianite Tent SanctuaryAn Egyptian temple turned into a tent shrine with a copper serpent
- עַבְדִּיאֵלTomb of the Vizier Aper-ElA Semitic-named vizier of Egypt under Amenhotep III and Akhenaten
- עַיִןMaqna 'Springs of Moses' (Arabian Elim and Marah claims)Palm-oasis springs on the Gulf of Aqaba offered as the twelve wells of Elim
- צוּרThe 'Split Rock of Horeb' near Jabal MaqlaA giant cleft boulder in Saudi Arabia claimed as the rock Moshe struck
Sources
- Rothenberg, Timna: Valley of the Biblical Copper Mines (1972)
- Ben-Yosef et al., 'A New Chronological Framework for Iron Age Copper Production at Timna', BASOR 367 (2012)
- Times of Israel: Timna copper mines dated to King Solomon era